BBQing a pork shoulder is an all day affair. For me, it is a challenge to get the meat just right, and I love it. To start, you need a plan in place to get the timing right. If you're cooking for a party, I recommend having people over for dinner. This is because a 5-7 pound pork shoulder will take about 10-12 hours to smoke at 225, so it's better to start at 6 AM as opposed to 1 AM (for a lunch). The hardest part of BBQ, it has to be nailing the temperature. If you click here, you can read about my process and which smokers I recommend. I would also recommend doing a test run ahead of any big party, as managing the temperature can be overwhelming. You don't want to have things totally work against you, causing you to freak out while people are arriving (trust me, I know exactly how that feels.)
Smoked BBQ Pork Shoulder
Equipment
- Smoker
Ingredients
- 6 pound Pork Shoulder Whole
- My spice rub recipe below
- 1 Large bag of hickory wood chunks
- 1 Large bag of charcoal
- 1 Cup Favorite BBQ Sauce
Spice Rub
- 3 TB Paprika
- 2 TB Brown sugar
- 1 TB Garlic powder
- 1 TB Ground mustard
- 1 TB Salt
- 1 T Ground ginger
- 1 T Onion powder
- 1 T Ground black pepper
Instructions
Night Before
- Unwrap your pork and rinse under cold water. Pat the pork dry with paper towels.
- Mix all ingredients of the spice rub together in a small bowl.
- Place the pork on baking sheet and cover with the rub. Really try to press the rub onto the meat to make sure that all surfaces are covered.
- Put the pork in the fridge overnight (you can apply the rub an hour before you put the pork on the grill if you’d prefer.)
- Start soaking your wood chunks.
Day of (see note below on timing)
- If you didn't put the rub on the pork the night before, do so now.
- Get your smoker up to 225 degrees.
- Cook pork for 10-12 hours, checking the temperature inside the smoker and water level every hour. Adding wood, water and charcoal as need to get the desired smoke level.
- Once the pork reaches 170 degrees, that’s when you can pull it from the smoker. Let rest for 10 minutes.
- Take 2 forks and start shredding the meat.
- Serve on a bun with your favorite BBQ or give mine a try! I hope you enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition
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