Recipe Pulled pork

Anyone make it?

If so, using what method? Slow cooker, smoker, something else?

Do you make your own rub and/or sauce?

Do you inject, or have any other special techniques you use to put it over the top?


In general, I prefer ribs or brisket to pulled pork. But my wife LOVED pulled pork. And she swears that mine is better than any other place she's had it.

Today I am working from home, so I'm about to throw a small shoulder on the BGE.

First, the meat. This shoulder is from the local French Market. The farm is relatively local, and their meat is very good. And pork shoulder is one of the most affordable cuts around. This one was $2.50/lb. Nice fat content and bone-in. I also feel strongly that letting the meat rest (wrapped) for a few hours at room temp helps the smoking process be much more even.





Next, the rub. I make my own, and it is very simple. Brown sugar, paprika, black pepper, celery salt, onion powder, garlic, mustard powder, cumin, cayenne, and chipolte pepper powder. Apply liberally.



Next is the actual cooking. I use a Big Green Egg. I've had it for about two years and absolutely love it for all things grilling and smoking. But you could use almost any smoker, some people (lazy ones who like to take all the art and skill out of it, if you ask me ) even use gas or electric smokers. The important part is to create the right flavors in the smoke and to maintain an even temperature. I use a mix of cherry, oak, and hardwood lump charcoal. I keep my temps between 225-250*, with a target of about 240*. At that temp, it takes about 90 minutes per pound to smoke a shoulder. That time varies based on fat content and how long you let the pork shoulder rest at room temp before smoking.


I threw my shoulder on about 10-15 mins ago. I'll try to update the progress once the shoulder is done.

Any thoughts or questions?

 

Here is what it looks like a little over three hours in.



This was the first time I opened the lid since I put the shoulder on. When smoking you want to open the smoker as little as possible. Right now the internal temp is in the upper 170s. Usually it will plateau in temp somewhere around 175 for a long time as the collagens break down. That's where it is sitting right now. I am a bit ahead of schedule, so I'm actually going to drop the smoke temp to about 200-210.

Typically I remove the shoulder somewhere in the upper 180s, give or take based on feel and appearance. Then I wrap it in foil and let it rest for a good 20-30 mins (depending on size, sometimes even a little longer) before pulling.

 

The finished product after resting 20 mins or so:



The bone slid right out:




After pulling it:




I usually then toss in a little bit of sauce, then pull further and toss:



Too much sauce is a sin IMO. If you did the meat and the rub correctly, too much smothers out that taste. Conversely, places that don't BBQ that well can (and do) just slather sauce on to cover up their shortcomings.

It was delicious, btw.

 

I just got done eating some of it.

 

The key to consistent temps is consistent and controlled air flow.

If your smoker is too drafty, the temp will spike on you. Then when you try to bring it back down, you will often struggle to balance it without getting too cool. Then the cycle repeats. If the flow doesn't properly travel from your smoke box area, through the area your meat is, and out the chimney, you run into problems getting things to cook at the right speed and/or consistently.

Having a BGE or other well built smoker is certainly an advantage. But there are often other ways to skin that cat. My suggestion is that you figure out your exact model of smoker and Google "Smoker Model X modifications". Chances are there are hundreds or thousands of hard core smoker guys with your same model of smoker. And some of them have probably taken a few minutes and a few bucks to modify that model of smoker to be more efficient and improve the air flow controls. You might even get pics or videos of how to do it yourself, and if you are the least bit handy you could mimic what others have done.

I have a few buddies with cheaper smokers that have really improved the performance of their lower end smokers by going this route.