Working on my BBQ game

Several years ago, I really started to get into BBQing. I guess more specifically I should say smoking.

From the time I was young, I can remember my dad grilling out on the charcoal grill. We never owned a gas grill, he is pushing 70 and still only uses charcoal.

Likewise, I have never bought a gas grill. I have owned one, but I never really use it. The one at our current house is tied to our natural gas line and has a side burner. That side burner is the only part of it I use.

About 10 years ago my old kettle grill was starting to fall apart. It was expensive for us at the time, but I was able to talk my wife into letting me buy a barrel grill with an offset smoker.

You can see it in the background of the picture here. Next to it is the gas grill I never use, and just to the side is the small grill we take camping.

I have toyed over the years with getting a gas or electric smoker because I know it is easier to moderate the temperature. There is something about smoking with charcoal that I just love though.

Besides the better flavor, it feels like more of an art, getting the right airflow to keep your internal temperature right where you want it. That is the part I really enjoy about it, and although other methods may be quicker and easier, I wouldn't stop using charcoal for anything.

In our old house, we used to live right around the corner from a meat shop, so it didn't take very much to run to the store and get a great piece of meat from the butcher. The picture at the top is one of the first upper pork shoulders I ever tried to smoke. If you are an avid smoker you can tell from the picture that it still had a ways to go before it was ready.

This picture below is one of the more recent ones I did:

I am certainly no expert, but I am getting better! Below is a picture after I pulled it all, I apologize for the poor image quality, it was very early in the morning by the time it was done and I didn't have many lights on.

The process was pretty simple, I rubbed down my pork shoulder the night before I was going to smoke it with a store bought pork rub. I then covered it in plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.

A short time before I started my grill going I pulled the shoulder out of the "fridge" so it could get a little closer to room temperature. To get my smoker ready, I put some coals in the smoker box along with some apple wood.

I like apple for pork because it gives it a little bit of sweetness. I then placed a pan full of water under the grates in the cooking area and placed the pork shoulder over that pan on the grates fat cap up.

After that, it was a delicate dance of keeping my temperature right where I wanted it around 225 degrees Fahrenheit. I let it go like that for about six to eight hours refilling the coals and wood as I needed.

I needed some sleep by that time and my smoker being kind of cheap doesn't hold the temperature like some better ones. I pulled the pork shoulder off the grates and put it in a pan, covered it with foil and finished it in the oven for another 4 hours or so at around 225 degrees. I have mixed feelings about finishing it in the oven because I know it can make the "bark" soggy, but when you have to sleep, you have to sleep!

When I woke in the morning I took it out of the oven and shredded the pork for lunch and dinner that day. The bone fell right out (that is a great sign) and everyone loved the end product.