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recipe for smoked pork shoulder

Sunshine State of Mind Smoked Pork Shoulder with Cheesy Pull Apart Sliders

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  • Author: Robyn
  • Total Time: 8 hours
  • Yield: about 15 lbs pork 1x

Description

This recipe for smoked pork shoulder gives a Citrus spin to add flavor and moisture to the pork with the addition of Robyn’s Sunshine State of Mind Craft BBQ Rub that has notes of orange peel zest, kaffir lime, and granulated honey. Smoked pork is great to use for pulled pork sandwiches, such as the pull apart sliders included in this recipe.

Ingredients

Scale

Pulled Pork Sliders:

  • Hawaiian Buns -a pack of 12 rolls
  • (Pulled Pork)
  • Onion: caramelized with butter
  • Pickles, look for pickles without polysorbate 80 (cancer causing preservative found in most pickles)
  • Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce– use this recipe, but if you can’t make your own, I’m a big fan of Trader Joes Mustard BBQ Sauce

Instructions

  1. First, cut off the skin and fat off this pork shoulder (pork shoulder often comes with skin- it will need to be removed).
  2. Next, score the meat so the rub can get into all those nooks and crannies.
  3. Add a binder such as olive oil (don’t use seed oils) and slather with your favorite rub, I used my Sunshine State of Mind Craft BBQ Rub for a citrus twist (use code PORK if you want to give it a try for $1 off- it also doubles as a margarita rimmer!)
  4. Smoke 265 degrees until you’ve reached an internal temp of 150 internal degrees and remove it from the smoker.
  5. Now its time to wrap this Swift Pork Shoulder- this is know as the Texas Crutch Phase.
  6. . Place your pork shoulder on the butcher paper and add in Pineapple infused coconut water, 3 tbps of butter, layer on orange slices to add citrus flavor and continue to smoke at 265 until you’ve reached an internal temp of 203 degrees. This will take about 1.5 hours per pound, or slightly less. Schedule your mealtime accordingly.
  7. While the pork is smoking, caramelize red onions to put on the sandwiches. This involves melting butter and cooking the onions until they are cooked down, this will take about 20 to 30 minutes but is totally worth it. And you will have time because pork shoulder takes a while.
  8. Once you’ve hit 203 degrees, it’s time to pull this pork shoulder out of the smoker.
  9. Pull the pork and then chop it finely to put on your sliders OR serve as is. If you are making the sliders, proceed to the next step.
  10. Slice your sheet of rolls and Slather with a Mustard BBQ sauce, I used my Carolina Gold BBQ sauce recipe
  11. Layer on your pork, add more sauce and add provolone cheese, caramelized onions, and pickles. Gotta have the pickles (look for pickles WITHOUT Polysorbate 80- that is a preservative that causes cancer!)
  12. Slather your buns with butter and generously sprinkle them with Everything Bagel seasoning. Throw them into the oven at 350 degrees, just long enough to let the cheese melt.
  13. And there you have it, the epic cheese pull you always knew you could do! When you pull these sandwiches out, you will find that when you pull off a roll, you will get an epic “cheese pull” from the provolone cheese. You can do one to have the fun reveal, and then cut the rest so they are easier to serve.

Notes

Affiliate links have been used in this post.

  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 6-8 hours, depending on size of the pork should
  • Category: BBQ, Smoked Meat, Grilling, Smoked Pork Shoulder, Smoked Meat
  • Method: Smoke, Grill
  • Cuisine: BBQ, American BBQ, Tailgating

Find it online: https://grillgirl.com/2023/05/sunshine-state-of-mind-smoked-pork-shoulder-with-bonus-slider-recipe/