Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork

Pulled pork is made from a meat cut called boston butt. If you haven’t had smoked pork butt you haven’t tried real pulled pork. The smoke flavor together with the rich and savory pork is a match made in heaven.

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Servings 8 people
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 hours
Start the grill 30 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Start by applying an even layer of salt all around the pork butt, 0.5 tsp per lb. of meat. Leave it in the fridge overnight, or at least two hours prior to smoking it.
  • Take it out of the fridge and apply an even layer of rub.
    Boston Butt with Rub
  • Fire up your grill, prepare it for indirect grilling. Have it running at 225° – 250° F. Use the snake method if you’re using a kettle grill, or even better, a Slow ‘N Sear. Place the meat on the indirect side and close the lid. Add some wood chunks for smoking on the glowing embers.

The Stall

  • The stall is not uncommon when smoking a boston butt at low temperatures, just like in this recipe. What happens is that the meat starts to sweat, effectively stopping the temp from rising for 1-3 hours. This usually happens after 140° F. Don’t do anything, just wait it out, the meat temp will start to rise again. Read more about the stall here.
  • Place the pork butt on the indirect side of the grill and leave it until the inner temperature is 195-203° F (90-95° C). It usually takes 8-10 hours, but every pork butt is different.

Wrapping

  • If, at 160° F inner temp, it looks like the meat has developed good bark, but it seems a bit dry or too firm, one can wrap the meat in a single layer of aluminum foil or butcher’s paper. This will effectively braise the meat, but also push through the stall, since there’s no evaporation. Experience will tell you what to do. If wrapping, make sure you leave the thermometer in the meat so you can tell when it’s done.
    Boston butt on the grill
  • You know the pork is ready either when the inner temperature is 203° F (95° C), or when you can wiggle the temp probe and it feels like butter. Some butts never reach 203° F (95° C), so you’re gonna have to check earlier. The meat will tell you when it’s done.

Resting

  • This step is important, it's part of the cooking process. Wrap the butt in a faux cambro, meaning double layers of aluminum foil and a thick bath towel. Let is rest for an hour, then it’s time to pull it. Use two forks for this. Pulled pork should be served with a vinegar based barbecue sauce. I usually make pita bread wraps, that way everyone can add whatever filling they prefer.

YouTube

Here’s a video showing you how it’s done on an offset smoker:

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