I had to start the grill at 7:30 AM, and it was 29° out. When it’s that cold out, it’s important to make sure that your grill warms up properly before placing your meat on it. It’s also more difficult to maintain the correct temperature. A little bit of planning during Winter temps can get you through it.
I usually prepare Boston butt, but I found a good deal of picnic shoulders. Both have plenty of fat to keep the pork moist, so I used the same recipe that I do for the Boston butt. I used a basic pork rub, you could use something different, but the mustard is important, don’t skip it. Cooking time is about 1 hour per pound, so plan accordingly.
Oh, and enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 9-12 lb pork picnic shoulder (mine was 10 lbs)
- 1/2 cup yellow mustard
- pork rub of your choice (my recipe below)
- 1/2 cup apple juice
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
Pork Rub:
- 1/4 cup of each of the following: brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, dried oregano, chili powder, kosher salt, black pepper.
- 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 3 tablespoons hot Hungarian Paprika
- mix all ingredients together
Preparation:
- do not trim fat layer off pork
- prepare rub
- cover entire pork shoulder with rub, don’t be shy, get in there and rub it good
- after pork is rubbed cover with mustard, spread evenly
- reapply another layer of rub, over the mustard
- wrap pork tightly in plastic wrap, refrigerate overnight
- soak hickory chips in water for 30 minutes
- turn on all burners, one side on high, the other side on low (during Winter only).
- place wood chips in box on the “hot side” of the grill, turn off the burners on the “cool side”
- Adjust the controls until temperature can be maintained at 275°
- place pork into roasting pan with fat layer up
- put pan on the “cool side” of the grill, cover grill
- mix the apple juice and cider vinegar together, baste pork every 30 minutes
- replace wood chips as needed
- cook for about 1 hour per pound, or until internal temp as reached at least 190°
- the pork will be cooked when you can do the fork test: stick a fork into the pork and twist, if the meat breaks free easily, it is done
- for pulled pork, remove meat from the bone by shredding with a fork. Or you can cut and chop the pork.
- don’t try to eat all of it by yourself, sharing is nice
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