:
1) What cut of pork?
Generally I do picnic's. I've never done a butt or a full shoulder (at least, not that was called such). The picnics I've done have been generally 10 lbs, which fed 6 folks pretty well.
2) What temp?
Picnics and butts are pretty forgiving. I've done 230* to 330* and had good results at both ends. Obviously, cooler temps mean more cook time. Plan on 1 hr/lb to 1.5 hrs/lb (or more), based on my experiences at both ends of that spectrum. Just remember, cook to temp, not time. I take my picnics to 195*-200*, then try to let them rest in a cooler for an hour or so. They pull easy at that temp, and the longer rest seems to make the meat mo' better.
3) Rub?
Hog Waller is pretty good.
I rub the meat with a light coat of cheap yellow mustard, then apply the rub and cook.
4) Sauce?
I always serve sauce on the side. If people want sauce, great. if they just want the meat, no worries. When I put the leftovers in the fridge, then I add a splash of sauce, just to keep it from drying out later.
For sauce, we like vinegar-based sauces, just 'cause the vinegar seems to round out the richness of the pork. We recently made DaHorns SC Mustard Sauce, which was a hit, but you definitely taste the mustard.
Another sauce I make is a cider vinegar sauce.
4 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
2-3 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
2-3 tbsp hot sauce
salt & pepper to taste (I start at 2 tbsp each)
Mix all ingredients in a pan, whisk to disolve the sugar and salt, bring to a boil, and simmer for 5-10 minutes. (Your house *will* smell like vinegar, so make sure you have an exhaust fan running.) Add vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar, or hot sauce to taste. This is a thin sauce, but we like it.
Hope this helped. Good luck, Bro.
