Smoked Pork Shoulder

This was probably the easiest pork shoulder I’ve smoked in a while. I was at Sprouts the other day and saw $.99/pound shoulders, so thought I’d smoke one. It was already pretty trimmed, but I cut away the rest of the bigger fat chunks. I then lathered it with French’s mustard. As for the rub, one of the owners of 18th and Vine in Dallas gave me a bunch of the rib rub that they use in the restaurant. I put that all over the shoulder.

At that point, I got the smoker going with pecan wood. I was aiming for 250, but was a bit cooler than that when I put the meat on.

At the 4 hour mark, I sprayed some apple cider vinegar on it to keep it moist. At 8 hours, the internal temperature was only 165-170. It was already 11:00 pm, so I wrapped it in foil and finished it off for an hour in the Breville toaster oven to get it to 190. That gave it the good crust I wanted and it pulled very easily once it cooled off a bit.

Overall, that rub with the mustard gave it a really good flavor.
I usually make my own rubs, but this saved me some time. And for anyone in a time crunch, once you have enough smoke, it’s quicker to finish off in the oven and you don’t lose any flavor or texture.

Looks great

Greatness. I prefer it to brisket.

That's how I can tell you didn't grow up here.

looks great! I often will smoke for 6-10 hours depending on size, then put in a crock pot to finish ...