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5 Servings
20 minutes Prep Time
7 hours Cook Time
Smoked pulled pork is one of those classic barbecue staples with several regional variations. This Perfect Pulled Pork recipe will show you how to smoke a pork butt low and slow for meat that is so juicy and tender you can easily shred it. Fire up the smoker and make this backyard barbecue creation to feed a crowd or save the leftovers to use in other recipes.
Cooking Method:
Cook your pork shoulder (also referred to as a pork butt or boston butt) low and slow, between 200°F and 250°F until the meat is fall off the bone tender. This is usually when it reaches an internal temperature between 195°F to 205°F. By then, all the intermuscular fat has dissolved leaving the meat extremely juicy. Test the meat by either using a probe or your finger. If the pork feels too “springy”, it's not tender yet! There should be a slight indentation in the meat when it is cooked just right.
Fat Side Up Or Down?
There's a lot of debate about whether you cook a pork butt (or brisket for that matter,) fat side up or fat side down. To settle the debate— it doesn't really matter! We recommend placing the fat cap on the side the heat comes from (usually on the bottom).
How Many Pounds Of Meat Do I Need?
When cooked and pulled, a bone in pork butt will lose about 30-40% of its weight. Estimate about 1/3 to 1/2 pounds of meat per person when selecting your pork butt.
In a saucepot on the stove, add the water and bouillon cube. Heat and stir on medium heat until the bouillon cube completely dissolves.
Add brown sugar and stir until it dissolved. Turn off heat and add peach nectar, soy sauce, grape juice, and Worcestershire sauce and mix well.
After all ingredients are dissolved, add ice and stir to help cool it down.
Allow to cool and refrigerate for at least an hour before using.
Preheat your pellet grill or smoker to 250°F.
Place pork butt fat side down in a pan. Using a meat injection needle, inject your cooled mixture across the meat in a checkerboard pattern, injecting approximately 1 tablespoon per site. Try to spend extra time around the bone, as this will help radiate the flavor through the meat while it's cooking.
Sprinkle meat side thoroughly with BBQ Rub, then rub in while wearing gloves.
Allow to rest 30 minutes before placing on grill. Place in smoker at 250°F.
After 3.5 hours, or when the internal temperature reaches 145°F, remove butt, place in pan fat side down, and add seasoning and drizzle with honey.
Cover in foil and return to smoker at 275°F. Check for tenderness when pork butt approaches 190°F.
The bone should be showing 1'' or more when it is at 194°F.
When it's tender, remove from smoker and let rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Either with BBQ gloves or meat claws, remove the bone and pull the pork, placing aside any large pieces of fat. Serve & enjoy!
Recipe Note
Try serving pulled pork in warm corn tortillas and top with your favorite coleslaw and a dap of barbecue sauce. Delicious!
Have leftovers? Check out our leftover recipe collection to see how you can turn this recipe into 2 or more!
