Q&A for How to Cook Pork Shoulder

The meat around the bone should be pulling off and exposing about 0.5 to 1 in (1.27 to 2.5 cm) of bone. The meat right beside the bone should have a lot of give feel like a medium-rare steak—ideally, it should shake like a jello mold when jiggled, and the fat cap on top should be split down the middle.

Definitely! The problem you run into when cooking any big cut of meat too fast at high heat is that the outside gets overcooked (or possibly burned) before the inside comes to temperature. If you were to pull a pork shoulder off before the inside reaches this temperature, many parts of the meat would be too tough to enjoy.

To prop up the pork shoulder, place celery sticks, carrots, and thick onion rings on the bottom of the pan. It will lift up the meat and add some flavor, too.

Yes, you do if you want it to keep most of the juice and crisp in it. You can use regular tin foil -- just make sure it won't melt.

No, if you do it on the stove your pork probably won't cook thoroughly, so the suggestion is to do it in the oven or crock-pot.

Any meat you cook frozen or partially frozen will result in it being tougher once the cooking is done in comparison to waiting and thawing it out, then cooking. It also cooks more evenly when completely thawed. For the same reason, it is suggested to barbecue room temperature meat as opposed to cooking it straight from the fridge.