Relative Newb Pork Question

[AZEngineer]

I've done pork ribs, pork shoulder, brisket, and a small turkey so far and I'm thrilled with the results.  But I have a few questions.
1) On the pork shoulder I brined first with brine mix from "The Briner".  Amazingly juice and I believe in brining. But I used a basic commercial rub and the bark was too salty.  Any good low sodium rub recipes as I intend to continue brining?

2) I tried the 4 hour no-peak ribs and while delicious they were 8 degrees over target temp at 4 hrs.

 

[Grampy]

AZ try checking out the rub section in this forum. There are a lot of different rub recipes that have been posted and you can adjust the salt level in any of them to your preference.

Rub Recipes

 

[DivotMaker]

Hi AZ, and welcome!!  Now that you've joined us, we'd love to see a first name and town in your signature line, so we know our new friend!

Brining is great!  Here's my version of the brine for pork butts, which is a modified version of the Briner recipe:

Brine for Boston Butts

One of the keys to brining is to watch the time (I brine butts no longer than 12-13 hours), and then thoroughly rinse them, under cold water, just before applying the mustard & rub.  Don't let them sit with the rub on; get them straight in the smoker! 

The idea is to a) Get the salt off the surface of the meat, and b) Don't let salt in the rub have time to penetrate.  I use my regular rubs, and the results are not too salty.  (Go-to, standard off-the-shelf butt rubs are Famous Dave's Rib Rub and Bad Byron's Butt Rub).  Neither of them are overly-salty, and the results are great!

As for your ribs:  Stop trying to temp-probe them!  You will NEVER get an accurate reading on ribs.  There is not enough meat, and too much bone.  Ribs are one of those things the vast majority smoke by time and feel.  Time is a "starting point" only; when you test the ribs for feel, you will learn what works for you (depending on the level of doneness you like).  This just takes lots of practice to find your sweet spot, but eventually, you will!  Leave the meat probe in the kitchen for ribs!

 

[AZEngineer]

On the pork butt, I used John Henry's Texas Brisket Rub as that's all I had.  I will try again with a pork rub.

On the ribs, they were very very good.  I used a meat thermometer and not the temp probe.  The meat was pulling off the bone in the smoker and the temp was higher that I expected so I assumed they were in too long. Is the 4 hr no-peek a good approach?

 

[DivotMaker]

Is the 4 hr no-peek a good approach?

If it works for you!  At 235, I usually smoke back ribs 5-5.75 hours, but if they are done for you at 4, stick with it.  Spares take 5.5-6.5 hours, for me.  Again, though, don't worry about probing ribs by any method; go by feel.  After you do a few racks, you'll know what "right" feels like!

 

[drains]

John Henry East Texas Pecan Rub is what I use on butts and ribs and brisket. It's not salty at all. The brisket rub is very salty. Be sure your rinsing the brine off of the meat really well before applying the rub.  Also dry the meat off before adding binder or rub.  I've been using Karo syrup for the binder with good results. Good luck.