Pulled Pork On A Gas Grill

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Rub the shoulder with spices. Set it aside for a few minutes and rub again over any wet spots. Keep doing this until there are no wet spots, the heavier the rub, the better. This makes the “bark” of the shoulder. Wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap and fridge 12-24 hours.

Take shoulder out of fridge and let sit 60 minutes to bring the temp up.

You want indirect heat for cooking, you can easily do this on a conventional gas grill. Just keep the meat as far from the heat source as possible, or it will burn during the long cooking time. You want to cook this at 250 degrees Fahrenheit; you can go as high as 275, but no higher. You don’t want to go lower than 250, as you will start to dry out the meat before it is cooked.

Put the shoulder on the “cool side” of the grill, and place a disposable pan with a couple of cups of apple juice underneath it. A spray bottle with 50/50 apple juice and cider vinegar is nice for basting, as well.

I like to use apple chips, soaked, for smoking. Add 1/2 to a disposable tin pan over the “hot” side of your gill, every 30 minutes for the first 3 hours.

If you don’t trust your on-board thermometer, get a cheap instant read (or better, a digital probe) and stick the probe all the way through a halved potato. Set the potato cut-side down on the grill. This keeps your thermometer off the grates.

After three to four hours, remove the shoulder from your grill, wrap in foil, and roast in a pre-heated oven at 250d for 3-4 hours. The pork is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 195 degrees. If you don’t have an instant read thermometer (you should really get one) the meat is done when it pulls apart easily with a fork.

Let the shoulder rest at least 30 minutes (45 is better) before shredding. This allows the juices to soak back into the meat. Serve with a sauce on the side (see below) and some white bread slices to use as edible napkins!

Or, serve with white bread and coleslaw and make sandwiches out of all (that’s how we do it down south.)
Pulled Pork Tips:

1. Cook with fat-cap up
2. Marinate, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 8 hours (12-24 is best)
3. For all-oven cooking, cook at 225d for 8-10 hours, or until internal temp reaches 195d

Perk’s “Burnin’ Love” Rub (secret!)

¼ C coarse sea salt
¼ C light brown sugar
2 Tbs garlic powder
2 Tbs onion powder
4 Tbs Italian seasonings (spicy, if you can find them)
2 Tbs smoked paprika
1 Tbs coarse black pepper
1 Tbs ground white pepper
1 Tbs hickory salt
1 teaspoon cayenne powder

Basic BBQ Sauce (my cheater version)

1 cup favorite bbq (Stubbs or Sweet Baby Rays Brown Sugar)
½ cup cider vinegar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 stick sweet cream butter
Red pepper flakes to taste

Combine all, simmer and allow to cool.