Yes you are correct. I have posted several ways of dealing with a pork shoulder roast, bone in and otherwise. Yes you are correct, they came out very pleasingly and worth the time and effort. Even so, I would really like to get something mouth watering explosive right out of the smoker. This means you don’t need to shred it and fry it in lard with more spices. Which is fine, believe me. But I want a large thick hunk of meat to have stunning mouth splitting flavor from the center all the way out to the edges. This time, I succeeded.

Not too many years ago I started slicing in to these larger cuts of meat. This way we could get herbies & spices right in there. Tie it up and toss in to smoker with hickory. Nice method, for sure. This time I decided to try stuffing the pork roast with bacon. That’s right, Apple Wood Smoked Bacon. And brother, or sister, this worked and worked like magic.
Here’s the scoop. You’ll want a really nice pork shoulder roast, like the one above (must be room temperature before putting in smoker). Slice deep in, across the beast and NOT all the way through. Flay it open. Oh wait, go wash your hands and dry them. Get out some Turkish Bay leaves, or a kind that is warm and not quite as strong as the California Bay Laurel we have around here. If they’re dry, soak them for a few minutes in extra virgin olive oil. You’ll want want a rub that is high in bright flavor, such as salt, onion powder and dried lemon bits. Tony Chacares Creole seasoning I’m finding out is really a lot better than a dumb Californian would think. It’s VERY salty and you need that for this pork shoulder.
Alright then, dig out your pound of Apple Wood Smoked bacon. Get it out and ready so you can pull out pieces as you need them.
Find your extra virgin olive oil and rub the entire roast with it. Leave one hand dry as you work.
Get your dry rub over all, inside & out. The more you put on, the stronger the flavor. The less you apply, the lighter the flavor. Don’t cake it on, but make damned sure it is covered well.
Put maybe two bay leaves, depending on size, in the flayed open parts.
Now, with a smile on your face pull out your first strip of bacon and place it in to a flayed part. You’ll want at least one long strip, probably doubled back over in each flayed portion.
Once completed stand back and take a long look at it. Does it want for anything? What is it saying to you? “I’m ready, let’s ROCK!” or “you forgot to rub my bottom, I need attention.” If it looks anything like what you see above, get out your butchers twine and tie the sucker up.
Almost done. Surely you’ve watched cooking shows where the chef will pull the hot pasta out of the water and twirl it in to a serving platter in a spiral action right? You bet. Well do that with a few more pieces of bacon over the top.
Stand back and look again, you are the master.
Oh yeah, before all of this you got the smoker started, warmed up and around 250 degrees F. You will be using indirect heat for no less than 5 hours.
About an hour before you get ready to pull it, pour over the top your favorite barbecue sauce. I make my own, but a decent jarred sauce will suffice if you can’t deal with it. Let this sauce caramelize over the meat.

Pull meat when ready, about 160 to 180 degrees internal temp.
Let the beast rest for at least 15 minutes.
As you can see, there is some smoked chicken in this pile, but if you look down a bit and to the right you’ll see the pork. Every last bit was absolutely brilliant with smokey, spicy, rich, yummy flavors.
Gee, pork roast stuffed with bacon isn’t all that bad after all. Huh, figger that.
Xo Xo