Put a little shoulder into it . . .

This past Memorial Day weekend I had a friend from Kansas in town. We don't get a lot of visitors, but to have one for a long weekend and from a rival BBQ region. What else could I do? I had to show him what real BBQ tasted like.

In Memphis, we love pulled pork and since I have been smoking a lot of ribs lately. It was time to smoke some butt. That's right, pulled pork come from an area of the pig called the butt or Boston butt. It has nothing to do with the where the pig sits. It is actually the fatty part of the shoulder. The rest of shoulder is usually called the picnic. That can be smoked and pulled too, but it takes a bit longer and it is not as fatty.

I bought the meat at a new local meat shop called Thomas' Meat Market in Collierville. It is in a shopping center at Poplar and Byhalia. I highly recommend it. They have all nartural organic meats that come mostly from nearby Arkansas. He has both cornfed and grassfed beef. He also has what looked like beautiful seafood. However, on this particular day he only had big 11lb butt left. (That pig had back!) It would have taken me an entire day to cook. Luckily, he was willing to shave a couple pounds off to use for some sausage. I was still left with a 9lb piece of meat.

After I got home, I trimmed off the thick layer of fat on one side of the shoulder. I then slathered the whole thing mustard, before I rubbed it with the same rub I used for my competition ribs. You really could rub it down with any store bought or homemade rub. (I could have a whole write-up on making rub.)Then I wrapped it in foil and let it sit overnight for what is called a "dry marinade."

Then comes the fun part: smoking. It is fairly easy, but it takes a long time. So, I got up at about 5am. Cooking will take 1.5 - 2 hours a pound. I am assuming my shoulder was about 8lbs after trimming, so I had at least 12 hours of smoking ahead of me. You know the shoulder is done when the internal temperature reaches between 195 - 205.

Below is the step-by-step process of smoking the shoulder:

5am: Time to make the donuts

• First, I set the Green Egg up for indirect cooking. I have a insert called a "place setter" that will block the flame. A tray of water sits on the place setter and the grate goes on top.
• Before putting the meat on the grill, I add chunks of apple wood that have been soaking overnight. Fruit wood is lighter and won't overwhelm the flavor of the meat, like hickory, mesquite, or oak.
• Once the temperature of the Egg hits about 250, I put the meat on the grate, directly over the pan of water.
• I don't trust the temperature in the dome of the Egg. It is not the same as the temperature at the area of the grill where the meat sits. I use a remote thermometer that has two sensors. One I am using at the grate to measure the temp of the grill. The other for internal temperature. 
• My goal Egg temperature is about 235 degrees. Once, I get the smoker to hold at the temperature by adjusting the airflow. I don't touch it for four hours
• At four hours I open it and mop it with a homemade basting sauce, made of apple cider, cider vinegar, worcestershire, and bourbon.
• At six hours I add more wood, I rotate the meat, and I baste the meat. There was no need to add more charcoal. The fire was still going strong.
• Now, I start watching the internal temperature. At six hours, the temperature was at 150 degrees and climbing fast to 160.
• At 8 hours, I baste the meat again. Temperature is at 170
• At 10 hours, I baste again. The temperature is only at 173. The internal temperature stopped climbing, because the fat is rendering. This is where all the flavor comes from.
• Finally at about 11.5 hours, the temperature starts climbing again. 
• At 12 hours the temperature is at 190. I baste the meat again.





At 4 hours


• At 13 hours the meat is done.

I served the pulled pork with two choices of sauce: 1) my competition BBQ sauce, which is a ketchup base with molasses, honey, cider vinegar, and a number of spices (again I will save my sauce for another write-up) and 2) a Carolina style vinegar sauce that I took from Michael Ruhlman. It is basically cider vinegar, red pepper flakes, brown sugar, and fish sauce.

For sides, we had slaw that another guest brought that was made from fresh locally grown cabbage. It was a vinegar based slaw that was fantastic. We also had Lady Peas cooked with a bit of bacon and chicken stock, grilled zuchinni and squash, cornbread, and my wife's awesome chocolate spice cake for desert. 

The pulled pork was one of the best I have ever made and sides were unbelievable. Needless to say, my friends went back to Kansas feeling a bit jealous of Memphis BBQ.

Final Product!