Smoked Pulled Pork: My Pork Butt Method on the Smokin-It

Smoked pulled pork is one of my favorite things to make. Over a lot of batches I have settled into a method that turns out pork that just falls apart, and here is how I do it, start to finish.

The cut

Pulled pork comes from the shoulder, and either a pork butt or a picnic roast works great. This one started as an ordinary picnic roast from the grocery store, nothing fancy.

The rub

I almost never measure. I like to build the rub by feel, but a few things show up every time. A good amount of salt and pepper is the base. Cayenne for heat, and once in a while a touch of an even hotter pepper like a Carolina Reaper, just a little on the surface. Smoked paprika is a regular. Brown sugar goes in when I want a stronger, sweeter bark. And then the two that really set it apart, a little cinnamon and a little clove, which give it a warmer flavor that people cannot quite place. Before any of the spices, I coat the whole roast in avocado oil so the rub grabs on and sticks.

The wood

I rotate hickory, apple, and cherry, and I fill the box pretty full. My smoker takes either chips or chunks, and the manufacturer lists about eight ounces as the maximum load, which is right where I run it. That much wood over a long smoke gives the pork plenty of flavor.

Low and slow

I run mine long and low. I start it hot, around 250 degrees, and then bring the temperature down and stretch the cook based on when I want it ready. The time varies a lot with that method, but I usually aim for somewhere around a 24-hour smoke, and I have pushed one as long as two days. I keep a tray of water in the smoker the whole time, and now and then I will add a little apple juice to it to play with the flavor. My Smokin-It smoker is sealed up tight, so as long as there is moisture in there it handles those long smokes without drying out.

Knowing when it is done

The number I trust is 203 degrees internal. That is the temperature where a pork butt just tears apart. I do not go by time, and I do not keep opening the lid to poke at it. I use a probe thermometer, run the lead in through the smoke hole, and set the probe in the thickest part of the meat without touching the bone. Then I leave it alone and read the temperature from outside. When it hits 203, it is done. I have made it this way dozens of times and that number has never let me down.

To wrap or not (optional)

You will hear a lot about wrapping. I have wrapped a few in pink butcher paper, the kind made for this, and it does help the bark texture and hold a little moisture. Honestly I have not found it to be critical, so I would call it optional. Try it both ways and see what you like better.

Pile it on a bun, with a little of my grandma Nan’s homemade barbecue sauce if you want, or eat it straight off the board. It never lasts long around here. More from my smoker: homemade beef jerky, my first impressions of the Smokin-It, and smoked ribs.