Smoking the in-laws...

During our vacation last week, my lovely wife and I spent several days at her parents' home in Sleepy Eye, MN.  Of course my father in-law had a sample of my first smoking attempts and thought it would be a good idea to bring the smoker with me, so I did.

I picked up 2 racks of Hormel St Louis Style ribs and a 3lb pork shoulder with the bone.

To prep the pork shoulder, I used the new injection syringe I purchased to infuse flavor in the meat.  I mixed apple cider vinegar with my own meat rub.  I also generously rubbed the outside with my meat rub.  For smoking this shoulder, I used tips left by Joe of Grilling Addiction on one of my previous posts.  I applied the rub and injection about 1 hour before I put the shoulder in the smoker.  For a bit of extra moisture in the smoker, I put 1 cup of the apple cider vinegar in the liquid pan in the bottom of the smoker. I hit the shoulder hard with smoke for about 4.5 hours at 205F. After that time I wrapped the butt in aluminum foil and a poured a tad apple cider vinegar in the foil pack.

To prep the ribs, I applied my rub about 2 hours before I intended to put them in the smoker.  After I wrapped the shoulder in foil, I put the ribs in the smoker.  I did them for about 4 hours as before.  With about 30 minutes to go, I basted the ribs with my own BBQ sauce.

Slicing the ribs

Pork Shoulder right out of the smoker

Ribs fresh out of the smoker

Shredding the shoulder

Look at all the DELICIOUS ribs still in the pan.

 






























The results were good.

The shoulder shredded just how I wanted, (thanks Joe at Grilling Addiction for the tips). It had a nice flavor and a little "bark" on the outside. Next time I am going to go for more of a "smoke ring" in the meat.  I already have some ideas in mind to accomplish that.  My parents are coming early next week for a visit and I have a shoulder waiting in the fridge.  So my next guinea pigs are selected.

The ribs were better than last time. They did not have as much smoke flavor as last time, but had a nicer overall flavor. I am sure I ate half of them all by myself.