# Smoked Pork Shoulder



## JoePolvino (21/3/08)

I'm not sure how popular smoking meat is in Australia, but it has been very popular in the U.S. for some time. One of my favorite smoked foods is what is referred to as Pulled Pork. There is a regional variety (from the Carolinas) where you dry rub a large pork shoulder, and then use indirect charcoal grilling for 8-10 hours, adding a vinegar-based mop sauce occasionally, and also beer-dampened hickory wood chips. The resulting meat is black on the outside, with a purple-ish smoke tinge for the first centimeter or so. The meat can be easily pulled apart and then piled high on rolls.

Here is one recipe, and


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## Ducatiboy stu (21/3/08)

Im hungry.........


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## capretta (21/3/08)

hahaha that was the funniest youtube ever! pron music and that guys voice was priceless..
"you wanna get that boston butt niiiiice and moist!"

12 hours? my mrs would have killed me from hunger before then, but i dont think i have seen anything similar in real life so cheers for the heads up!


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## kook (21/3/08)

Smoking is very uncommon. I spoke with a few BBQ stores and they sell about 1 or 2 smokers a year, compared to hundreds of BBQ's (gas grills as they're called in the US).

I've owned a WSM (vertical smoker) for a few months now, about to do my first pork butt on Sunday.

Hard bit is that over here you there is no variety in the wood chunks available. Weber brand Hickory, and thats it. There are a few chips available too but I find these burn far too quickly on a smoker, especially if you are doing a 9-12hr smoke with a meat like pork shoulder.


edit - Oh, and because there is no demand and the stores don't sell many, they're very expensive. Think $550 USD for a vertical smoker!


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## Ducatiboy stu (21/3/08)

You want IronBark if you can get it...probably the best flavoured smoke of any Aussie ( and the world ) timbers

And it burns nice and hot for a long time and is ideal for spits and smoking...


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## kook (21/3/08)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> You want IronBark if you can get it...probably the best flavoured smoke of any Aussie ( and the world ) timbers
> 
> And it burns nice and hot for a long time and is ideal for spits and smoking...



Ironbark is generally used as a fuel though isnt it? An american smoker users charcoal as the fuel. To use fresh timber in a smoker you first need to start a fire with it and turn it into coals, as it burns too hot to put straight in the smoker.

I'm going to start calling around some orchards soon in the hope of sourcing some apple wood that I can cut up into chunks, I'll try to source some ironbark at the same time.


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## NRB (21/3/08)

The voice in that YouTube video is hilarious - I kept thinking of Hugo Weaving in _The Matrix_... "Mr Anderson..." LOL.


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## Ducatiboy stu (21/3/08)

kook said:


> Ironbark is generally used as a fuel though isnt it? An american smoker users charcoal as the fuel. To use fresh timber in a smoker you first need to start a fire with it and turn it into coals, as it burns too hot to put straight in the smoker.
> 
> I'm going to start calling around some orchards soon in the hope of sourcing some apple wood that I can cut up into chunks, I'll try to source some ironbark at the same time.



The good thing about Iron bark is that it is a fuel, turns into nice charcoal and also gives off great smoke. You wont need much of an iron bark fire to keep the heat and smoke up...The trick with Iron bark is to add small peices every 1-2hrs, depending on the heat...


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## kook (21/3/08)

What I'm saying is though - Vertical smokers of this type such as in the video aren't intended to work with raw timber as a fuel. The heat generated as they initially burn will remove the enamel coating on both the unit itself and the waterpan. Plus, they are designed to work at a very low temperature (105-120 degrees celcius), so using raw fuel will go against the whole idea of the slow cook.

To use ironbark as a fuel, you'd need to have a seperate fire going reducing the timber to charcoal, then adding the hot coals into the smoker every 4-5hrs as required to maintain the heat.


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## Thirsty Boy (21/3/08)

I think that what Stu is saying is that as fuel (for spits etc) iron bark is a great hot burning long lasting fuel (and he's definitely right) AND as only a smoke source it also has great flavour. In the spit situation you get faster cooking and a little of the wood flavour, in the smoker sitch... slower cooking and lots of smoke flavour.

Versatile and I'm going to try this big time... I'm also looking into how to build a slow smoker for doing up smoked salamis/sausages, hams, prosciuttos etc etc.

As a teaser I was looking for smokers on the web the other day and I saw this one that might appear to the DIY sentiment that a lot of homebrewers seem to have. The low heat means you can get away without using terribly robust material.

here's a couple of others - fancy one, A bucket 'o'death style smoker which is a really versatile and neat looking design

Thirsty


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## Wasabi (22/3/08)

kook said:


> Hard bit is that over here you there is no variety in the wood chunks available. Weber brand Hickory, and thats it. There are a few chips available too but I find these burn far too quickly on a smoker, especially if you are doing a 9-12hr smoke with a meat like pork shoulder.



It will probably kill me, but I have used wattle seed pods, wattle bark and wattle wood for smoking. I smoked a John Dory and some sausages that way and they came up fantastic, but it's a VERY strong flavour so you want to either cold smoke, or smoke it only slightly. That's why I think it is better for fish, because the fish "cooks" quicker.


