hoss
04-08-2009, 05:56 PM
First off, I started with a boston butt (pork shoulder) that weighed about 7.5 pounds. Now, this is a lot of meat to cook for a small household, so I cut it not quite in half, and ended up cooking a portion that was about 4 pounds. My shoulder had a bone in it, I left the side with the bone in the portion that I would be cooking, because many people say that this can add to the flavor. I started off the night before, by doing a wet rub and injection style marinade to the shoulder. My wet rub consisted of yellow mustard and brown sugar. This gives a sweet, yet tangy flavor to the meat, and the brown sugar will melt and carmelize while you are cooking, giving a crispy outside that will also hold the juices in the meat, giving you a tender and juicy meat. I didnt measure the two ingredients out, just mixed until I was happy, and then smeared it all over the meat.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/hoss4131/smoked%20meat/DSC_2177.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/hoss4131/smoked%20meat/DSC_2177.jpg
The injection sauce that I used was a "creole butter", which was the only thing I could find, you can make your own injection sauce, or buy one, but adding fluids to the meat again ensures a juicy and tender result when you are done.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/hoss4131/smoked%20meat/DSC_2180.jpg
About an hour or so before starting the fire, you are going to want to start soaking your wood chips/chunks. I used a combination of hickory and mesquite wood to smoke with, and I use about 2 cups at a time when I add them to the coals. After you soak them for about an hour, strain them out of the water, BUT SAVE THE WATER!!
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/hoss4131/smoked%20meat/DSC_2175.jpg
After marinating overnight, I started the fire fairly early in the morning, I started at about 9:45am, My method of lighting the coals is a chimney starter. I have never had much success with lighter fluid or anything else, and this does not add any flavor to the natural heat of the coals. However, my chimney will not hold enough coals to fully heat the smoaker, so I build the heat slowly, one load at a time. I start the first chimney of coals, and then put them in the smoker with 2 cups of soaked wood chips. I immediatly put the water bowl above the heat, and add the water from the wood chips. This is a small touch, but that water still holds the flavor of the wood, and will permeate throughout the cooking experience. Immediately close the smoker lid, and light another chimney of coals and soak more wood chips.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/hoss4131/smoked%20meat/DSC_2181.jpg
When you put the meat on the grill, you will notice that one side of the meat has a "fat cap", or a side of the meat that is a large chunk of fat. You want this side to be on the top. The reasoning for this is that throughout the cooking, the fat will render itself, and as this fat cap melts, it will self baste and flavor the meat, again, keeping it moist.
Once the second load of coals is ready, add it and the wood chips to the smoker, and then, walk away... Do NOT open it, the smoker will build heat slowly and opening it will let the heat escape. Now, go inside, and grab these two simple ingredients: Apple juice, and cider vinegar. Mix these two ingredients in about 7 parts apple juice to 1 part vinegar ratio. This will be your mop sauce for the remainder of the cook.
Watch your grill temperature and try to maintain about 225-250 degrees for the first 2-3 hours of cooking, adding coals as neccisary.
After 2-3 hours, check the temp of the grill, if it is right where you need it to be (it wont be) get more coals ready, if it is below where you need it to be, get more coals ready. Open the grill, spray or mop the mop sauce on the meat, and put a meat thermometer in it to check the temp. Add the new coals, and more wood if you want. You will need to do roughly every hour for the next few hours. Ideally, the meat is going to smoke for 1.5 hours per pound.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/hoss4131/smoked%20meat/DSC_2179.jpg
Pork is considered to be done at 170 degrees farenheight, you can pull the roast and serve it once it hits this temperature (or actually at 160-165 degrees since the meat will keep cooking after you remove it from the heat...). But it does not become "pullable" until it reaches about 195 degrees farenheight. Continue cooking until you hit this temp...
Now note, sometimes it is hard to achieve this temp while cooking over such low heat. I personally had to switch to a regular charcoal grill using an indirect heat cooking method to get mine to finish... Pull the meat off the grill at 195-200 degrees farenheight, move it to a plate and cover with foil for 30 minutes to an hour to let it finish cooking and cool down. Once the meat has reached a temperature that is handleable, you can start to pull it. You can either do this by hand, or by using two forks to rip the meat apart, it should be falling apart after cooking for so long and to such a high temperature. Finally, enjoy the fruits of your labor.
