Long, slow and heavily rubbed. Hickory first, pecan after, wrapped once the colour is there, and pulled by hand into something almost feathery.
Season well ahead
A shoulder takes seasoning better than anything else here — mustard and rub can go on hours ahead, or the night before. Keep the meat whole after cooking and pull only what you are about to eat.
The good thing about a pork shoulder is that it comes with a nice amount of fat on it. If you can find one with the skin still on the fat cap, better still. You want plenty of fat and some good marbling — a shoulder that looks like a ham bone is the wrong one.
Dry the shoulder off. Spread a thin, even layer of mustard all over it, rubbing it in well and patting it so it sticks. Then give it a really heavy layer of rub and pat that in. You can go heavier here than anywhere else. Then apply a second layer on top of the first and pat that in too.
A shoulder can be seasoned well in advance — hours ahead, or the night before. Unlike almost everything else here, it does not have to go straight onto the pit.
Get the pit to 120°C. When the charcoal is ready, start with four hickory chunks and one pecan chunk, and let the wood burn off before the meat goes on.
Load the shoulder fat-side up and watch the temperature. Any time it drops, add more hickory and some charcoal. For the first four hours it is mostly hickory with just a little applewood mixed in. After that it is just pecan and charcoal for the next hour or two.
Five or six hours in, once you have a good colour on the shoulder, wrap it in butcher paper and put it back into the pit. From there you can go with just charcoal the rest of the way. If you are not sure whether the time is right, the middle of the shoulder — not touching bone — should register about 70°C.
The author does not always wrap pork shoulders, but the paper keeps it nice and moist coming out.
From about the nine-hour mark, start checking. The best test is to grab the bone: it should feel as if it wants to come out when you pull on it, but the meat should not be falling apart. The outside will be leathery by now, and that is fine. If it is wrapped, you can also feel the bone loosening, or wait for an internal temperature of about 90°C.
Do not take it too far. You want the meat loosened up and tender — not falling apart. And remember: that bone cannot come out if the shoulder is not cooked.
Take the shoulder out of the pit and let it rest — in the wrapper, if it is wrapped. Then open the paper up and let it breathe for another fifteen minutes.
Some people shred or chop their pork; pulling it by hand is better. Go lightly — it should come out almost feathery, not in chunks. Serve it piled high on white bread with barbecue sauce.
Only pull as much pork as you are going to eat. It keeps far better whole, pulled off as needed.