Best Smoked Pulled Pork

The best smoked pulled pork is fall apart tender and perfect for a BBQ and worked perfectly every time.

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Tender Smoked Pulled Pork

We love big bbq parties. Great friends, great conversation, cold drinks and the best smoked pulled pork ever. The secret? My husband. He's been slowly tweaking his recipe and method for... well, years. And his pulled pork has become legendary with our friends. Today I asked him to spill the secrets!

Pulled pork is not a quick meal. At all. To get the pork soft and fall off the bone tender- while giving it a deep, rich smoky flavor, you have to cook it for a long time at a low heat.

We use an indirect smoker like this. We like to start the smoker off by heating up wood chips or charcoal in a chimney, and then adding them to the side.

You'll want to get the grills temperature up to 210, where you will try to keep it for around 14 hours. Don't worry about that huge number- you will only be working on the pork for about 30 minutes, including prep time. The rest of the time you will just be waiting!

Tips to ensure a delicious pork shoulder

• Always let the shoulder rest for about 10 minutes after taking out of package to help it dry. Pat dry with paper towels before adding rub.

• Let your pork shoulder sit in the fridge, with rub, for 12+ hours (we like to go for 24 hours).
• Add basting mix every couple hours. You can also mix your own- we've tried beer, dr. pepper, coke, apple juice, and more. We tend to use apple cider vinegar because we like the taste- but you can use whatever drink and spices you like.
• To easily get your pork to shred without burning your hands, pop it in a mix master with the paddle attachment. A couple minutes on medium and you will have a perfect consistency! Sometimes we like thicker chunks (as pictured) For meatier sandwiches. Just use to forks to pull the meat apart for a thicker style.

Stay tuned- because Luke is going to share his homemade Carolina Vinegar and Mustard sauces that are perfect for pulled pork soon!

Perfect BBQ Sides

Try these sides with your pulled pork sandwiches:

Best Smoked Pulled Pork Recipe

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Yield: 12

The Best Smoked Pulled Pork Ever

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 12 hours

Additional Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 13 hours 20 minutes

The Best Smoked Pulled Pork Ever - foolproof never-dry method for delicious smoked pork shoulder with a crunchy bark and tons of flavor! : Main Dish Cuisine: American Author: Courtney O'Dell Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 12 hours Total time: 12 hours 15 mins Serves: 12

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Ingredients

• 1 pork shoulder or boston butt, 6-10 pounds
• One half a beer
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar

Rub Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoon onion powder
• 2 tablespoon season salt
• 2 tablespoon ground pepper
• 3 tablespoon paprika
• 3 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 tablespoon cumin
• 2 tablespoon celery salt
• 2 tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoon cardamom

Instructions

1. Mix ingredients for rub together in a bowl.
2. Remove pork from packaging, pat dry with paper towels and allow to come to room temperature. I like to trim off excess fat and silver skin at this point. You do want to keep about ¼” of fat on the top called the fat cap. As your meat slowly cooks, this melts and keeps the meat moist.
3. Apply rub, and refrigerate over night. Soak wood chips or blocks over night in water.
4. Remove meat from refrigerator and let come to room temperature.
5. Next morning, prepare lump charcoal in smoker using newspaper and charcoal chimney. I do not use lighter fluid or compressed charcoal briquettes because I believe the leave a petroleum taste on the meat.
6. While the coals come to temperature, combine the ingredients for the mop and put in a spray bottle on plastic container.
7. When coals are glowing and grey, add the brisket to the smoker. Keep the meat as far from the fire as possible. If you have a barrel smoker with a fire box, keep on the opposite side of the grill surface from the fire box. If you have a conventional smoker or Weber-style kettle grill, build small fire on one side of kettle and keep meat on the other side.
8. Add handful of wet wood chips/block to fire. Cover and let cook. You’ll want to keep your temperature between 200-225 degrees F. That should take approximately 12-14 hours to smoke a 7-10 pound butt.
9. You’ll likely need to check the fire every 30-45 minutes. After an hour of smoking you should start mopping your meat every time you check the fire. I like to use a silicone basting brush for this. The inexpensive fibre brushes that are commonly sold at big-box stores begin to come apart quickly and in my experience often shed bristles on the meat.
10. I also rotate my meat every hour to ensure that all sides get even exposure to the heat and smoke. This is particularly important if you’re using a conventional kettle grill for your smoking.
11. If you have an outdoor temperature probe, use it to track the internal temperature of you meat. After several hours, your meat may “stall” around 150F. I usually keep smoking mine. In Texas, they wrap them in foil with a cup of mop to finish.
12. You’re shooting for your meat to get to 185F. Once you hit that mark, remove your meat from the smoker, double wrap in foil and let sit in an unheated over for an hour to hour and a half depending on fat content of the meat.

Recommended Products

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  ThermoPro TP-20 500FT Wireless Meat Thermometer with Dual Meat Probe, Digital Cooking Food Meat Thermometer Wireless for Smoker BBQ Grill Thermometer, 2.67 x 4.94 x 1.10"
• 
  Traeger Grills Tailgater 20 Portable Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker, Black, 300 sq in

Nutrition Information

Yield

12

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 101Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 16mgSodium 1854mgCarbohydrates 8gFiber 3gSugar 1gProtein 6g

Nutrition is automatically calculated by Nutritionix - please verify all nutrition information independently and consult with a doctor or nutritionist for any and all medical and diet advice.

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