Robb's Pit-Style Pork Roast
Submitted by gwyvern
Pit-style pork shoulder roast smoked over hickory wood chips with a tangy mustard-vinegar BBQ sauce. Slow-grilled for 3 hours using indirect heat until falling-apart tender.
YIELD
10 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
3 hrsREADY
4 hrsThis pit-style pork shoulder gets the full low-and-slow treatment on a charcoal grill with soaked hickory wood chips for real smoke flavor. Three hours of indirect heat turns a tough shoulder cut into something tender enough to pull apart with a fork.
The mustard sauce is a South Carolina-style mop: apple cider vinegar, prepared mustard, sugar, chili peppers, Worcestershire, and butter simmered together. It goes on during the last hour of grilling, building up a sticky, tangy glaze that caramelizes on the bark.
Let the sauce rest for at least an hour after cooking. The flavors mellow and the vinegar’s sharp edge rounds out.
Pro Tips
- Soak your wood chips for a full hour. Dry chips flare up and burn fast instead of smoldering into steady smoke.
- Use a drip pan under the meat. The rendered pork fat hitting hot coals causes flare-ups and bitter, sooty smoke.
- Keep the grill temp low. If you can hold your hand over the grate for 4-5 seconds, you’re in the right zone. Hotter than that and the outside dries out before the inside gets tender.
- Don’t brush the sauce on before the last hour. Sugar burns, and three hours of direct sauce contact turns it black and bitter.
Variations
- Skip the grill and use a smoker set to 225°F (107°C) for a more hands-off approach.
- Swap the mustard sauce for a vinegar-and-red-pepper Eastern Carolina style mop.
- Pull the pork after cooking and pile it on buns with coleslaw for classic pulled pork sandwiches.
Ingredients
Directions
At least one hour before grilling, soak wood chips in enough water to cover.
Drain wood chips. Prepare mustard sauce as directed below.
In covered grill, arranged preheated coals around drip pan; test for low heat above pan.
Sprinkle 4 cups of the wood chips over coals.
Insert a meat thermometer into thickest part of meat, without touching fat or bone.
On grill rack, place meat over pan but not over coals.
Grill, covered, 3 hours or until well-done or 170 degrees F.
Adjust vents and add more charcoal and wood chips as necessary.
Brush often with sauce during the last hour.
Prepare sauce by combining all ingredients in 1-quart saucepan.
Over high heat, heat to boiling.
Reduce heat to low; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes, stirring often.
Let stand at least 1 hour before serving.
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