Pork Shoulder on Traeger

Just got my Traeger Tex on Friday. Here's my first smoke with it! I did a 7.5lb Pork Shoulder. I brined it overnight in beer, Worcestershire, salt, garlic, cumin, and brown sugar. I sprinkled it with more garlic, salt and pepper. I used Apple Wood pellets. Started it at 6am. It was a chilly day in Phoenix at about 55 degrees. I set it at 225 for about 2 hours and raised it to 250. Ultimately I set it at 275. I sprayed it with apple juice about every 45 minutes or so. The temperature was all over the place, up and down all day. Sometimes it got up to 310, other times it got down to 210. I guess that's what I get for smoking on a cool day. Anyway, I left it on for 11 hours. The internal temp was at 195 when I took it out. I let it sit for about 30 minutes and then pulled it apart. Needless to say, it was delish! I would do it again!

Nice looking bark.

I 2nd that....your bark looks fantastic!!

Your cook looks as if your an old pro ! Nice work and thanks for sharing the pictures of the cook

Great looking pork shoulder! Very nice bark.

MikeInAZ said:

The temperature was all over the place, up and down all day. Sometimes it got up to 310, other times it got down to 210. I guess that's what I get for smoking on a cool day.

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I learned the hard way that temp swings can be made worse by opening the pit repeatedly to spritz with apple juice, especially in colder weather. Every time you open the pit you cause a drastic drop in temp and the pit has to work extra hard and burn a lot more pellets to recover.

If you like the apple juice as a glaze, try reducing some in a pan to concentrate it, then apply it just once when the I.T. reaches around 150° - 160°.

310 is a worry unless it is for just a short period..with traegers if you focus on the current temp instead of just seeing how you are averaging you will have a much less stressful cook.

Nice cook - that sandwich looks outstanding!!