South Carolina Mustard Barbecue Pork

Ingredients

• 1 bone-in pork shoulder (Boston butt), 8 pounds
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 1/2 cups prepared yellow mustard
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4 chunks pecan or oak wood

Before you cook

• Trim the shoulder's fat cap to a quarter inch.
• Stir the salt, pepper and paprika together and rub it over the whole shoulder.
• Let the seasoned shoulder rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
• Whisk the mustard, vinegar, brown sugar, honey, Worcestershire, hot sauce, black pepper and cayenne in a saucepan.
• Simmer the sauce gently for 10 minutes, stirring so the sugar does not scorch.
• Cool the sauce and divide it into a mopping portion and a serving portion.

Steps

1. Heat the smoker to 250 degrees Fahrenheit and put pecan chunks on the fire.
2. Set the shoulder on the grate fat side up and smoke for 4 hours.
3. Brush the shoulder generously with the mopping sauce and close the lid.
4. Mop again every hour, letting each coat dry before the next.
5. Cook until the shoulder probes soft everywhere and reads 203 degrees Fahrenheit, about 9 hours total.
6. Wrap the shoulder in foil and rest it for 1 hour in a cooler.
7. Pull the blade bone free and shred the meat with your hands.
8. Chop the darkest bark into the pile so every serving gets some.
9. Fold in the reserved sauce a little at a time until the pork is coated but not swimming.
10. Serve on plates with hash and rice, or with white bread and pickles.