With the weekend getting closer and the week being a busy one i rushed into my local supermarket to get some supplies for the grill for the next few days
One of the items i picked up was this
Now this is a boneless shoulder with the skin on but it's perfectly good for what i need, i'm not going for any competition entries with this after all
As you can see from the picture the shoulder is rolled and tied already with the skin deeply scored so ill leave it as it is to save time and keep it simple
I applied some oil to the shoulder and then a good helping of dry rub ensuring i got it all in the cuts of the skin then decided to put it all in a vacuum seal bag and into the fridge until the next day to fire up the grill
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| Rubbed and vacuum sealed |
Saturday morning arrived and the 6am alarm sounded which meant it was time to go make a start on what could be a long cook
The first thing to do was to remove the shoulder from the fridge to allow it to start warming to room tempeature
Next was to light the grill, i set up the kamado joe for a long low n slow around 110-120c (approx 225-250f) with the heat deflector in the low position
I added my wood pellets to the cast iron pot
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| BBQr's delight Cherry |
I used cherry pellets for this cook as it goes well with pork, i set this aside untill the grill was almost upto the temp i required
when the kamado joe reached 100c (aprox 210f) i added the cast iron pot to the coals
then the meat to the grill at just after 7am
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| Pork shoulder On the Kamado Joe |
This is going to be an all day affair so as you can see from the picture i have my maverick remote thermometer with both the grill temp probe and the meat probe set up
I inserted the meat probe as deep as possible into the thickest part of the shoulder then closed the lid, other than making sure the grill temp didn't wonder by casting my eye on the maverick every now and again this will be the last i see of the shoulder for some time....
At 3:15pm the internal temp of the meat was 74c (165f) and seemed to have been there for some time, in the world of BBQ this is known as the stall, its a period when the temp of the meat will seem to take an eternity to rise.
It will get thru this with enough time on the grill but as i've already been cooking this for around 8 hours and id like to eat at a reasonable time, i ve employed a method many refer to as the Texas Crutch,
This is simply to wrap the meat in foil to help tenderize it and to help speed up the cooking time
I double wrapped the shoulder in foil and reinserted the meat probe, closed the lid and said goodbye to the meat for at least a few more hours.
At around 6:30pm the maverick showed an internal temperature of 93c (200f)
I was aiming for ideally around 95/96c (203-205f) so i got my cooler and filled it with water from a fresh boiled kettle to warm it ready for the meat to rest in
When the internal temp hit 205f i removed it from the grill and wrapped it in towels and placed it into my cooler (after emptying the water out of course!)
The meat can stay here for a few hours as it will stay warm and it allows the juices to redistribute thru the meat
I left the meat to rest for around an hour and when i removed it from the cooler and opened the foil this is what awaited me!
I removed the skin and strings then used my bear claws to shred the meat
These are by no means a necessity as this pork shoulder is so tender it could be pulled apart with two forks i just find these to be a little easier to hold and control making the job faster, also the fact that they are dirt cheap on amazon (or anywhere else on the net for that matter) there definitely worth the purchase
At 3:15pm the internal temp of the meat was 74c (165f) and seemed to have been there for some time, in the world of BBQ this is known as the stall, its a period when the temp of the meat will seem to take an eternity to rise.
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| 8 hours in |
It will get thru this with enough time on the grill but as i've already been cooking this for around 8 hours and id like to eat at a reasonable time, i ve employed a method many refer to as the Texas Crutch,
This is simply to wrap the meat in foil to help tenderize it and to help speed up the cooking time
 |
| Texas Crutch |
I double wrapped the shoulder in foil and reinserted the meat probe, closed the lid and said goodbye to the meat for at least a few more hours.
At around 6:30pm the maverick showed an internal temperature of 93c (200f)
I was aiming for ideally around 95/96c (203-205f) so i got my cooler and filled it with water from a fresh boiled kettle to warm it ready for the meat to rest in
When the internal temp hit 205f i removed it from the grill and wrapped it in towels and placed it into my cooler (after emptying the water out of course!)
The meat can stay here for a few hours as it will stay warm and it allows the juices to redistribute thru the meat
I left the meat to rest for around an hour and when i removed it from the cooler and opened the foil this is what awaited me!
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| Shoulder after an hours rest in a cooler |
I removed the skin and strings then used my bear claws to shred the meat
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| Bear Claws |
These are by no means a necessity as this pork shoulder is so tender it could be pulled apart with two forks i just find these to be a little easier to hold and control making the job faster, also the fact that they are dirt cheap on amazon (or anywhere else on the net for that matter) there definitely worth the purchase
After a few minutes work with the bear claws the shoulder was pulled to perfection and looked like this
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| All Pulled! |
Perfectly juicy and well worth the work put in
Served on a soft roll with coleslaw and bbq sauce is the best way for many but this meat is so good that it can be eaten almost any way you could want!
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