My 4 pound pork shoulder ended up cooking for slightly over 7 hours to achieve proper doneness. It takes a lot of patience, and a lot of maitenance and attention to the fire, but the results are worth it.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/hoss4131/smoked%20meat/DSC_2182.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/hoss4131/smoked%20meat/DSC_2177.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/hoss4131/smoked%20meat/DSC_2177.jpg
The injection sauce that I used was a "creole butter", which was the only thing I could find, you can make your own injection sauce, or buy one, but adding fluids to the meat again ensures a juicy and tender result when you are done.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/hoss4131/smoked%20meat/DSC_2180.jpg
About an hour or so before starting the fire, you are going to want to start soaking your wood chips/chunks. I used a combination of hickory and mesquite wood to smoke with, and I use about 2 cups at a time when I add them to the coals. After you soak them for about an hour, strain them out of the water, BUT SAVE THE WATER!!
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/hoss4131/smoked%20meat/DSC_2175.jpg
After marinating overnight, I started the fire fairly early in the morning, I started at about 9:45am, My method of lighting the coals is a chimney starter. I have never had much success with lighter fluid or anything else, and this does not add any flavor to the natural heat of the coals. However, my chimney will not hold enough coals to fully heat the smoaker, so I build the heat slowly, one load at a time. I start the first chimney of coals, and then put them in the smoker with 2 cups of soaked wood chips. I immediatly put the water bowl above the heat, and add the water from the wood chips. This is a small touch, but that water still holds the flavor of the wood, and will permeate throughout the cooking experience. Immediately close the smoker lid, and light another chimney of coals and soak more wood chips.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/hoss4131/smoked%20meat/DSC_2181.jpg
When you put the meat on the grill, you will notice that one side of the meat has a "fat cap", or a side of the meat that is a large chunk of fat. You want this side to be on the top. The reasoning for this is that throughout the cooking, the fat will render itself, and as this fat cap melts, it will self baste and flavor the meat, again, keeping it moist.
Once the second load of coals is ready, add it and the wood chips to the smoker, and then, walk away... Do NOT open it, the smoker will build heat slowly and opening it will let the heat escape. Now, go inside, and grab these two simple ingredients: Apple juice, and cider vinegar. Mix these two ingredients in about 7 parts apple juice to 1 part vinegar ratio. This will be your mop sauce for the remainder of the cook.
Watch your grill temperature and try to maintain about 225-250 degrees for the first 2-3 hours of cooking, adding coals as neccisary.
After 2-3 hours, check the temp of the grill, if it is right where you need it to be (it wont be) get more coals ready, if it is below where you need it to be, get more coals ready. Open the grill, spray or mop the mop sauce on the meat, and put a meat thermometer in it to check the temp. Add the new coals, and more wood if you want. You will need to do roughly every hour for the next few hours. Ideally, the meat is going to smoke for 1.5 hours per pound.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/hoss4131/smoked%20meat/DSC_2179.jpg
Pork is considered to be done at 170 degrees farenheight, you can pull the roast and serve it once it hits this temperature (or actually at 160-165 degrees since the meat will keep cooking after you remove it from the heat...). But it does not become "pullable" until it reaches about 195 degrees farenheight. Continue cooking until you hit this temp...
Now note, sometimes it is hard to achieve this temp while cooking over such low heat. I personally had to switch to a regular charcoal grill using an indirect heat cooking method to get mine to finish... Pull the meat off the grill at 195-200 degrees farenheight, move it to a plate and cover with foil for 30 minutes to an hour to let it finish cooking and cool down. Once the meat has reached a temperature that is handleable, you can start to pull it. You can either do this by hand, or by using two forks to rip the meat apart, it should be falling apart after cooking for so long and to such a high temperature. Finally, enjoy the fruits of your labor.
My 4 pound pork shoulder ended up cooking for slightly over 7 hours to achieve proper doneness. It takes a lot of patience, and a lot of maitenance and attention to the fire, but the results are worth it.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/hoss4131/smoked%20meat/DSC_2182.jpg