| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 7 hr 50 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Inactive: | 1 hr 20 min |
| Cook: | 6 hr |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 2 tablespoons Spanish paprika
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon celery salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 (4 to 7 pound) bone-in pork shoulder (Boston butt) roast
- 1 cup apple juice
- 1 1/2 cups your favorite BBQ sauce
- 4 cups oak or hickory wood chips, soaked in water for 30 minutes
Instructions
- Combine all the spices in a bowl, mix well. Pat the spice rub onto the meat, making sure to heavily season the entire surface area. Cover or wrap the pork and let it sit at room temperature while getting the smoker or charcoal grill fired up. Do not leave at room temperature for longer than 1 hour.
- The grill is ready when the charcoal has burned to a white ash. If using a grill instead of a smoker, arrange the coals on 1 side of the grill, leaving an area large enough for the pork to cook indirectly with no coals directly underneath the meat.
- When the grill has reached 200 to 225 degrees F, scatter 1/4 of the wood chips over the coals, close the grate, put the pork on the grill and close the lid.
- Maintain a 200 to 225 degree F cooking temperature inside the grill, adding coals every 2 hours or as necessary. Add wood chips and spray the pork with apple juice every time you add new coals. Try not to lift the lid of the cooker at any other time.
- When the pork reaches an internal temperature of 165 to 170 degrees F on an instant read meat thermometer (after about 4 to 5 hours), remove it from the grill and double wrap in aluminum foil to keep the juices from leaking out. Return pork to the grill (or smoker) The pork is finished cooking when it pulls apart easily and reaches an internal temperature of 190 to 195 degrees F, about another 1 to 2 hours. Let rest for 1 hour, then unwrap the pork butt and pull the bone out. “Pull” the pork by hand, shredding it and discarding any large pieces of fat. Serve with your favorite BBQ sauce.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 968 |
| Total Fat | 57 g |
| Saturated Fat | 20 g |
| Carbohydrates | 55 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 41 g |
| Protein | 56 g |
| Cholesterol | 221 mg |
| Sodium | 1658 mg |
Reviews
It was delicious. My guests were effusive with praise for the dish.
I used this recipe as a very loose guideline. I used a 5lb pork loin in a oven at 225 degrees. I cooked it for 6 hours, shut off the oven and let it rest for one hour, still in oven. It is supremely delicious and pulled easily. I used a Caribbean style marinade for an hour before cooking
Excellent, straight forward recipe. Results are outstanding – delicious!
One time I used some chilli powder I had purchased while in India; this gave it some extra kick!
Knockout. Four hours at 110f, foiled and put back on for 2 hours until 205f internal then rested for two hours in foil, a towel and and esky for juicy, pull apart perfection & limited sauce needed. Much better pulling with neck than leg or shoulder and with a bit of apple coleslaw and sweet baby ray sauce it was awesome.
This is the best pulled pork recipe. I just loved it. I used suebiondi’s suggestion of brushing with liquid smoke and cooking in a 300 degree oven. I had a small pork roast so only cooked for 4 hours but boy it just fell apart. Doesn’t even need barbecue sauce at all because the rub made a really tasty sauce on it’s own with the pork juices. I will make this again.
PLEASE READ!!!! I’ll give this recipe 5 stars for flavor but I’m deducting 2 stars for cook time accuracy which will put this recipe at a 4 star average.
Let me begin by saying that 8 hours to cook this only works if your shoulder doesn’t stall which mine did. I only vaguely understood the stall phenomenon before cooking this meat and unfortunately, I got a crash course in it about 7 hours deep into this when my temperature would not climb past 145F.
After about 9 hours, I was starting to get close to the 165F that was called for before the wrap stage; by this time, I called dinner off and canceled my family plans for dinner. Not wanting to call the whole thing a bust, I stuck with it. To make a long story short, I began cooking at 9am after my smoker heated up and did not sit down to eat my fully finished pulled pork sandwich until 8:57pm for a whopping 11 hours 57 total minutes of cook.
I’ll also have you know that I followed followed the instructions ver betam minus the fact the instead of using Spanish paprika, I used regular paprika as there was no Spanish kind available. Everything else was done on a 6 1/2 pound shoulder with laser accuracy and razor sharpness. The meat turned out perfectly and yielded plenty for leftovers but the inaccurate cook time caused me to look bad and caught me with my pants down. I’m better because of this however and will not make the same mistake twice. If I can save someone from going through this same experience, then it was all worth it. Allot for 50-75% more time than is called for in the recipes OR, cook the day before your guests come and refrigerate and you’ll be just fine. Enjoy!
Have used this recipe several times with amazing results every time. At times I have omitted some of the spices, added other spices, still turned out great. This recipe is a stellar road map for making some of the best pulled pork you will ever try!
1st time doing a pulled pork, followed the easy instructions and came out great!!! My friends want me to make for next outdoor event.
This recipe is incredible. I cooked it tightly wrapped in foil in a 300 oven on convection bake for eight hours. The only change I would make is cutting the salt in half. Before applying the rub, I poured 1 tablespoon of liquid smoke on the pork butt, then applied the rub. I did this on both sides. It was absolutely delicious. I will be making this again.
By far the best pulled pork I have ever eaten! Took 7½ hours so just make sure you budget time for extra cooking and then sitting out. Rub was amazing, didn’t even need BBQ sauce.