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Slow-Smoked Pulled Venison Shoulder (Charcoal Grill)

Charcoal low-and-slow · the collagen cut, taken all the way to pull-apart, piled on a soft potato bun · oven version here

~8 · 30 min

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  • 1 venison front shoulder, 3–5 lb (bone-in is fine)
  • 2 Tbsp yellow mustard or oil, as a binder
  • Dry rub
  • ¼ cup brown sugar · 2 Tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 Tbsp each smoked paprika · black pepper · garlic powder · onion powder
  • 1–2 tsp chili powder or cayenne, to taste
  • The fat & the wrap
  • ½ lb fatty bacon or pork fatback (or ¼ cup beef tallow)
  • 1 cup beef broth, apple cider, or cola, for the wrap
  • BBQ sauce, to finish · soft potato rolls to serve
  • charcoal + 3–4 wood chunks (hickory, oak, or apple)
What you need
  1. Rub, ideally the night before. Pat the shoulder dry, smear with mustard, and coat all over with the rub. Wrap and fridge overnight if you can — a few hours at least.
  2. Build a two-zone fire. Bank the lit charcoal to one side, set a water pan on the empty side, and settle the grill in at 225–250°F. Drop a wood chunk on the coals and put the shoulder over the empty side, away from direct heat. Lid on, top vent over the meat to pull smoke across it.
  3. Add the fat. Lay the bacon or sliced fatback right over the top of the shoulder (or baste with melted tallow every hour). As it renders it bastes the lean meat for you.
  4. Smoke unwrapped. Cook 3–4 hr, adding a few coals and a chunk as needed to hold temp, until a dark bark forms and the inside reads about 160°F. It'll stall there a while — that's normal.
  5. Wrap and push to done. Double-wrap the shoulder in foil (or butcher paper) with the broth or cider poured in, seal tight, and put it back on until it reads 200–205°F and a probe slides in like soft butter, another 3–4 hr.
  6. Rest, then pull. Rest it wrapped 30–45 min — don't skip this. Then open it over a pan, lift out any bone and silverskin, and pull with two forks or claws. Pour the saved wrap juices back over, then fold in BBQ sauce to taste. Pile on toasted potato rolls and top with a scoop of crunchy kohlrabi slaw.
Steps — tap one to keep your place

✨ Untested — Claude drafted this one from scratch; it hasn't been cooked and amended in our kitchen yet, so treat the amounts as a starting point. Low salt — salt at the end and taste as you go; broth, cheese, and canned goods already bring salt.

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