Superbowl Pork Shoulder

Date: February 7th 2016

The Superbowl pork shoulder was iconic for a couple reasons:

• Smoked shoulder of the year
• It was the best one to date

tldr;

17# shoulder smoked over Cherry @ 270 for 5 hours - wrapped and placed in oven for 2 hours.

Anyway here is the quick ingredients list:

• 17# pork shoulder (Costco) - $34

Injection

• Apple Juice Concentrate (Frozen)
• Cinnamon
• Garlic powder
• Salt/Pepper
• Cumin
• Red Wine Vinegar (half cup)

Rub

• Light dusting of Butt Rub. - Amazon
• Light dusting of Most Powerful Stuff - Amazon
• Light dusting of Zero to Hero - Amazon

Wood

Cherry Chips - Amazon

Smoker

Masterbuilt Electric - Amazon

Process

Start this one by give the shoulder a good trim. Removing excess outer fat etc. It was a boneless shoulder, which I do not prefer, but, it was decent looking.

Next was a rinse and dry, just run the should under water and rub it down, removing excess blood that has started to get sticky. Then pat dry.

Next I did an injection (ingredients above). Making sure to saturate this bad boy.

Then a light dusting of each of the above rubs, which will result in this but being pretty well covered in rub.

Smoked @ 270 for 5 hours uncovered with a water pan.

Pulled and put in oven covered for 2 more hours.

The result was wonderful. The shoulder had a great crust developed that had a nice mixture of the rubs present with the heavy cherry smoke. The crust had a very peppery bit to it, that was made a little easier by the caramelized sugars from the sweet rub.

The butt itself wasnt 100% fall apart tender, but, it turns out, thats ok. While the but did require a little more effort to shred, that provided with a much meatier or substantial bite. The meat didnt dissolve in your mouth totally, allowing you to get a great taste of the injection throughout.

In all this butt was a major success. I will be trying this recipe again over coals and logs.