Today's Smoke - Pork Shoulder

[txflyguy]

Okay...might have broken some rules here, but what the heck!

Bought 8 lbs of pork shoulder from Costco. Actually, it was a package of 2 shoulders together. Made a brown sugar / salt brine, and let the shoulders sit for 14 hours in a huge zip lock baggie with the brine mixture.

Early this morning, drained the pork and applied my personal BBQ rub liberally to the shoulders.

Smoked with hickory and a bit of pecan at 275 average temp (250-290) for 9 hours. Sprayed the meat hourly with a mixture of water / red wine vinegar / soy sauce / prune juice (really!).

The final 2 hours on the smoker the pork was basted on all sides with a BBQ sauce & Red Wine Vinegar mixture. Checked the IT, and it was 165. The meat was quite tender at this point, but still a ways to go.

Then pulled the pork off the smoker, wrapped it in foil, added some BBQ sauce for flavor, plus 8 oz. of Dr. Pepper. Three hours @ 325. It will come out of the oven in 35 minutes.

View attachment 372646

 

[muskyjunky]

That looks really really good ! awesome color on those !

 

[chilerelleno]

Looking great, beautiful color, looking forward to the finale.

Curious, what rules could apply to be broken? :confused:

 

[txflyguy]

Looking great, beautiful color, looking forward to the finale.

Curious, what rules could apply to be broken? :confused:

I did a brine, used "prune" juice, used hickory...

Stand by for the final photos and taste test!

 

[chilerelleno]

Nothing wrong at all with any of those.
And as for the latter, hickory is the most used wood of choice according to the last poll I saw.
A mix of hickory and cherry is awesome with a Butt.

 

[txflyguy]

Here it is, after the three hours in the oven at 325. The IT reads 207. Letting it rest before we start pulling.

 

[motocrash]

 

[chilerelleno]

Dammit man, those Butts look good, and that bark screams to be eaten.
Like!

 

[txflyguy]

Well...here is the final result. I think we have exceeded my expectations! This is my second effort, so still learning the ropes on butts. I was shocked when we tore into it with the forks. It is "FOTB" tender!

 

[mike5051]

That is a BEAUTIFUL pan of pulled pork!

Mike

 

[RiversideSm0ker]

That looks awesome. What a crazy combo of flavors. Glad it came out so well. Thinking outside the box pays off sometimes.

George

 

[motocrash]

Yessir! Is this called Pantry Pulled Pork?

 

[chilerelleno]

The more I look, the more I salivate, the more I think they're Carousel worthy.

 

[SmokinAl]

That is some good looking PP right there!
Nice work & congrats on making the carousel!!!
Al

 

[forktender]

Prune juice and butt should not be allowed to be used in the same sentence when describing food. :D
Awesome cook, that foil pan shot looks amazing.
I'll be cooking one up sometime this week for a camping trip we are going on, they will be vacuum sealed and reheated in boiling water as needed.......yum.
Great job on you cook the color you got on those is impressive.

 

[petehalsted]

Broke the rules...

All I can say is, If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right! That's for the PP, not the OP, LOL

That pulled shot has great color, looks super moist, and has a great bark to meat ratio!

 

[Ishi]

Great looking butts! I’ll have to try the Dr Pepper next time!
I use a Dr Pepper marinade for jerky and it wonderful
Point on the cook and idea!

 

[txflyguy]

Well, I got lucky! Thanks for all of your positive comments. Prune juice and butts? LOL!

We added some of the drippings back into the pork after we pulled it. This will add some moisture, and might enhance the flavor a bit.

Also, for the first time we added Red Wine Vinegar to the recipe. Both in the spray bottle, and in the BBQ Sauce. It adds just a bit of "Bam" to the flavor.

 

[tsonka]

Looks Great!

 

[txflyguy]

Had friends over for lunch, and they raved about the pork sandwiches. It really did turn out good, but always room to do better next time.

I also picked up a couple bottles of Famous Dave's "Devil Spit" sauce. I like it!