Pork Shoulder

Mark_B_Good

Doing a nice 6 lb pork shoulder today, can't wait for some Carolina styled BBQ later today. Just popped it in the XL BGE.

Going to repeat my cook from last time.

Cooking indirect at grid temp of 250/260 and dome temp of 270/280, and when it hits 160F I'll wrap, expecting it to take 1h per lb. Wrap with foil, and will keep ambient same 250/260 on grid, taking it to 205F internal (check with probe), expecting it to take another 0.5h per lb to reach target temp.

Will slow cool for 1h (wish it could be 2h, but it will start getting to late). Last time I mixed in with stubbs bbq sauce and the drippings in the foil, was fantastic. 

This time we are doing the Carolina mix, which is an apple cider based mix. Will let you know what is preferred.

Mark_B_Good

So turned out great. This is the NC bbq sauce if anyone is interested.

dmchicago

Nice work. 

Mark_B_Good

Don't know if you've guys have tried that Carolina BBQ sauce recipe. It is amazing! Just finished two sandwiches topped with coleslaw and Frank's Hot.

smokehollow83

looks good

Mark_B_Good

So I started this one today at just after 9 am. Rub was applied on Wed, was going to cook yesterday, but it was raining,  so it should be very well infiltrated with seasoning. Aiming to keep dome at around 275F indirect. It's about 6 lbs, so I'm banking on a 9 hour cook overall.

Will post more photos later when there's more progress.

4TheGrillOfIt

I always here that salting pork for extended periods has a curing effect on it.  So I always season when I am ready to place in the smoker.   I have never dry brined pork so I have not experienced this.

I’m curios to know what your take is on this?  Also, would love to see the after picture of that butt to see what the bark looks like.  

Recipe looks awesome, btw.  

Mark_B_Good

So 4.5h in it hit 162F internal. It's now wrapped, probably another 3h to get to 205F.

Mark_B_Good

4TheGrillOfIt said:

I always here that salting pork for extended periods has a curing effect on it.  So I always season when I am ready to place in the smoker.   I have never dry brined pork so I have not experienced this.

I’m curios to know what your take is on this?  Also, would love to see the after picture of that butt to see what the bark looks like.  

Recipe looks awesome, btw.  

I've never left a rub this long. I have done it for 3 nights before. Because its pulled pork, I really don't think this is an issue, everything gets torn and blended in. If it where a roast (like a tenderloin) I'd probably only season it over night.

Anyhow before I tear it apart, I'll take some pictures and post.

Mark_B_Good

Here's the finished product. It's cooling down now, so I'll try and remember to take more pictures as I cut into it.

For stuck in a meeting and found it at an internal of 209F by the time I took it off, so hopefully not too dry.

In all took 7.5h, but dome did creep to 300F in the final hour.

Mark_B_Good

Turned out pretty good. Maybe a bit dry because it hit 209F, but nothing I couldn't fix with a but of extra sauce.

On last photo, one on left is Carolina Style BBQ Sauce (recipe above) and one on right is with Stubs Mesquite BBQ Sauce. Its funny, we were arguing all night about which one was the better one. Good argument to have.

Mark_B_Good

This bad boy was put on at 10:30 am to make some pulled pork tonight. About 6 lbs, seasoned with Cluck and Squeal overnight. Expecting a 7h cook, at 275F indirect, smoked with Applewood chunks. Plan to pull it off at 203F to 205F internal.

Will report progress later.

schizoid2k

Looking good! 

I am doing one today... 7.5lb.  I see you wrap.. have you tried not wrapping?  Do you have a preference?  I generally do not wrap and it comes up with a nice crispy bark. 

1voyager

@Mark_B_Good - "Turned out pretty good." It looks fantastic to me.

Thank-you for the BBQ sauce recipe.

Mark_B_Good

schizoid2k said:

Looking good! 

I am doing one today... 7.5lb.  I see you wrap.. have you tried not wrapping?  Do you have a preference?  I generally do not wrap and it comes up with a nice crispy bark. 

I'm not going to wrap this one. Hopefully it doesn't dry out. I'll start watching it carefully at 195F to 200F. Its at 168F now, 4h 40 min in. Cooking a bit quicker than I expected. I've been at a steady 280F dome the whole cook.

Mark_B_Good

Ok, hit 200F at 5:15 pm, and probed like butter!
So 6h 45min cook ... turned out great! Cooked indirect at 280F the entire cook, temperature was amazingly steady. Used BGE Oak lump charcoal with Applewood chunks.

Didn't wrap this one, so it developed a nice bark. Not sure that matters when you are making pulled pork. Perhaps will enhance the flavor, but does add more "tough" shreds to the mix. About to bite into a sandwich.

Certainly, not wrapping makes it a simpler exercise, and I don't think it really did much bad ... so I may be avoiding the wrap in future cooks.

Here's some pictures. The final presentations have one mix with regular bbq sauce (left) and another with the Carolina Sauce (right) ... taste testers both were amazing.

211Mike

Did the North Carolina recipe yesterday, really enjoyed it.  The recipe I used had some slight differences: Rubbed salt, pepper and paprika on the pork, and the sauce had thin sliced onion in it as well.

Followed the rest of your instructions and it was perfect...forgot to take pictures, was too hungry

Mark_B_Good

Nice. Did the rest of the family like it? Might be too spicy for the kids though.

joshpounds90

Wow all of these look incredible! Def going to mimic one or two of your cooks in the near future.