This recipe is a happy accident; I meant to bring you a pork loin roast today, but I confused my wife* by asking for a "blade end" pork loin roast; she brought home a blade shoulder roast instead.
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*If you're looking for a rotisserie pork loin recipe, click here.
Pork shoulder (often called "boston butt", or in this case " blade shoulder") is my favorite cut from the pig, so I wasn't very upset about this mistake. Pork shoulder, unlike the very lean pork loin, has a lot of fat in it. This helps it cook up nice and juicy, even when you cook it well done. And you must cook it to well done - there's a lot of connective tissue in there with the fat. If you don't cook it enough, that connective tissue makes this a very tough cut of meat. But...if you get the connective tissue to melt (by cooking to AT LEAST 180*F), the result is tender, melt in your mouth porky goodness.
The rotisserie adds a crispiness to the outside of the roast that...well, Diane put it best while we were eating:
"Oh, my. This is soooooo good. It's like bacon on the outside, and juicy on the inside."
Recipe: Rotisserie Pork Shoulder Roast
Equipment
- Grill with Rotisserie attachment (I use a Weber Summit with an infrared rotisserie burner. Here is the current version of my grill.)
- Aluminum foil drip pan (9“x13”, or whatever fits your grill. I use an enameled steel roasting pan.)
- Butchers twine
- Instant Read Thermometer
Rotisserie Pork Shoulder Roast
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 8-12 1x
Description
Rotisserie Pork Shouder, brined, then spit-roast on the rotisserie. Crispy on the outside, tender and shreddable on the inside.
Ingredients
- 3-4 lb Boneless Pork Shoulder Roast, trimmed of any excess fat
Brine
- 3 quarts water
- ¾ cup table salt (1.5 cups kosher salt)
- ¼ cup brown sugar
Rub
- 1 teaspoon whole coriander seed
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest or dried lemon peel
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Brine the pork: In a large container, stir the salt and sugar into the water until dissolved. Add the pork and refrigerate for 3-8 hours.
- Prepare and rest the roast: One hour before cooking, mix the rub ingredients in a small bowl. Remove the pork from the brine, and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the rub evenly over the entire roast, working it into any nooks, crannies, and seams you can find. Truss the roast with butcher's twine, tying it every inch and a half into a tight cylinder shape. Skewer the roast on the spit through the center of the roast, then let it rest at room temperature.
- Set up the grill for indirect medium-low heat (300°F) - Gas Grill: Set your grill up for rotisserie cooking at medium-low heat (300°F).For my Weber Summit gas grill I remove the grill grates and put the drip pan on the burner covers in the middle of the grill. Then I turn burners 1 and 6 to high, turn the smoker burner to high, and let the grill preheat for 10 minutes. Once the grill is going, I adjust the burners to keep the temperature between 250°F and 300°F. (I had to turn burners 1 to 6 down to medium to get the temperature down to 300°F.)
- OR: Set up the grill for indirect medium-low heat (300°F) - charcoal grill: For my Weber Kettle charcoal grill I light 40 coals (⅓ of a Weber charcoal chimney, or one full Weber charcoal basket), wait for them to be mostly covered with gray ash, then pile the coals in charcoal baskets on both sides of the charcoal grate. (The charcoal baskets hold the coals in a tight pile.) Finally, I put a drip pan on the charcoal grate between the coals, then put the grill grate back on the grill. To keep the heat going, I add 14 unlit charcoal briquettes to the charcoal baskets every hour.
- Rotisserie the roast to 185°F: Put the spit on the rotisserie, and cook with the lid closed. Cook the pork roast until it reaches 185°F to 190°F in the thickest part of the meat, about 3 to 4 hours. (I recommend cooking to temperature using an instant read thermometer, because the time will vary depending on conditions and the thickness of the roast.) If you are using an infrared rotisserie burner, turn it off after the roast is browning nicely, about 45 minutes, and let the burners in the body of the grill finish the cooking.
- Rest, carve and serve: Remove the spit from the grill and cut the twine away from the roast. Rest the roast for 15 minutes, then slice into ½" thick slices. Serve and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Category: Rotisserie
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Rotisserie Pork Shoulder Roast
Notes
- Sometimes, boneless pork shoulder roasts are hard to find at my local grocery. That's no big deal; I cut the bone out before cooking. It gives me more nooks and crannies to get the rub into before I truss it up.
