Rotisserie Pork shoulder, cooked low and slow until it is fall apart tender, with a crispy crust on the exterior. Wet brined pork, seasoned all the way through. These are a few of my favorite things.
(Think of Kevin Costner’s “I believe in…” speech in Bull Durham. “I believe in the pork shoulder, long, slow cooking, spinning rotisseries, and wet brines, and rambling, awkward digressions that get kind of weird. Like this one.”)
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And…OK, you got me. I need a video for my YouTube channel. Time to take my favorite cut of pork for a spin. (Really, I’ll stop with the rotisserie puns).
Why rotisserie a pork shoulder? The combination of crispy exterior crust and tender, shreddable meat. “This tastes like bacon…wait…this is bacon!”is how my son put it during the taste test. No rotisserie? No worries. Follow the technique in my BBQ Pulled Pork on a Kettle grill.
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
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Rotisserie Grilling Cookbook
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Rotisserie Pork Shoulder With Basic Wet Brine
- Total Time: 10 hours
- Yield: 8-12 1x
Description
Rotisserie Pork Shoulder, wet brined, then cooked on the rotisserie until it is tender and shreddable.
Ingredients
- 6-pound boneless pork shoulder roast (aka Boston butt roast)
- 2 cups wood chips (hickory, cherry, apple, or pecan)
Brine
- 3 quarts water
- ½ cup fine sea salt (¾ cup kosher salt)
- ¼ cup brown sugar
Instructions
- Brine the pork: Stir the water, salt, and sugar in a large container until the salt and sugar dissolve. Submerge the pork in the brine. Refrigerate overnight, or for at least 4 hours.
- Truss and spit the pork: Remove the pork from the brine and pat dry with paper towels. Truss the shoulder roast, then skewer it on the rotisserie spit, securing it with the spit forks. Let the pork rest at room temperature until the grill is ready.
- Set up the grill for indirect medium-low heat (300°F) - Gas Grill: Set the grill up for indirect medium-low heat (about 300°F), with the drip pan in the middle of the grill. For my Weber Summit, 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 cook the pork shoulder to 205°F: Put the spit on the grill, start the motor spinning, and make sure the drip pan is centered beneath the pork roast. Add the smoking wood to the fire and close the lid. Cook with the lid closed, checking the grill temperature occasionally, until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 205°F in its thickest part, about 6 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.)
- Serve: Immediately remove the pork from the rotisserie spit and remove the twine trussing the roast. Be careful - the spit and forks are blazing hot. Let the pork rest for 15 minutes, then shred with a pair of forks. (The pork will pull apart easily.) Taste for seasoning, and stir in salt and pepper if needed. Serve.
Notes
Wood chips - my grill has a dedicated smoker burner and wood chip basket, so I toss the chips in there. If you don't have a smoker burner for your grill, wrap the wood chips in aluminum foil in a tight, single layer - picture an envelope, but made of foil - and poke a few holes in it. Lay the foil wrapped chips directly on top of the burner cover above the lit burner.
- Prep Time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Category: Rotisserie
- Cuisine: American
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Notes
- It’s hard to overcook pork shoulder…but it is easy to undercook it. If you are in a hurry, and can live with tender sliced pork instead of shredded pork, you can pull the pork roast once it reaches 185°F. This will cut the cooking time to about 4 hours.
- If you are using a charcoal grill, start with a half chimney of charcoal, and add 16 unlit coals to the fire every hour.
- Smoking wood: If you are cooking over charcoal, toss the chunks on the coals. If you are cooking on a gas grill with a smoker burner (like the one I use in the video), pour the chips in the burner; if you don’t have a smoker burner, wrap the chips in an envelope of aluminum foil, poke with a few holes, and set on top of the burner cover over one of the lit burners.
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
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Big Jesse says
Hey hey, I was wondering how well the dedicated smoker box works to impart a smoke flavor. Mine smokes like crazy but I don’t taste smoke. Do you have any tips. I read you lost a rotisserie burner a bit backing updates on a repair?
-Big Jesse
Mike Vrobel says
Gas grills don't smoke well - they have to have too much airflow for the gas to work, and the smoke escapes too.
Matt says
Looking forward to trying this! Am I correct in assuming that you do not turn on the radiant heater for the rotisserie?
Mike Vrobel says
Yes - it is too much heat for this long cook.
McGovs says
Question:
2 cups Wood Chips in the Brine mixture, is that correct?
Mike Vrobel says
No - they go in the smoker burner. Apologies for the typo. The wood chips were supposed to be after the Brine ingredients, not part of them. I moved them before the brine ingredients to make it obvious they're not part of the brine.
Jeff says
Very good and great tips. I like the notes section, you can let it go slow and low on the Weber gas grill as long as you want and still end up with great results. I always add all kinds of crazy things to the drip pan such as OJ, stock, onions and garlic, etc...whatever happens to be around. Not sure if it imparts any flavor but to the pork but it makes the outdoor smell good and notifies the neighbors that I am cooking up something tasty. Appreciate your site!
Dan Lacelle says
I did your rotisserie pork shoulder for easter and it was fantastic, everybody loved it. First time I ever brined anything and it turned out great, one twist on your recipe was a maple syrup glaze near the end of cooking, geez now I want to cook another one!
Rhonda says
Hi Mike,
My Dad made this on New Years for a group of friends. Everyone loved it! Dad used his standalone plugin rotisserie and this recipe worked great.
Rhonda
John Munna says
Mike
Have to say not only are you a Zen Master Griller but you always make my day LOL. Decided to Roto a pork roast and did a search and this page popped up first..... knock my head duh why did i search why did search... you know you always got my back ...will post picture link as i go today.... Bless you and yours.
John