Pulled Pork (and Jamin’s Birthday)
Saturday, August 21st, 2010In my opinion, it’s almost impossible to beat juicy, well-done pulled pork—smoked the authentic BBQ way. And believe it or not, this stuff is very easy to cook and hard to mess up!
So if you’re just learning how to smoke low and slow, a great place to start is with a bone-in Boston butt. I just can’t describe how delicious, fun, easy, and great this whole process is. You have to experience it for yourself to really know what I’m talking about.
Last month, I cooked a couple pork butts for my son Jamin’s first birthday party. Now I want to share some pictures and tips for cooking delicious pulled pork everyone will love.
Some experts will tell you to use fresh butts that were never frozen and some tell you to inject or marinate the meat overnight and some will tell you to let them rest for 30 minutes or so after they’re done before you pull them. This is great, and if you feel like doing the extra work, waiting, etc, you should probably do it.
But I can tell you, some of the best pulled pork I ever had was from a thawed pork butt, and I applied the rub just minutes before I set them on the smoker, and we were in no mood to wait half an hour to eat. And I promise it was extremely edible.
So my favorite theory in barbecue is this: barbecue is easy! (Once you have someone to teach you and you get some practice.) Of course, there are extra things you can do to make it better, but don’t let this stuff intimidate you. It is NOT rocket science, even competition style barbeque.
BBQ is about having a great time with family and friends, making memories, and producing some of the most delicious food on the planet.
Here are a few pictures from Jamin’s birthday barbecue and the train birthday cake my wife made. 
Click a photo to enlarge it.
How to Smoke Pork Butts
Here are a few quick tips on how to make your own outrageous pulled pork.
- Get your smoker up to 225–250 degrees F.
- Start with fresh or thawed pork butt with some nice fat marbling. The fat adds a lot of flavor and helps keep the meat juicy.
- Unwrap the meat, rinse it, and cut off any bloody, nasty-looking stuff.
- Cover it with yellow mustard (the kind you’d put on a hotdog). Sprinkle a generous layer of your favorite pork rub over the entire surface (edges, cracks, and all). Pat it down with your hand. Disposable gloves are handy for this.
- Load the meat onto the smoker grate and close the smoker.
- Add some fruit wood or your favorite smoking wood to the fire to kick up the smoke at the beginning. We smoke mostly with 100% hardwood charcoal briquettes and add a few pieces of wood at the beginning to create more smoke. The meat takes in more smoke when it’s cold than once it’s been in the heat for a while.
- Maintain your smoker at 225-250 degrees F.
- Spray the meat with apple juice about every hour to help keep the meat moist throughout the cook.
- Cook the meat for about 1½ hours per pound or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches about 200 degrees. This can easily take 8 hours or even 12 hours depending on the size of the meat and what the weather is like, etc.
- Extra tip: If the meat reaches the 170s and just hangs there for an hour or two, your butts might be ready to pull off. Sample it for tenderness and see how well it pulls apart. You want to be careful not to dry it out. Ultimately, you will need to determine when it’s done. This takes some skill, but remember, pork butts are easy to cook and hard to mess up if you keep the temperature fairly consistent.
- Pull it into small chunks or strips with forks or gloved hands.
- Eat it with hamburger buns (or homemade bread), cheese, and your favorite barbecue sauce. I enjoy coleslaw (finely-shredded) on my pulled pork sandwiches too.
How to Store Left-Over Pulled Pork
Here’s a great way to deal with left-over pulled pork. Freeze it in quart-size freezer bags. When you’re ready to eat some, thaw one bag in the refrigerator, and then put it in a kettle of water over medium low heat.
Indescribable!
Lavern
