If you’ve ever had pulled pork, it’s usually done to one extreme or the other. It’s either way too dry and tough, or it is so wet that it’s gummy and stringy. Also, if pulled pork comes pre-sauced, it’s likely not worth eating.
A truly correct pulled pork can be enjoyed with or without sauce and with or without bread. It should be well seasoned, have plenty of body, and be tender enough to melt in your mouth.
A lot of people mess up when smoking pork butt, because the “safe temperature” for pork is 165° F. Knowing this, people fear that they will overcook the pork by cooking beyond 165° F.
The truth is that a pork butt that is intended for pulled pork should be cooked to between 199° and 205° F. This allows for all of the internal fat and tough tissues to render down providing moisture and tenderness. Below 199° F, the pork will, more than likely be tough.
Ingredients:
- 9-10lb Bone-in Pork Butt (Pork Shoulder-Butt or Boston Butt)
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- Stale Kracker’s “Two-Step Fire”
- Yellow Mustard
Materials:
- Heavy-Duty Aluminum Foil
- Nitrile Gloves
- Cotton Glove Liners
- Foil Pan (Half-Pan Size Works Best)
- Table Fork
- Smoker
Directions:
Step 1:
Put your unwrapped pork butt onto a clean work surface such as a kitchen counter. Using a dry paper towel, pat the outside of the pork butt dry. This is crucial to ensure that you get a good bark on your pork butt.
Step 2:
Apply a thin coat of yellow mustard to the entire pork butt. This serves as a binder for your seasonings to stick to the butt. Apply a conservative amount of Pink Himalayan salt to the entire butt, then a generous layer of black pepper, followed by a healthy layer of the Two-Step seasoning. Take a table fork and puncture the butt to the depth of the prongs of the fork all over both sides of the butt. This allows for the seasonings and smoke to penetrate the meat.
Step 3:
It’s time to fire up the smoker. Set your smoker to 250° F using hickory. When the smoker hits 250°, place the butt on the grate and let it smoke. I try not to look at it for about an hour and a half.
Step 4:
Check your internal temperature to gauge how quickly your cut is climbing in temperature. When you notice that you have a good base layer of bark (about 145° to 160° F), cut off a sheet of aluminum foil that is 3 times the size of the butt, and set it on a clean surface. Pull your butt off of the smoker and set it on the foil. Wrap the butt tightly, and ensure any openings in the foil are facing upwards. This will keep those wonderful juices trapped in there with the meat. Place the wrapped butt back on the smoker at 250°.
Step 5:
When the butt reaches 199° to 205° F, pull it off and leave it wrapped in the foil. If you have a cooler that you don’t mind getting dirty, place the wrapped butt in it. Allow it to rest for up to 5 hours, but no less than 1 hour in a cooler. If you do not have a cooler, place the wrapped pork butt in a foil pan and allow it to rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
Step 7:
Unwrap the pork butt into the foil pan and save the remaining juice in the foil. Put on your cotton glove liners and nitrile gloves and get ready to start pulling. Start by removing the bone. If cooked properly, the bone should slide/lift right out without any resistance and be clean of any meat. You can use the bone for broth if you’d like, or you can just discard the bone at this time. Next, using your hands, not a fork or one of those “fancy” meat shredders, start shredding and pulling the pork but into a shredded, but chunky consistency. It is important to not shred too finely, or to leave too large of chunks to achieve the right texture. Once the butt is totally pulled, pour the juices that you saved in the foil over the pulled pork, and mix it all in with your hands.
Step 8:
Enjoy the most amazing smoked pulled pork that you made yourself. If you share this with your friends and family, they will be calling you pitmaster in no time.
Note: If you will be serving this over a period of time, or will be reheating leftovers, use some chicken broth to reconstitute to the appropriate texture.