Easy Smoked BBQ Pulled Pork

Smoked bbq pulled pork is one of my favorite cooks – it’s got everything you could want. For starters and to state the obvious, it’s delicious. Second, it’s a fairly straightforward process and a pretty forgiving cut of meat which leaves you with a wider margin for error. Finally, it’s HUGE. A typical pork butt weighs anywhere between 6-10 lbs (although you can buy smaller cuts). Even after discarding the fat cap and the bone you’re left with enough tender, juicy, smoky pork to feed a small army.

What cut of pork should you use for smoked BBQ pulled pork?

Pork butt, or “Boston Butt” is not located in the rear of the animal. In fact, it’s located right above the shoulder, another cut which it’s often confused with. Either the butt or the shoulder will work for barbecued pulled pork. I typically recommend the butt as it’s got more fat marbling to ensure a juicy finished product. Ready to cook? Let’s get going.

Ingredients

• One 6-10 lb Pork Butt or "Boston Butt”
• Olive Oil or Hot Sauce
• Your Favorite Pork Dry Rub

Equipment

• 1 Offset Smoker, Pellet Grill, Ceramic Grill, or Charcoal Grill
• Disposable Aluminum Roasting Tray

Prep the Pork

Honestly, not a whole lot of prep work to do here. Your typical pork butt from the supermarket or butcher shop should come pretty much ready to go. That being said, let’s cover some basics. First, do a quick check for any small pieces of meat or fat that are loosely attached to the larger hunk of meat, and trim them off. You’ll occasionally get these as a byproduct of the butchering process. As with any big piece of meat and a long cook, they have a tendency to dry out or burn.

Next, if you’ve purchased a pork butt with the skin still on, remove the skin. You’ll be able to tell if this is the case because well, it looks and feels like skin – tough and somewhat leathery. Most butts from the supermarket will already have this taken care of, but I’ve mistakenly purchased skin-on shoulders before. While it adds some time and complexity to the prep process, consider it good knife skill practice.

Lastly, leave that fat cap alone! This pork is going to be cooking for a long time, and we want all that lovely fat to slowly render and baste the meat as it cooks. This helps keep the pork moist and flavors it along the way. After the cook, it’s very easy to remove the fat cap and discard it (or eat it if you want, I’m not going to tell you how to live your life).

BBQ Prep Knives

Season the Pork

Again, pretty straightforward process here. Grab your favorite rub or spice blend, and some sort of binder (a sauce or oil that helps the dry rub stick to the meat). As far as seasonings, sweet/honey mixes or sweet & heat rubs tend to go great with pork. For binders try a mustard or your favorite hot sauce. If you’re not feeling adventurous, a light coat of standard extra virgin olive oil will do the trick as well. The combinations here are endless, so get creative. Just make sure you give that butt a liberal coat of seasoning on all sides.

Great Pulled Pork Rubs

Smoke the Pork

Get your BBQ or smoker humming around 225 and place the pork butt inside. If you’ve got a temperature probe (you should have one of these – very important) now’s the time to insert it into the pork. Make sure that the tip of the probe is roughly in the center-most point of the meat, and not touching the bone.

Our goal internal temp is between 200-205. Hitting that range means the collagen and connective tissues in the meat will be broken down enough that the pork will fall apart and shred easily. How long it takes to get to the target internal temp depends on a number of factors (size of meat, outside temperature, humidity, etc.) but obviously how hot you’re cooking matters most.

Meat Temperature Probes

How long should you smoke BBQ pulled pork?

My method? Smoke the pork around 225 (for maximum smoke) for as long as your timeline allows, but at least 6-8 hours. This allows the pork to develop that beautiful bark and a deep smoke ring. If you’re still not at an internal temp of 200-205 after that (you likely won’t be), increase the temp to 250 - 275 and finish out the cook. Every cook is different, but at 225 cook temp I’m usually in the 170 internal range by about hour 8 or 9. After than, if I increase the cook temp to around 250, I’ll arrive at 200 internal in roughly 3 more hours. Call it 12-13 hours start to finish.

Typically, I’ll start cooking the night before I plan to eat and let the pork run at 225 overnight. I’ll check the internal temp in the morning and increase the cook temp if needed. The, I'll also place a foil pan under the meat to start to collect the juices that run off. Once you hit 200-205 internal temperature, pull the pork off the barbecue. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes. If you’re finished ahead of time and need to wait longer, cover the pork with foil and place in the oven (turned off) or a cooler. When you’re ready to serve, go to the next step.

Awesome Backyard Smokers

Pull the Pork

Now we’re ready to pull/shred/chop the pork. There’s no wrong way to do this, but I’ll give you my method. Keep the pork in the foil tray or place it on a large cutting board to give yourself room to maneuver. Using your hands or a knife, remove most of the fat cap from the top of the pork. This should easily slide off. Next, pull out the bone. If you cooked the pork long enough, this should come out with little-to-no resistance. If it’s perfectly clean of meat, you’re golden – and there’s no better feeling than a clean bone. After this, you’re ready to shred. Use Wolverine-style BBQ claws, standard forks, a knife, or your bare hands to pull the meat apart. Any tool should do just fine, as the meat should basically fall apart. If you have to slice it, you didn’t cook it long enough.

Fun Meat Shredders

How to Serve Smoked BBQ Pulled Pork

As for serving this up, the sky’s the limit. Here are some ideas:

• Pour some of the juices from the tray back onto the shredded meat, and plate it up with sides.
• Douse it with tangy & spicy vinegar-based Carolina-style BBQ sauce.
• Pile it on to mini Hawaiian rolls and top with coleslaw for some killer sliders.
• Serve it on soft flour tortillas with white onions, cilantro, and hot sauce for BBQ pulled pork tacos.

Or, my go-to option: eat it immediately with your bare hands, standing up in the kitchen, because why are you waiting?