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.

North Carolina Smoked Shoulder Benefit to Help Out Neighbors

Mom picked up a NC pork barbecue shoulder this weekend. I smoke shoulders or Boston butts sometimes, but they are a lot of work. And, this was a benefit for Mrs. Watson who has both a daughter and grand-daughter (age 16) with cancer.

This is a small town, and folks come together and help out. So CJs Barbecue Restaurant here in Cleveland, NC hosted. The guys came in and smoked shoulders. The bluegrassers came. Mrs. Watson is, by the way, one of the best of the bunch in this area when it comes to bluegrass. And, some of the men brought in some old time tractors and show cars too.

Yesterday I had lunch with Mom and Harry with our traditional NC vinegar based with red barbecue sauce. It's a thin bbq sauce with a little heat and known as Lexington style. That's Lexington, NC - of course. There's some debate about whether this style of barbecue actually started in Lexington. More likely, it started along the rail lines here in Rowan County. But, you'll not hear it called Rowan County or Salisbury style barbecue.

In any case, our barbecue is delicious and very different from other styles across the country. If you're ever in North Carolina and in the beach or piedmont areas, ask someone directions to one of the wood burning barbecue joints. They will know what you mean. There's a big difference between electric or gas and the wood burning barbecue, so be sure to find the real deal in NC.

Barbecue Boston Butt - North Carolina Smoked Pork with Vinegar Sauce

Mom and Harry (my new step dad) got a barbecue Boston Butt today from the local Lion's Club. It's North Carolina barbecue pork shoulder, but the butt is the top part and smaller than a full shoulder. The name comes from the names of the barrels they were stored and sent in. So, NO, you are not eating butt when you get Boston butt. Butt is the ham (-: Sorry to have to tell you that.

North Carolina pork is smoked low and slow - low temperatures over a long time like 8 to 12 hours. Then, the pork can be sliced but is usually chopped. Then, the barbecue (not to be confused with something grilled) is served on a white bread bun with a vinegar based sauce which is thin and zippy. Oh my. Let me tell you. It is heaven.

I get requests for North Carolina style pork barbecue recipes, but pork barbecue is much more art than science. A basic recipe would be hard to post, but I'll probably give it a go some time. So, be sure to sign up for my newsletter to the right or hit follow on one of the follow opitons. I'll think it through one of these days and give everyone a starting point on NC BBQ.

Do know that every pitmaster or smoker in NC uses different rubs, techniques, and sauces. The smoker makes a difference too in terms of how you smoke the pork and how long and so on. Personally I don't think you can beat the Weber Smokey Mountain Bullet, and that's the one I use most for barbecue smoking.

The barbecue shoulder was good today. The Lion's do a nice job on that fundraiser, and I know it's labor intensive. They also have a good recipe for the vinegar sauce. The sauce really can make or break North Carolina barbecue. It's really not NC BBQ without that unusual vinegar based barbecue sauce.