Ingredients

12 pounds Heritage Breed Bone-in Pork Shoulder

1 quart Apple Juice

1 cup Turbinado Sugar

1 cup White Sugar

2 cups Kosher Salt

1 cup Coarse Grind Black Pepper (Chef Grind 16)

1 cup Smoked Hungarian Paprika

1/3 cup Granulated Garlic

1/4 cup Granulated Onion

2 tablespoons Cumin

4 tablespoons Red Chili Flakes

2 tablespoons Cayenne Pepper

1 tablespoon Cinnamon

1 tablespoon Curry Powder

1 tablespoon Coriander (Ground)

4 tablespoons Mustard Powder

1 tablespoon Allspice

1 dash Fresh Sage

1 dash Fresh Thyme

1/4 cup Honey

1/4 cup Butter

2 cloves Fresh Chopped Garlic

1 clove Shallot

1.5 cups Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 cup Parkay Margarine

1/8 cup Hot Honey

.5 cup Brown Sugar

2 tablespoons Blackstrap Molasses

4 tablespoons Soy Sauce

4 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

.5 cup Dijon Mustard

Preparation

Take butter, chop shallot and garlic and reduce to translucent state for brining liquid

Add apple juice, .5 cups of cider vinegar and warm, while stirring in 1 cup White sugar, the brown sugar, .5 cup of the salt molasses and 4 tablespoons of Pork rub

Bring to a boil and then add 1 cup Ice to cool mixture down, blend until fully incorporated and thin

Set aside brine/injection to cool

BBQ Pork Rub

Toast coriander, cinnamon, curry, cumin and allspice in a warm pan until aromatic

Add to spice grinder and pulse until coarse powder remains

Combine Turbinado Sugar, 1.5 cups of Kosher Salt, Pepper, remaining white sugar, sage, thyme, paprika, chili flakes, cayenne and granulated garlic and onion into a large bowl

Add toasted spices from spice grinder and incorporate fully

Taste for quality, if more salt is needed, add to taste but rub should be sweet, salty and have a spiced finish, other spices have a small note for depth

Set aside, makes enough rub for 2 full size shoulders for 4 racks spare ribs

Take Pork Shoulder and remove from cryo vac packaging, rinse with cool water and then dry thoroughly

Take small needle or injector and cooled brine and inject pork all over, final product should be quite full and turgid

Take left over brine and rub lightly over the outside of the pork with mustard and worcestshire sauce

Take BBQ Pork Rub and season liberally, don’t grind the seasoning in just season

Wrap injected and rubbed pork shoulder in food wrap then put in refrigerator for a minimum of 8 hours, no more than 24

When ready to smoke, remove pork should one hour before from fridge to get it to room temperature

Prepare a smoker between 215-235 Degrees Fahrenheit with apple and cherry wood (either chips, logs or pellets) whatever your smoker uses

Add pork to Smoker and leave for 2 hours without checking

After 2 hours combine 1 cup apple cider vinegar, remaining white sugar (should be .5 cup or so), leftover injection and 4 table spoons of rub and bring to a boil, this will become our mop

At hour 3 take warm mop sauce and start basting, this is supposed to be runny and vinegary

Baste liberally at every 30 minute interval until pork reach an internal temperature of 165 Degrees

At this point take heavy duty foil and form a boat around the shoulder, mop liberally and pour melted margarine and hot honey mixture over the shoulder

Wrap tightly and return to smoker, raise smoker temperature to 250 degrees

At this point we should be about 6-7 hours in depending on your smokers ability to hold temp and size of pork, don’t worry if its slower or a little faster, they all cook a little differently

Leave pork to cook until internal temp reads 198-200 degrees internal, pull pork and vent foil

Once vented for 10-15 minutes, rewrap tightly and put in a 170 degree oven or WARM cooler with towel to rest for 1-2 hours

Meantime make a quick sauce by taking mop sauce and adding 1/4 cup honey, 1/8 cup mustard and 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire to existing mixture

Bring to a boil and then reduce and simmer for 30 minutes to thicken and combine ingredients fully, finish with immersion blender or heavy whisk to fully incorporate. Note: if you like a spicier sauce add 1 tablespoon cayenne and two tablespoons red chili flakes to this mixture while boiling

Remove pork from cooler or oven and vent again, move to a pan or place to start pulling chunks and removing some front portions of the shoulder to highlight

Take the “money muscle” (google it) portion of the should and slice into 1/2 inch round slices, arrange in the center of a serving platter

Pull chunks of the pork and throw away the bone, it should pull out with little to no effort

Arrange pulled chunks around the sliced portions and lightly drizzle the mop sauce across the platter

Serve the platter with reserved sauce and warm honey rolls

EAT, you’ve earned it!