# Smoking Pork Shoulder



## SuburbanSmoking (Nov 23, 2017)

Franklin,
     First I enjoy your show. Your inspiration helped me decide to tackle a big chunk of pork. In Denver we have a few technical problems we had to overcome. Roasting a roast in a charcoal grill is fraught with things which could go wrong. Cooking at 5280 feet above sea level will extend my cooking time a bit. Water boils here at a lower temperature. It's November so the temperature may also make the cooking time lower. Cooking in suburbia means I just torment my neighbors noses. Beginning with the rub.
    The idea of using an old seasoning shaker was pure genius. I've made rubs before but they were always in a bowl and usually afterwards we just threw out the leftovers because my hands were on the meat and back in the bowl and...well, sanitation prevented me from keeping the bowl. The shaker solved this problem for me and saved spices.
    Turning to my grill, it is only three feet long with a hinged middle rack. I figured the way to smoke this roast was to load the entire charcoal bay with mesquite infused charcoal. I'd stack them so we had plenty of time. Nine pounds of pork roast at 350 degrees would take an estimated nine hours of smoking. This meant I'm up at five A.M. rubbing and setting the grill in an effort to serve by three P.M. for Thanksgiving. The grill could be baffled if I wrapped a couple of grates in aluminum foil on the left and left one open of the right.
     We don't use charcoal fluid....I'm kind of a purist like that. Using a chimney starter I could avoid the weird petroleum taste. Dumping the started coals on the left, opening the vents on the left and shutting the vents on the right would let the coals burn slowly and smoke sufficiently. The grill has a temp gauge but I realize that's a S.W.A.G. at best. We have extra charcoal, if it burns too quick. One other part from your show which stuck with me was "If you are looking, you are NOT cooking..." so, without further delay I put the port on the elevated middle rack more to the left than right. Cut some cross cuts on the fat layer so the fat would render, put the fat side up and closed the hatch.
    I'll post again if I needed to add charcoal pork we just finish the roast. Wish me luck as I wait another seven hours. In the grill by six A.M. and now we just wait.


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## tallbm (Nov 23, 2017)

Hi there and welcome!


I'm not sure Aaron Franklin frequents these forums very much but I'm sure he would appreciate being your inspiration :)

Best of luck and Happy Thanksgiving!


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