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## Ducatiboy stu (22/3/08)

Thirsty Boy said:


> _I think that what Stu is saying is that as fuel (for spits etc) iron bark is a great hot burning long lasting fuel (and he's definitely right) AND as only a smoke source it also has great flavour. In the spit situation you get faster cooking and a little of the wood flavour, in the smoker sitch... slower cooking and lots of smoke flavour.
> _
> 
> Thirsty




Correct...

A good way to do it is to start your fire first, then place a shovel full of coals under/in the smoker.You will get an initial burst of heat, but it will cool down enough after a short time. Definatly do not have an Ironbark fire directly in the enclosed smoker. Wait for it to get down to coals, then whack you smoker on it...

You could also try putting some Ironbark saw dust in a metal dish on top of your run-of-the-mill boring BBG charcoal, as it will smoke up nicely and smoulder without the extra heat


Now ...as for camp ovens..... :icon_drool2: .......


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## Duff (22/3/08)

Thirsty Boy said:


> As a teaser I was looking for smokers on the web the other day and I saw this one that might appear to the DIY sentiment that a lot of homebrewers seem to have. The low heat means you can get away without using terribly robust material.



Nice find Thirsty, thanks.


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## Adric Hunter (3/4/08)

Ive never realy thought about smoking my own meat before but hey it sounds like fun


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## kook (4/4/08)

Been meaning to post these pics from Easter Sunday...





Rubbed lightly with mustard then a dry rub (Paprika, Cumin, Black Pepper, Salt, Celery Seeds) the night before, then again in the morning. On the smoker and ready to go.




After about 10 hrs of smoking, falling apart




Left to rest for an hour wrapped in foil (while the ribs finished) in an esky. Pulled apart by hand then shredded with two forks.

Tasted bloody brilliant, and the photos don't really show how bloody big it is. It was a 4.5kg slab of meat!


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## Thirsty Boy (4/4/08)

Mate that looks fantastic... gotta try it now


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## barfridge (11/12/08)

Has anyone ever tried bourbon chips as the smoking wood?

Is oak ok to start with, and would any of the bourbon flavour come through?


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## Thirsty Boy (12/12/08)

not so much bourbon chips... but a variation.

i got a bag of mixed chips from BBQs galore (apple, mesquite, oak) the poultry mix, and I used it to smoke a pork belly. When i soaked the chips in water, I put in a liberal splash of wild turkey.....

Not too sure of it came through very strongly in the flavour, but you could smell it in the smoke whenever you put in a new batch of chips.

I will have to post a picture of my smoker.... I decided those trash can smokers were too fancy for me, so I went really ghetto and built mine out of a carboard box. Just like the trashcan ones I have an electric hotplate int hebottom for heat and smoke generation and I control the heat with my RIMS systems PID controller.

No room in my two bedroom flat for brewing gear, cheesemaking gear, sausage making gear - AND a permanent smoker (not if I want to stay married at any rate) so.. they need to be consolidated. The hotplate gets a guernsey in the cheesemaking and the brewing, the temp controller has a go at all three and the smoker... well the smoker is an assembly of bits that are used elsewhere and the cardboard box bit of it folds flat and gets hidden behind the BBQ.

Next thing on the agenda is some farm style German smoked sausages for Christmas at my relos place (German heritage) Bauernbratwurst - poach em in beer and then BBQ to finish. With homemade sourkraut and potato salad.

Wash em down with my lebkuchen spiced maibock....

mmmm Christmas food.

TB


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## Mercs Own (13/12/08)

Manuka (from NZ) is a nice wood to use for smoking - although I havent seen it in any of the BBQ stores. Any one know where to get some?


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## fraser_john (14/12/08)

I think there is a business waiting to happen......mesquite is a weed in Queensland and it produces a lovely smoke, as the Americans on the board will tell you! You could probably get subsidies to go cut the trees/saplings down, the make large chunks out of the wood and sell it to BBQ stores!

Yes, the americans use charcoal to produce the heat, but they then use wood chunks, often soaked in water to prevent from flaming up to produce the smoke. You smoke for 10-12 hours so it is a very slow cook, making the meat super tender.

And a BBQ is NOT the same as a grill in the US! A grill cooks meat fast and "grills" the outside, a BBQ is exclusively used for slow cooking and smoking.


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## SDJ (21/12/08)

Theres a few of us that smoke meat and cheese and other stuff  
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=379840


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## shmick (23/12/08)

Mercs Own said:


> Manuka (from NZ) is a nice wood to use for smoking - although I havent seen it in any of the BBQ stores. Any one know where to get some?



I'm not sure if they have it down South but I picked up a bag of Manuka (& acacia?) blend from Bunnings a few weeks ago on NSW Central Coast.
I think it was Bushman Blend (?) or similar with a yellow label.
They also sell the same brand 'starter' kit for hooded gas bbq's with a small stainless box and bag of chips ready to go. I bought one of these a while back just out of curiosity and got hooked. The only problem I found was the box had holes in the bottom which I had to cover to stop the chips bursting into flame instead of smoking. Cheap way to get addicted.


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## mikem108 (24/12/08)

82,400,996 Germans can't be wrong


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