Smoked Picnic Shoulder
Equipment
- Pellet Grill or Smoker
- Apple or cherry pellets
Ingredients
- 1 Pork picnic shoulder
- Whole cloves
Glaze
- ½ c light brown sugar
- ½ c molasses
- ½ c bourbon
Instructions
- Preheat your pellet grill or smoker to 225 °F
- While the grill is heating, rinse and pat dry the pork and then trim the pork shoulder, leaving half the skin on. Trim off excess fat, but don't get picky. A long, slow cook will let the fat render off, basting and enhancing the cut in the process
- Score the shoulder diagonally both ways, creating 1" squares.
- At cut intersections, insert 1 whole clove.
- Place the shoulder in the smoker directly on the grates. Smoke at 225 degrees for 8 hours, or until a meat probe reads 155 °F
- To make the glaze, add ½ c light brown sugar, ½ c molasses, ½ c bourbon to medium sauce pan and heat over medium low heat until boiling. Allow to reduce slightly.
- During the last 10 degrees of cooking, mop the ham every 15 to 20 minutes with the glaze.
- Once the ham temperature reaches 165 °F, remove it from heat, cover with foil and let rest for 45 minutes before serving.
Notes
There's debate about leaving the skin on the shoulder or off the shoulder. It doesn't really matter, but I'll usually take half off and leave the bottom half to keep the underside of the shoulder from charring.