Pulled Pork
Easily one of the most recognizable forms of BBQ is pulled pork. Which, by definition, is a piece of pork that has been cooked to a temperature that allows itself to be pulled off the bone. Many cuts can be used but the most common is the shoulder, aka Boston Butt. A staple at every decent BBQ restaurant and competition. For first time smokers, pulled pork is an excellent option mainly because the shoulder is a very forgiving cut of meat. For example, cuts like ribs (or brisket especially) respond pretty negatively to temperature spikes. (A common problem for beginning cooks in lower end smokers. In short it’s when the internal temperature of your smoker drops or raises.) Shoulder can take temperature spikes with little or no negative reaction provided, of course, the mistake is corrected somewhat quickly. But more on that later. Any rate, pulled pork, at its most basic form, is a fairly simple BBQ undertaking. Meat, rub, heat, smoke, and time are the only crucial ingredients. It’s not a middle of the week cook unless you work weekends…or have some sort of trust fund set up by a rich, distant relative who had no other living family. But the bullet point here is, pulled pork takes a while. We’ll get more into the time aspect later but you can figure anywhere from ten to sixteen hours.
There are many different techniques and/or methods for pulled pork. To inject or not to inject, for one. This technique raises a bit of controversy for a couple of reasons. One: flavor. Two: safety. Many purists will swear by injections, claiming it takes the pork to a whole new flavor stratosphere. I’ve tried two different shoulders side by side, one injected and one not. I personally did not notice much of a difference. What little difference there may be (if any) to me, is not worth the risk. Which brings us to point number two: safety. Long story short (for the long story, visit SmokingMeatForums.com) when you pierce the skin of a raw piece of meat, say with an injection needle, you could be pushing exterior bacteria into the interior of the meat. Which means that you need to be extra aware of the temperature. The danger zone in all cooking is the area between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s the zone in which bacteria can thrive. After injecting, you must make sure your butt makes it through this zone in no more than four hours. If you don’t inject you needn’t worry about that crap. Although, you should always strive to never allow food to hang out in that zone too long if it can be helped. I’m pretty big on food safety, probably do a post on that in the future. At any rate, food poisoning sucks. If you’ve been fortunate enough to never have it, take my word, it’s miserable. But anywho, smoking a pork shoulder. No injection, ok got that covered.
I’ve encountered folks who will brine a shoulder. This one to me is a no brainer. There are many foods I love brining. Poultry, fish, and yes, some pork. Chops and CSRs (country-style ribs) both benefit from brining, I find. Shoulder, on the other hand, has muscle fibers far too dense to benefit from sitting in saltwater so no brining either.
That leaves us with a rub…and lots of time sitting outside. Time is a tough thing to judge when cooking large cuts on the smoker. Every piece of meat is different, as is every pit. It’s best to go by temperature rather than time. And do not get in a hurry. As the old BBQ adage goes “It’s done when it’s done”. So make sure you have lots of booze, music, and a good thermometer and figure on an all-nighter.
To tell the truth, in my little opinion, there are very few things as rewarding in the home cooking arena of food as staying up all night cooking one of the best bites of BBQ on the planet. Cooking outside at night is an adventure. Just you, your meat, your smoker, and all the little nocturnal meat spies who happened to be downwind of your pit. Even though I live in the middle of a fairly urban area, outside at 3:00 am after about bourbon number seven, my imagination begins to run a little wild and I start to wonder if a small population of pulled pork loving grizzly bears could have gone unnoticed by science in South Louisiana all these years? Once I realize that is completely unrealistic (everyone knows grizzlies hibernate in August in LA) I turn my attention back to my smoker.
Many things play a part in your cooking session. One of the things I actually overlooked when I first began was outside temperature. There is very little to no winter in south Louisiana but even so, the slightest chilly breeze will require you to be extra diligent in keeping a weather eye on the thermometer. August, of course, will be less of a problem. Just be certain to always keep a backup supply of fuel on hand in the more inclement months and you’ll be fine.