- Again, this is not the time to go for medium-rare, slightly pink pork. The connective tissue in the shoulder will make it jaw-achingly tough. Cook it to well done and beyond. In fact, you'd have a hard time overcooking this roast. If you have any questions about "is it done?" you should err on the side of cooking it more.
Questions? Comments? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related posts
Rotisserie Pork Shoulder, Char Siu style
Rotisserie Boneless Pork Loin Roasts, Brined, Rubbed and Maple Syrup Glazed
My other rotisserie recipes.
Inspired by
Steven Raichlen's The Barbecue! Bible
 Check out my cookbook, Rotisserie Grilling. |
Everything you could ask about the rotisserie,
plus 50 (mostly) new recipes to get you cooking.
It's a Kindle e-book, so you can download it and start reading immediately!
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Brian Thomas says
One thing with pork shoulders though. If you get one that is 'enhanced with up to XX% solution of....' you're better off skipping the brine process entirely otherwise it could end up being too salty. I find you have to read the labels carefully since it's often stated in pretty small print that it is enhanced. If you can't find any pork shoulders that are not enhanced, then just apply the rub and you're good to go 🙂
duger says
looking forward to your post - if i get around to it before you i'll let ya know how it goes ...
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
I don't think it's necessary, but it won't hurt. I usually do a foil wrap finish when I cook barbecue, but I didn't last time, and it still worked fine.
duger says
Do you think it needs to be wrapped in foil at some point? For example I was thinking of doing like a high heat right in the beginning for a decent sear, bringing down the temp to 250, wrapping in foil, and cooking for a few hours - then remove the foil for the final stages. Think that is even necessary/
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Yes, and I'm working on my recipe for that right now - I hope to post it in a couple of weeks. Roughly, if you cook it at 250°F to 300°F until the pork is 195°F in its thickest part, it will pull apart beautifully.
duger says
Great site - been a fan for a while -
Have you ever achieved textures of a pulled pork which has been slow cooking in a 250 degree oven for 10 hours and the meat just falls apart using your rotisserie? I am able to achieve moist juicy meats but was wondering if I can get the "falling apart" effect using a rotisserie.
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Mark,
Sounds like a great low-and-slow pork shoulder. Thanks for sharing!
Mark K says
I do like a lot of your stuff but I just do my pork shoulder so different, I wanted to share. I get 8 to 10 pound whole pork shoulder, I leave the bone in (my wife and I both agree that any meat cooked with the bone in has more flavor) I also leave the fat and skin on but slice it into squares about 1/'2 to 3/4 inches deep. Once I have the squares cut in and any loss hanging fat cut off I smear Seasoning all over and into all the cracks and let it sit over night. The next morning I preheat the grill, put a drip pan with water, tie the shoulder, put it on the spit have the outside burners on and keep the temp at 275 deg and leave it on for 7 to 8 hours. You will know when its done when it stats to fall off the spit. The fat squares we pick off and eat Yummy!! No knife need just use tongs to pick the meat from the bone. I can do this on my summit or genesis, do not use the rotisserie burner.
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
I use 1/4 cup table salt or 1/2 cup kosher salt per quart of water. I'm pretty sure I picked that ratio up from Cooks Illustrated, but it might be Alton Brown...I've been using it for so long that I don't remember for sure.
Aaron Friedman says
What was your reference for the brine ratios?
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@Justin:
I always cook this with my two outer burners on high, and my infrared burner on high for the first 30 to 45 minutes.
I'm surprised to say this, but I don't know what temperature that means... [UPDATE: 350°F without the IR burner, about 425°F with it to start.]
Justin says
Hi Mike,
What temperature should I try to hold inside the grill when cooking this roast? I plan to use the outside burners and a infrared burner on a Weber Summit 670.
Thanks,
Justin
Folsom, CA
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@Ted Canova:
That sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing it.
Ted Canova Interview says
I use a Ducane grill with the rotisserie burner on low. It will cook this in about 20-30 minutes per pound. I tried it on high and medium and dried out the outer layers a tad bit. On low-medium low it beautiful. I have been doing 2 shoulders tied together with lightly cooked bacon in between + a little sauce. Today i did that and wrapped the whole thing in bacon. It cooked low for about 1.75 hours at 3.75 pounds + 1/2 pound of bacon. After you put the bacon in the middle of the 2 shoulders tie it off in 3 places the spread a layer of sticky sauce or honey over your tied together shoulders to make the bacon stick to the outside. Then spiral tie the bacon around the shoulder. Baste as directed above.
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@Carol:
You're welcome. I love it when an accident results in a better outcome than my plan!