25th Q: Lemon Peppered Pork Shoulder Roast HNF 6H [w/ pr0n]

Last weeks pork was such a huge success, it just had to be done again! :smile:

So I got another pork shoulder roast with a weight of 9.92 lbs, which I left completely untrimmed.







Inspired by the info provided in the pepper thread I was very excited to try that lemon pepper on pork, so I got a four-peppers-blend consisting of green, white, and black pepper corns + red berries and three natural lemons for that purpose.



Grated zest of three lemons



The peppers blend



Peppers pestled in mortar



The resulting lemon pepper mixture



The final lemon pepper rub with added iodized medium-coarse sea salt



The remaining rub went into the freezer to preserve the lemon zest



The well rubbed pork shoulder roast (I really tried to not overdo it this time)



Natural Lemon Tree Lump Charcoal with six small pieces of apple wood buried in the charcoal ring lit Minion style



Pork shoulder roast on upper grate of my WSM



If you should be wondering why Minion for HNF, the idea was to let it hit IT 165°F LNS starting at about 225°F slowly rising to ~280°F and then give it all the WSM is capable of after foiling, so smoking phase LNS and finishing HNF.

The pork was ready for foiling in apple juice after 4 hours and 7 minutes (the Maverick was counting down the first 3 hours, then counting up till finished)







After foiling I had to leave for our usual Saturday afternoon shopping, which was the first time I had to let a fire unattended. When we came back, IT was already at 212°F :shock:

So it was put into the oven at 200°F for resting after a total cooking time of 6 hours.





Luckily the pork was unharmed, and this is what it looked like after resting:













And the final product: Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Yogurt-based Coleslaw (w/o Mayonnaise)





What can I say, this pulled pork was FREAKING FANTASTIC! It had it all, the complexity of the 4-peppers-blend and the slight fruity touch from the lemon zest was just awesome, and because I left the peppers pretty coarse this time it was not too hot for kids & wife.

Lemon Pepper it is! :mrgreen:

Yes, it indeed was that great, and it's amazing how an already good result can be topped again and again. I just HAVE to do it again this weekend, the wife demands it! :mrgreen:

The next pork shoulder roast is already ordered, hopefully they have a larger piece for me when I pick it up tomorrow.

Interestingly this kind of cut is better suited than the formerly used pork neck without bone without speck, and it's much easier to handle, because I don't have to trim anything at all (I think the money muscle of the pork neck is overrated anyway). I put it on with side A (as seen in the second picture) facing downwards, and side B offers a lot of surface for building up bark and smoke ring. Foiling in apple juice also works very well, specially with the temp bumped up for the HNF finish.

BTW Having tried now a lot of different types of bun for the pulled pork sandwiches, my favorite is my wife's self made pita bread, which adds an extra touch to the finished product. The combination of lemon peppered pork + vinegar based sauce + yogurt based coleslaw + self-made pita bread is just PERFECT, because each part of it reaches 100% on the scale! :smile:

MS2SB said:

Care to share a little more about the yogurt coleslaw?

Click to expand...

I don't really have a clue, will have to ask the wife, who didn't like the original recipe with mayonnaise (too much unnecessary fat), so she substituted it with a Greek style yogurt with 10% fat. The result is unbelievably good, and nobody will ever wish mayonnaise back again.