Thankfully, I have what all pork shoulders want... an Original Bradley Smoker. If you want to know more about the Bradley, check out their website.
If there is any portion of your mind that thinks you can benefit from one of these, go for it. There will be no regrets. The OBS will only set you back about $300, but it will soon pay for itself turning cheap cuts of pork into a freezer full of the BEST STUFF EVER.
Think about everything you can smoke - turkey, chicken, ribs, sausage, brisket, salmon, salt, nuts and so much more. You can even cold smoke, which imparts flavor without cooking. Think ham or BACON!
As much as I'd love to write the entire blog about my love for my OG Bradley Smoker, this is about .89 pork shoulder.
If you've never purchased a pork shoulder (or pork butt or Boston butt), it could be something that you think you want to shy away from. It's not pretty. It's topped with a layer of fat and skin and, truthfully, may be the only piece of pork in the entire case that allows you to visualize it as still being part of Porky Pig.
Buy at least 2. I should have purchased 3 because Philip (proclaimed pork shoulder hater) announced plans he had made for the pulled meat I was about to score.
Put them in some type of marinade or dry rub 24 hours before t-time. You can buy something off the shelf or search the Internet for one of the endless recipes. Score the fat without cutting into the meat and get the party started.
My butts were supposed to go into the smoker early Sunday morning for slow, all-day cooking, so I started my marinade process Saturday AM. Philip thought ahead about the weather, though, and learned we were forecast for an entire day of rain on Sunday. Plan B! We were thrust into getting the meat on the smoker PRONTO. Mine only had about 5 hours with the marinade, but I had no other options. This is probably a good time to mention that you can't use your OBS indoors.
My larger butt (heh) was given my favorite traditional dry rub method. It's a secret, though, so don't even ask.
My smaller butt (heh heh) was my guinea pig. A wet marinade. Cubano style. Mojo, baby. I like to think of it as practice for my next purchase - the Cuban cooking vessel, La Caja China.
My smoke was a mix of apple and hickory. I know, right. The idea of pork smoked with apple and hickory just made you salivate. It's okay. I did, too.
I smoked for about 5 hours before I had to pull it and finish in the oven. The picture above shows the process only after a couple of hours. For those of you who aren't familiar, you CAN (and should) finish the entire cooking process in the OBS. You just can't do it if it's raining. So, instead of pulling an all-nighter with my smoker on the deck, I brought them in, wrapped them in heavy duty foil and put them into a 200 degree oven.
This morning, I awoke to pure happiness in pork form.
The BBQ style is above and the Cuban style is on the right.
After it was cool enough to handle, I gave my hands a surgeon's scrub and went to work. The top layer of skin/fat is super gross, but it comes off in one big hunk. The bone slips out of the shoulder and the meat is left to pull with little other cleaning needed. Sometimes you do have to remove a bit of fat or gristle. Just try not to think about it.
The finished product is WORTH it.
After it was cool enough to handle, I gave my hands a surgeon's scrub and went to work. The top layer of skin/fat is super gross, but it comes off in one big hunk. The bone slips out of the shoulder and the meat is left to pull with little other cleaning needed. Sometimes you do have to remove a bit of fat or gristle. Just try not to think about it.
The finished product is WORTH it.