Speaking of fuel, for almost all my cooks I use a combination of hardwood logs/chunks (which can be found at just about any big box sporting goods or hardware store) and lump charcoal (should be right next to or nearby wood at aforementioned stores). Charcoal briquettes are full of fillers and chemicals that, I find, put nasty flavors on meat. That, and they don’t burn nearly as hot as lump. I know there are plenty of backyard cooks that swear by it, but that’s how I feel and I’m not alone. Pork goes best with fruitwood. Cherry, peach, or apple all impart a very sweet, light, smokey flavor on your meat. Hickory will do if that’s all you can find although, I don’t like using it alone on pork. It does work well if used alongside a fruitwood. That is more of a personal preference than a rule. One wood rule I do have though is mesquite on beef only. I find the taste of mesquite is a little too strong for pork and damn near overpowering for poultry and seafood (on which I only use fruitwood). But these are all of course based on my only personal tastes. If you wanna go nuts and blast your pork butt with thick clouds of mesquite smoke, far be it from me to stand in your way. Just remember, I love saying I told you so. While I’m on my wood rant, let me just say another word in the way of safety. Never, ever, ever, use a softwood for BBQ. Pine, cypress and other softwoods release chemicals when burned that not only make your food taste like garbage but can also make you sick.
By now you have your pork, smoker, thermometer, fuel, and hopefully, bourbon. The next step is the rub. You could start reading about meat rubs for BBQ online tonight and not be done until sometime next year. This one really comes down to personal trial and error. Just have to find one you like and stick with it. The rub recipe I’m including below is the recipe I use for pulled pork and ribs. The only ingredient I use that you may not see in every other pork rub, although you will see it in some, is coffee. Not a lot. Just enough to give a little bit of earthy, chocolaty hints. Since my rub has salt in it and salt has a tendency to pull moisture out of meat, I do not let the pork sit overnight in the rub. Just about an hour on the counter with rub.
Before the rub, you’ll wanna add a thin coat of yellow mustard. This is not for flavor as the mustard taste will burn off during cooking. This is simply a way to help hold the rub on the pork.
Bark is the crunchy, dark, outside of the meat that appears after cooking a long time. Perfect bark should be what you’re striving for while cooking. Not too crunchy, not too soft. Mixing it in with the soft, juicy interior is the reason pulled pork has the reputation it does.
The most difficult of a long, slow smoke is maintaining moisture. I’m going to assume that if you’re still reading, you’re not one of the many people who are freaked out by the word moist. Let’s check to make sure. MOIST. Ok good. Pork shoulder is naturally a fatty cut of meat which you most certainly need for a long smoke. But even so, it doesn’t hurt to take a couple of extra steps to ensure your weekend food investment doesn’t dry out. First, add a water pan to your grill or smoker. A simple foil pan filled with water will do although you can get creative. I’ll add some onion, an old beer, a cup of old wine, as long as you have at least some water in there. I usually bring a pot of water to a boil on the stove then add it to the pan right before I put my meat in the smoker.
Next, you need to buy a spray bottle. Brand new and cleaned well, please. Don’t just use an old Windex bottle, this is going on something you’re going to eat. After you have purchased a new spray bottle and cleaned it, fill it up, not quite all the way to the top, with equal parts apple cider vinegar and apple juice. Then add a couple of tablespoons of dark brown sugar. Shake it up until the sugar is dissolved. Whenever you add more fuel to your pit, spray your meat down really well. The longer your lid is open on the smoker the longer it’s going to take to cook. So limit the number of spritzes to the bare minimum and since you have to open to add more fuel it’s the perfect time.
So go have fun at the BBQ pit. Don’t drink too much and definitely figure on canceling any plans you have the next day. You’re going to be tired and probably have a bit of a headache… At least I always do.
Ingredients
Pulled Pork
- 1 Pork Shoulder (6-8 pounds, bone-in)
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 cup pork rub (recipe below)
- 8 cups hot water (if using)
Pork Rub
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup paprika
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon fresh ground coffee
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
- Pinch of allspice
- Pinch of thyme
- Pinch of sage
Instructions
An hour before your cook time, pull shoulder out of the fridge. Coat with mustard and season generously with rub. Allow to sit at room temperature. Half an hour before cook time get your smoker fired up to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Add water to the pan in the smoker then add meat. Cook low and slow until shoulder reaches 190 degrees Fahrenheit, internal temperature (about an hour and a half per pound). Wrap shoulder in foil and an old towel and let sit in an ice chest for a half hour. (This allows the juices to redistribute.) Remove and shred meat using bear paws or your hands.
*See cooking tips above!
