Expert: John Langenfelder - 7/1/2008

Question
i'm considering cooking the above on an average size, no frills charcoal grill; i've seen where most recipes call for moving the coals to one side, closing grill, cooking at low/med temp..however, knowing how charcoal burns inconsistently, (hotter at onset or when adding coals), how does one maintain temp control, especially when not wanting to open grill often?..is a special thermometer needed?..other suggestions?

Answer
Joe,

Temperature is controlled by moderating the air entering the grill.  By closing off the air supply you control your heat.  You are correct that a grill, when first starting it, is generally hotter, but adding charcoal will not necessarily increase the heat, but it more helps to maintain the temperature.  Again it is all about controlling the air supply.  I hope that you are not planning on starting the fire with lighter fluid.  Always use a chimney starter.  Get the coals started in the chimney starter using newspaper to light the coals.  Then spread the hot coals onto unlit coals in the grill.  Try using a piece of folded aluminum foil to divide the grill for the hot side and cold side.  The meat goes on the cold side.  This is called indirect grilling.  By holding your hand open, palm side down above the grate on the hot side of the grill, start counting.  You want to try to count to about 9-14 (the old 1-1000, 2-1000, 3-1000 etc) for a low-medium heat.  This will be a temperature about 225-275 degrees (thank you Steve Raichlen).  Don't be too concerned about the temperature, yet.  You just don't want a real hot fire.  Put the lid on and close the dampers about 1/2 way on top and bottom.

Now, if you don't have dampers, then you might want to reconsider trying to slow cook this pork shoulder.

If you do have a thermometer, insert it in the top damper and position it above the cold side.  If the temperature starts rising. close all the dampers an equal amount, until the temperature stops rising, then slowly open the dampers in small increments to get to the temperature that you want (225-275).  If you have enough unlit coals (try using a 5 lb bag of charcoal, light about 1.5 lbs and use the rest as the unlit) that should last a couple of hours at low-medium heat.  You may need as much as 20 lbs of charcoal to cook an entire shoulder.  Problem with using an average size, no frills grill is that it may be too small for a decent size shoulder.  The cooking time for a 8 lb shoulder (or pork butt) is about 8-10 hours, low and slow.  It could be painful in an average size grill. You will need to add charcoal every hour or so.  Unless you have a grill grate that can easily be moved to add charcoal it may end up disturbing your meat too much.  The claim is that every time you lift off the lid, it adds another 15 minutes of cooking time.  That could mean you cooking time may actually be nearly 10 - 12 hours.  Also, you will really need to monitor the grill and the temperature.  Not the most fun thing to do. Trust me, I've been there.  I would suggest cooking for a couple of hours on the grill and then moving it into the oven for the remainder of the time.  Most of the smoke flavor from the charcoal will get into the meat in the first couple of hours.