Smoked Pork Shoulder on the Weber Bullet with Bandiola Barbecue Rub

Smoked Pork Shoulder with Bandiola Rub

Eli won a pork shoulder at the local Legion turkey shoot. Not to worry. They do not chase after and shoot turkies. They just shoot at little blue bulls eye papers. The person who gets closest to the center gets meat bought at the store. Eli has a good eye, and he comes home with lots of good grilling meat ranging from whole turkeys to thick slab bacon. Be sure to try grilling bacon. That's fabulous.

Jimmy offered to smoke the shoulder. Since barbecue shoulder smoking is an overnight deal when planning on a lunch meal, I was down with that. I will babysit smoked meat, but I don't get to turning cartwheels about setting the alarm clock at ungodly hours and checking.

Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker Holds Temperatures Well

Actaully the Weber Smokey Mountain Bullet (which is a bullet shaped water smoker) is really good about holding temperatures, so once the fire is banked up right, I usually check around midnight and then get up at 6 a.m. to double check. All in all, this is easier than tending to a brand new baby, so I will count that blessing. Caleb got up about every 20 minutes all night for about the first year. I've glad I didn't give him back though, because he's turned out great even if he was the colic king when little.

Jimmy used Kingsford Charcoal in the Weber, but he also added some Baxter's wood chips for more flavor. You really can't beat Baxter's wood. Plus, he packs it in mini burlap sacks, so you can give his wood as gifts too.

Bandiola Spice Company Barbecue Rub

I tossed open the spice cabinet and had Jimmy pick what he wanted as far as a rub, and he opted for Bandiola Spice Company Barbecue. It's got sugar, salt, paprika, garlic, orange peel, hickory smoke, red bell pepper, and soy sauce. All in all, it's a pretty traditional shoulder or butt rub with a few nice little extra touches. Smells rvery nice when it's being rubbed on. If you need a solid barbecue rub, you can't go wrong with this one.

Bear Paws (often called also Bear Claws) Make Pulling Pork Super Easy


After smoking all night, the shoulder was ready to chop. North Carolina is chopping country. We, however, have found that Bear Claws are so much quicker and easier that we've been using them lately.

Barbecue Shoulder Pulled with Bear Paws

As you can see, we got a fine pull on the shoulder. If you prefer it chunkier, then just pull it less time. Or do a combination, since some like coarse and some like fine when it comes to pulled pork.

North Carolina Pork Sandwich with Grilled Hash Browned Potatoes

We were keeping things simple again today, so paper plates it was. The pork sandwiches were fabulous, and we all selected out own sauces. I went with Big Butz Cranberry B-B-Q Sauce. It's thicker and richer - more like a Kansas City style but withat delicious cranberry kick. The guys all went with a traditional vinegar based sauce, since that is more common in North Carolina.