Pork Shoulders

So Chef Butts got us two pork shoulders for this weekend. I picked them up Saturday afternoon at about 5 and started the process of cleaning and firing up the smoker. I figured these would take 12-14 hours so I ended up using the Minion Method for a long burn with steady temps.

The Minion Method consist of filling a chimney starter about 3/4 of the way full and then dumping pretty much the rest of the bag of charcoal, mixed with the variety and amount of whatever type of smoke would you choose, into the ring on a Weber Smokey Mountain smoker. I have the 22", so the 18" might not hold the rest of the entire bag. From there you light the coals in the chimney starter and when they're ready, you dump them on top of the coals in the smoker. The few coals that are lit will get the smoker up to about 250 degrees without getting it too hot and making it hard to bring the temperature down. They'll slowly light the coals underneath allowing for steady temps and a long cook time.

Now, onto the meat.

I trimmed the fat off the bottom then I did a basic dry rub on both; one with Weber's roasted garlic rub and one with McCormick's steak rub. I put the smaller one of the lower cooking rack since it has a lower temperature and then put the upper rack on and placed the larger shoulder on that. From there I let it eat...or heat you could say...(shut up, I like stupid puns.)

I only checked on it once and probably should have refilled the water pan at some point, but from starting cooking at 6:30 and closing the vents on the bottom just a little when it hit 250, I did nothing else until 8:30 the next morning. When I did check on them at about midnight the grill was still hover around 250. When I took them off in the morning with tongs, they literally fell apart on me from being so tender.

So the next morning I pulled them both apart with very little effort and created an Eastern North Carolina BBQ sauce for them.

What you need:
Apple Cider Vinegar
White Vinegar
Garlic (I used powder)
Crushed Red Pepper
Brown Sugar
Water

I'm horrible with measurements, so I used half and half cider and white vinegar then added the garlic, pepper, and brown sugar to taste. From there I cut it with just enough water to take the seriously bitter bite from the vinegar. After that, put it on a stove and bring it to a boil for about 10 minutes to get everything to meld together and then you should be good to go.