Smoked Pork Shoulder

I didn't eat pork for years due to my acquisition of a pet pig at the age of 11. You just don't want to eat ham when you play with it every day. However, when I was 25 I tried a stuffed pork loin at a Thanksgiving party, and I've never looked back. I'm particularly obsessed with smoking pork. Tonight, I'm working with a smoked pork shoulder.



I chose a 4 and 1/2 pound in-bone free-range pork shoulder. I purchased it in netting, and I opted to leave the net on for smoking. This leaves the pork shoulder with a nice shape when you're done. If you want to take the netting off, though, that works, too.



I used applewood chips to smoke the pork. I took the applewood chips and soaked them in a 1:1 mixture of Boddington's Ale and water for 30 minutes. I then drained the chips and wrapped them in a foil pouch and poked holes in it.



This is an easy way to smoke meat without a smoker. All I have is a cheap propane grill, so I place it like so:


I smoked the pork for about 6 hours, keeping it on low, indirect heat (a temp between 225 and 250 degrees F is ideal) I basted it with a cider vinegar and broth mix every 45 minutes:



I removed the roast when it hit 165F in the center. I let it rest for 30 minutes wrapped in foil before carving: