Barbecues are one of the great rituals of summer, but a long season of them can easily lead to a case of grilling fatigue. You can only eat so many burgers/hot dogs/sausages before the magic is lost. But there are other things you can do with a charcoal grill. One solution is to slow-cook a tremendous hunk of meat, a pig’s shoulder in this case, which tastes great and looks really, really impressive.
1 4-8 lb. pork shoulder (picnic or butt)
6 tbsp brown sugar
5 tbsp chili powder
5 tbsp salt
3 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp cloves
1 tbsp dry mustard powder
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
Olive oil: a few splashes so the sauce will bond.
The difference between butt and picnic is as simple as top and bottom; together they comprise the upper and lower halves of the pig’s shoulder. Both have their benefits. The butt tends to be the bigger cut. But if you’re looking for spectacle go with the picnic, with its protruding leg bone. This makes it clear you’re working with a substantial cut of meat and grants the final product a rustic, caveman feel.
The spice rub here is far from an exact formula. The ingredients that appear in larger quantities are obviously essential: the salt, brown sugar and chili powder play an important part in the flavor of the rub. The other ingredients are effectively window dressing that can be adjusted to your taste. You can regulate as freely as you’d like, upping some ingredients and lowering (or removing) others to modulate which flavors come through. If balanced correctly you’ll get a little bit of all of them, a teeming profusion that makes the meat tingle with flavor.
Mix all the rub ingredients together in a bowl. Once this is finished, place the shoulder on a cutting board and find a very sharp knife. Use it to score whatever skin there is in a cross-hatched pattern, opening up narrow canyons which will allow the spice to get in and the juices to get out, assuring that the flavors of your rub won’t only be skin deep. This is especially important with the picnic cut, which tends to have a big pillow of skin and fat on the leg side. This part especially can be a huge struggle to cut through. On one occasion, when dealing with a particularly stubborn piece, I resorted to using a pair of cooking scissors, which were able to snip through the thick rind fairly easily.
Pat the shoulder down with a light coating of olive oil. Then roll up your sleeves (literally). To get the rub into all the nooks and crannies of the shoulder you need to vigorously grind it in. Imagine you’re giving a particularly spirited massage. Do this the entire shoulder is covered. Depending on the size of your shoulder, you’ll probably have some rub left over. Resist the temptation to pile it on and store for later use.
From here on the meat is pretty much on its own. Place it in a roasting pan, turn the heat to about 250 F and let sit in a very shallow layer of water, which will prevent it from burning or sticking to the pan. You can flip every so often to assure that both sides get equal treatment from the oven, but the shoulder tends to be unwieldy and the greasy water may splatter, so tread carefully if you take this step. It’s not really necessary. After about 4 hours of cooking, refreshing the water whenever it runs low, transfer to the grill.
If you’re not using a charcoal grill there’s no point in moving the shoulder; the only benefit it gets from this step is the cracked, burnt smokiness the coals will give the skin. For even more flavor, experiment with wood chips; I’ve had good experiences with hickory, in particular. If you lack a charcoal grill, the shoulder will still be perfectly fine without either of these steps.
Once on the grill, drain the remaining liquid from your roasting plan and place in a bowl, somewhere at hand, with a brush for application. This is your mop, which will keep the outside moist, add flavor, and, in the later stages, prevent the whole thing from bursting into flames. Apply the mop every 20 minutes or whenever the meat starts to look dry, carefully flipping the shoulder (figuring out how to do this without it collapsing is part of the fun) to assure an even scorch.
Grill for two to four hours; as long as you think the shoulder can withstand the heat. You can tell the meat is done when it begins to sag off the bone. The skin will be darkly crisp and the fat will have turned gummy and sweet. Carve and enjoy.
by Jesse Cataldo
