And it reminds me of pork shoulder!
I think I have finally gone the way of the needle. After doing this shoulder with an injection I think this is not only a great way to prepare a piece of meat for smoking but it makes for some pretty damn good bbq too. I have actually done two shoulders with injections since the new year and I will definitely be doing it a third time. The injection did a good job of keeping the shoulder really juicy throughout along with providing a lot of flavor directly to the meat.
The injection was pretty simple and found online (supposedly Chris lilly's). Just heat the wet stuff on low and stir in the dry ingredients until dissolved. It makes enough to thoroughly do 1 whole 10lb+ shoulder or two 6-8 lber's lightly. I emphasize thoroughly because both times I was left with probably close to half of the injection despite pumping them to the verge of rupture.
Pork injection
3/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
Time to Prepare the meat.
Today's cut is a 8.11lb Bone in Pork shoulder, I just lightly trimmed excess fat from the cap.
Time for a quick mustard massage... followed by a dusting or the top secret rub and a few shots.
Here are some action shots of me breaking in el cheapo injector. I figured for the price it was worth a try I will definitely invest in higher quality injector in the future but for now I will probably use these as "disposable" units.
One of the really nice parts about injections is there is no waiting. You can literally finish prepping the shoulder and go straight to the smoker. I might try letting one sit over night but I have a feeling it might make the meat a bit too salty and too strongly flavored. You may end up losing the delicious pork flavor that makes really good bbq what it is. If there is one BIG thing I have learned so far its that less is definitely more. You may have noticed that there have been less and less photos taken throughout the cooking process. The reason for that is the fact I am never taking the lid off of the smoker unless the thing spontaneously combusts. Honestly the only time the smoker even gets more air than it should is when im adding wood chunks or topping off the water pan. So far this decision has exponentially improved the final product so im going to stick with it. I might try and sneak some picture in of the next few smokes at the halfway point but it will be purely educational.
After 14 hours of cooking at 225* the bone slides out cleanly!
This was an AWESOME pork shoulder. By far my best so far and I will credit that to two thing. Number one the injection, I truly believe this made a huge difference in the taste of finished product. Number two was rock solid temperature control. This is partly based on the fact the wsm is an incredibly simple yet incredibly effecting smoking device along with a more experienced user operating it. This was my very first overnight smoke! I started it the smoker around midnight and had the meat in the smoker around 1:30am I put the shoulder in the smoker with the temperature around 220* and watched for about an hour, it seemed to be holding so I hit the hay. Probably slept until around 4am before going outside to check and add some more wood chunks but other than that I basically checked on the fire ever 3-4 hours and rode it out. Definitely a nice way to smoke, who doesn't want to wake up to a freshly smoked pork shoulder?!?!
So what did I learn?
first of all injections are awesome! I will definitely be using and experimenting more with injections especially when making pulled pork. I think it could work well in a brisket application as well but seeing has I have never smoked a brisket I am really talking out of my ass on that one.
Secondly this was the first time using a new rub which was actually really good. It was definitely more to my liking than the precious one we were testing and experimenting with. This one provided a more traditional bbq flavor and seemed to go better with the meat without overpowering it with spice.
One last thing!!!
ABT's were kind of an after thought for this smoke. In fact I didn't even get any pictures of them once they came off because we were eating them before they even made it into the house haha.
So for your viewing pleasure here is a random picture from the middle of ABT prep.... the only record that these ever even existed...
I think im going to start weighing myself and checking in every post. Although the signs are mild im pretty sure I have gotten a little bit more fluffy than when I started all of this.
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