In her book Field Peas to Foie Gras: Southern Recipes with a French Accent (Pelican Publishing Co. 2014), Jennifer Hill Booker takes her professional culinary training and puts her own sophisticated twist on Southern cuisine including this recipe for smoked dry rubbed pork shoulder. 

"When slow-smoking a pork shoulder, you should figure 1½ hours per pound of pork. A 10-pound, bone-in pork shoulder takes a long time to cook, but for the majority of that time it is in the smoker. You can get it started right after breakfast and have it ready in time for dinner." - Jennifer Hill Booker

DRY RUBBED SMOKED PORK SHOULDER

Ingredients

2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons onion powder

3 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon ground sage

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 (8 to 10-pound) bone-in pork shoulder

Instructions

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, and rub them thoroughly into the pork shoulder. Wrap the pork in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

Before smoking it, unwrap the pork shoulder and allow it to rest at room temperature for ½ to 1 hour.

Heat your smoker to a constant 225° F. This may require several additions of water-soaked wood to keep the smoke going. Add the pork shoulder when the temperature of the smoker has reached 225° F, close the lid, and adjust the vents so that the smoke flows freely throughout the smoker.

Cook 10 to 14 hours, or until the meat is tender and reaches an internal temperature of 185° to 195° F. Let the meat rest 30 minutes before slicing, pulling, or chopping the pork.

Serve with Gram’s Coleslaw (recipe, p. 45), a splash of hot pepper sauce, or your favorite barbecue sauce.

From Field Peas to Foie Gras: Southern Recipes with a French Accent by Jennifer Hill Booker, © 2014 Jennifer Hill Booker, used by permission of the publisher, Pelican Publishing Company, Inc.