Pitmasters Use This Pork Shoulder Trick Before The Foil Goes On For 10X The Flavor

Cooking a large cut of meat on the grill can take a while. Even longer if you smoke it. Something like a pork shoulder can take hours, even though it's an ideal cut for beginners. Even a professional pitmaster can end up at the grill far longer than anticipated because of the stall. This is a temperature plateau that happens when the moisture of the meat evaporates at a pace that prevents the internal temperature from rising. One way to push through the stall while preserving moisture is to wrap the meat in foil. A simple foil wrap is all you need, but you can use this opportunity to re-season your pork shoulder to give it a big flavor boost during that last leg of cooking.

After taking the pork off the grill, place it on your foil and apply seasoning again. Add any dry spices or sauces, or both if you like. There are plenty of great barbecue sauces you can try. You should already have a crust from whatever seasoning you put on at the beginning of the cook, so this acts as a second layer. Season liberally and then wrap the pork shoulder up like a present, folding the foil to seal it as tightly as you can. 

Use foil sheets about four times the length of the pork shoulder. Rotate the shoulder and wrap it with a second sheet of foil to keep steam trapped and help retain moisture. You can place the foil package in a foil tray, for stability, and then return it to the grill until the shoulder reaches 195 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit.

There is no hard and fast rule for the exact time at which you should pull a pork shoulder to wrap it. The best way to gauge this is to go by temperature. Once the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit, that's when the stall typically occurs. This is an ideal time to wrap the pork to help it retain some moisture. When properly sealed, the foil allows the meat to steam, and the flavor will intensify as the meat cooks in those juices. We have some other tips to ensure juicy pork shoulder steaks, too, if you're going that route.

After wrapping the pork, the second round of seasoning will not char the same way it did when the meat was directly on the grill. You'll still have that smoky grill flavor from the first cook, but the seasonings will blend with it and create a more intense flavor. As the meat steams inside the foil package, the juices mix with the seasoning, and the flavor coats the meat.

Remember to let your shoulder sit after it's done cooking. Ideally, you want to let it stay completely wrapped in that foil for 30 to 60 minutes sitting out at room temperature, or one to two hours in an insulated environment like a cooler. During that time, as the meat cools, it will sit in those juices, soaking in the seasoning you added earlier. That way, when you finally unwrap it to serve, the pork will be tender and flavorful throughout.