First time brining a pork shoulder.

eggteeth · February 9

Never tried this before, so I thought I'd give it a go tomorrow. Got a very basic recipe online for the brine:

4 quarts of water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup kosher salt

3 tbs of rub (dizzy dust)

2 tbs molasses.

The brine smelled really good, I almost wanted to drink a little.

It will brine for about 10-12 hours, will rub and throw on tomorrow.

I've done several shoulders just straight up oil/mustard, rub and throw on and had good results, just want to mix it up and try this.

I'm curious to see if it's better/worse/same.

Anyone else brine shoulders?

hapster · February 9

Very interested to hear the results. I'm personally almost always underwhelmed by my butts; so this might be the way that gets the results.

Pics if ya got em

GrannyX4 · February 9

I brined 40 of the 48 butts I cooked last fall with the brine eggteeth listed. Since I was cooking so many I did them turbo and needed them moist. I also cooked boneless butts and instead of tying them up I cut them down the bone line to lie flat. It gave me a lot more bark and flavor. The butts were sold at my grandsons football games. Everyone noticed the change in flavor and they sold out every game. I haven't cooked a butt since then. ;;)

U_tarded · February 9

i brine every time i plan ahead enough. once you get a good basic brine down you can add all sorts of things. imho a lot of flavor in the brine equates to little flavor in final product. try doing some apple and orange instead of water, or if you want spicy i will puree a 1/2 dozen habaneros. bay leaf, and clove are good additions too. enjoy it is different for sure. also let it sit in the fridge for a few hours after pulling before rubbing the outside will get sticky and it is game changing with the smoke hooking up.

Alton · February 9

Very interested... Keep us posted on your results

eggteeth · February 10

Underwhelmed. Although, I did have a small issue. I have two young children and was "detained" at the wrong time. was at about 209-214 depending on where the Thermapen was, when I took it off (not sure if that matters, never got that high). That being said, I noticed no real difference from brining/non-brining.

I'm with Hapster. Every time I do pork it looks good, smells good, but somehow is a let-down. It's not that it's bad, maybe I have too high of expectations. I live in the far North and it was 33 degrees today. Was very nice to thaw that ol' puppy out today. It's been a while and it performed like a champion as always.

SteveWPBFL · February 10

I do Costco boneless pork shoulders regularly, indirect, hickory smoke, 250 - 275F dome, various rubs, until they hit 200F IT and they're fabulous. The Costco two-pack is around 20 bucks or so, so I usually give one away and the response is always OMG, that was the best pork roast I've ever had! And my wife loves them, too, and prefers them to the crock pot method she perfected over the years. Maybe you're cut out for brisket!

RLeeper · February 11

Haven't tried brining yet but I have had good results with injecting. Brine is in the near future though

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First time brining a pork shoulder.

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