Juicy, Tender, Tasty Pulled Pork everyone will enjoy
The right seasoning, temperature, and patience is key to great pulled pork!
Caveat to this... I do not give out time estimates. Please always cook meats and pretty much everything by temperature not by a suggested time. Your pork butt should be cooked to at least 195 degrees (my suggestion other people may say different) before letting rest.
There is also a difference between a Pork Butt (aka Boston Butt) and a full Pork Shoulder. A full shoulder includes the picnic ham attached whereas the butt is separated off.
What you will need:
Whatever size pork butt you want to buy... I usually go bone-in at about 9-10 lbs.
- The Tenches Rub
- Apple Juice
- Agave syrup or brown sugar
- Butter
- Heavy duty Foil (and a half foil pan Optional)
- OG Vinegar sauce (for spritzing, optional)
- Meat Thermometer (I am currently using the ThermoWorks RFX)
- Smoker (yes I have to put this in here)
- Grease Separator with bottom release (Optional but helpful Pictured Below)
- Cooler, Cambro, etc (something the pork can rest in)
Time: Depends on temperature you cook at I usually block off about 30-60 min per lbs, but that varies based on the meat and temp you cook at. I like to cook at 265-275 degrees F
Instructions:
- Pull out your pork and let rest at room temperature for at least an hour prior to cooking, I suggest more like 2 if you include seasoning
- Light the smoker
- Cross Hatch the fat cap on the one side with a sharp knife cutting just throw the fat to the meat. This will help the fat pull more flavor into the meat. I cook my butts fat side up, so as the fat renders in runs through the meat, with those spices. If it wall works out instead of throwing out the fat cap at the end hopefully you have morsels of crispy goodness.
- Some people will add a binder of mustard at this point if you want. Most people use Yellow mustard but I normally will jus let the meat hold the spices.
- Season the pork butt liberally with the Trenches Rub on all sides rotating and patting the spices in and making sure the spices get in the crevasses on the cross hatch.
- Let the butt rest for a little bit so the spices can soak into the meat
- Once your smoker is at a consistent 265-275 degrees F, place the butt on the smoker.
- Add desired wood to smoker to add flavor (I usually start with Hickory then add an apple & pecan mixture about an hour into the cook)
- Spritz the butt with some of the OG Vinegar Sauce:
Depending on the type of smoker you have you may need to "spritz" the meat more often to add more moisture. (Using a Ceramic smoker I usually "Spritz" every 1.5 - 2 hours cause they tend to keep moisture and hte less you open the smoker the less the temp changes)
- Check the butt temp at the thickest portion. I usually will let it get up to 165 degrees F or until you like the color you prefer.
- Once at 165 wrap in heavy duty aluminum foil boat (or use a half pan and tightly wrap foil around as a lid. At this point I flip to fat side down in the wrap. Prior to closing the wrap liberally put Butter, Agave (or Brown sugar), about a 4-8 oz of apple juice and some more rub onto the pork.
- Once the meat hits 195 degrees F, pull the pork off and let rest, in a cooler, for a minimum of an hour but can go up to 2-5 hours if needed to let the juices soak back into the meat.
- Once rested you can either hand pull or chop the meat. If you are cooking a bone in butt, the bone should easily pull out of the meat with a little tug.
- Save the juices at the bottom of the foil. If you have a gravy separated (pictured below) this thing is a life saver and will add flavor and moisture back into the meat.
I personally prefer hand pulling the pork, but if you are in a time crunch chopping will suffice.
- Once pulled and in a pan, shake some extra tenches rub over the meat and then pour the juices (do not let the separated fat on top come out, throw that out) onto the meat. Toss with some tongs and serve!
Enjoy,
Bulldawg BBQ