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 Costnerโs โI believe inโฆโ speech in Bull Durham. โI 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.โ)
Jump to:
AndโฆOK, you got me. I need a video for my YouTube channel. Time to take my favorite cut of pork for a spin. (Really, Iโll stop with the rotisserie puns).
Why rotisserie a pork shoulder? The combination of crispy exterior crust and tender, shreddable meat. โThis tastes like baconโฆwaitโฆthis is bacon!โis 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 (9โx13โ, or whatever fits your grill. I use an enameled steel roasting pan.)
- Butchers twine
- Instant Read Thermometer
I wrote a cookbook!
Rotisserie Grilling Cookbook
New to your rotisserie and need help with the basics? Love your rotisserie and looking for new ideas? Grab a copy of Rotisserie Grilling! You'll get 50 of my favorite rotisserie recipes and expert tips on how to set up and use your rotisserie.
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
- ยฝ cup fine sea salt (ยพ cup kosher salt)
- ยผ 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 (300ยฐF) - Gas Grill: Set the grill up for indirect medium-low heat (about 300ยฐF), 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 250ยฐF and 300ยฐF. (I had to turn burners 1 to 6 down to medium to get the temperature down to 300ยฐF.)
- OR: Set up the grill for indirect medium-low heat (300ยฐF) - charcoal grill:ย For my Weber Kettle charcoal grill I light 40 coals (โ of aย Weber charcoal chimney, or one fullย 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 205ยฐF: 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 205ยฐF 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
Notes
- Itโs hard to overcook pork shoulderโฆbut 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 185ยฐF. 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 donโt 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.
Related Posts
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Rotisserie Pork Shoulder Char Siu Style
BBQ Pulled Pork on a Kettle Grill (Grilling Basics)
Sous Vide Pork Steaks
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Big Jesse
Hey hey, I was wondering how well the dedicated smoker box works to impart a smoke flavor. Mine smokes like crazy but I donโt 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
Gas grills don't smoke well - they have to have too much airflow for the gas to work, and the smoke escapes too.
Matt
Looking forward to trying this! Am I correct in assuming that you do not turn on the radiant heater for the rotisserie?
Mike Vrobel
Yes - it is too much heat for this long cook.
McGovs
Question:
2 cups Wood Chips in the Brine mixture, is that correct?
Mike Vrobel
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
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
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
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
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