One of the big four competition categories. Pork Butt/Boston Butt/Pork Shoulder. They’re all interchangeable terms with the same delicious result: Pulled Pork. This has become a staple for nearly every event and party that I do. It seems everyone loves it, and I can’t blame them for constantly requesting it – it’s a delicously smokey, juicy, tasty treat.
The process is remarkably easy, actually. But to do it right, it’s extremely time-consuming. And if you don’t have a smoker
Trim excess fat from the top of the butt to maximize your surface area for bark
and score the fat cap on the bottom. This allows the fat to easily seep into the meat…and who doesn’t want more fat in their meat?
For this recipe you can use my All Purpose Rub, and cover every inch of the pork butt. That’s it. That’s your prep work.
Get your smoker going at a cool 225-250, or set your grill up for indirect cooking, and throw on your meat. Make sure you have tons of wood ready to put on. You’ll want the smoke to billow non-stop for about 5 hours. I use a mix of hickory and fruit.
If you’re using your grill with indirect cooking, you’ll need to rotate the pork butt every hour to ensure all sides cook evenly. Use this as an opportunity to spray the pork butt with some apple juice and sprinkle more rub. Couldn’t hurt.
The goal is to get the internal temperature up to 200. That’s the magic number. When you hit 200, the bone will pull clean every time, guaranteed. And I’m not gonna lie – that’s just cool.
I choose to wrap my pork butts. Some disagree. Some say it’s a bbq sin. I’m not going to get into a long discussion on this, I’m just going to make one comment: World Champions wrap.
I wrap for 2 reasons: 1. It speeds up the cooking process to more thoroughly cook your pork butts all the way through; 2. It creates massive amounts of natural juices that you cannot get otherwise. Look at these pictures – the first was taken after smoking for 5 hours and placing in the aluminum pan, the second was taken after being wrapped for about 6 hours.
I added nothing to this pan. Nothing. That’s all natural. And THAT is the reason that I constantly get the feedback from everyone that eats it that my pulled pork is the best they’ve ever had.
Make sure you let it rest for about an hour before pulling. This allows some of the juices to be absorbed back into the meat, and for it to cool enough for you to pull it.
So, about 12 minutes of prep time, 12 hours of cooking time, and you’ll have the absolute juiciest pulled pork you’ve ever had. Make some award winning bbq sauce, grab a bun and enjoy the heck out of it.
Ingredients
- 1 Boston Butt
- 1 cup All Purpose Rub
- Spray Bottle of Apple Juice (optional)
Instructions
- Trim excess fat from top of butt and score fat cap on bottom of butt.
- Rub the butt liberally on all sides for maximum bark.
- Smoke at 225-250 with a mix of hickory and fruit wood for at least 5 hours.
- If using a grill with indirect heating, rotate the butt every hour so each side cooks evenly.
- Spray every hour for first 3 hours with apple juice and sprinkle more rub.
- Place pork butt in aluminum pan and wrap tightly with foil. Place back in smoker (or oven) until internal temperature hits 200. For a 10lb butt this usually takes me 10 - 12 hours.
- Let rest for an hour before pulling.
{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
I see that you spray the roast with apple juice every hour, what about just adding the apple juice to the liquid holder in the bottom of your smoker right at the beginning?
Hi Becky,
I’m not a fan of sugary liquids in my smoker. The sugars are left behind and can corrode over time. But I know a lot of people do this.
I spray to add a flavor profile directly to meat. There’s science behind it…when you sweat, your pores are open. Same with meat. So when I open the smoker and see the meat sweating, I like to spray with flavors that will seap into the pores.
Let me know which method you try!
Hi Kevin this looks amazing and I’m using this recipe to properly break in the smoker I got for fathers day this coming Sunday. One quick question though, are you still actively smoking during the second cooking phase or just cooking in the smoker? I’m doing a butt, some brats, and a rack of ribs at the same time so it would be no issue to transfer that sucker to the oven if it will be over smoked.
Hey Rob – thanks for reaching out. During the second phase, while wrapped, NO, I’m not smoking. That’s actually one of the reasons I wrap – to NOT over smoke the meat. I have definitely used my oven for the wrap phase on butts many times. Makes it easy. Plus, as is the case with you this weekend, it frees up the smoker to cook other meats!
Sounds like a delicious father’s day at your place – enjoy!
Kevin,
I see that you mention wrapping the pork butt in your directions. Do you just put it in one of those foil pans and then cover it up with foil? Do you leave it wrapped the hole cooking process?
Thanks for you response.
Dan
Hey Dan – I put the butt directly on the grill for the first smoking phase, then put in a pan and wrap for the second cooking phase. I leave it wrapped until the internal temp hits around 200. Let me know if you need anything else!
Kevin,
Kind of a dumb question. I’m a little confused on the wrapping. Do you smoke your butts up to temp and then wrap afterwards to sit or do you wrap during the smoking process. I’m going to try your recipe next weekend and want to make sure I get it right!
Thanks!
DJ – I smoke directly on the grill for the first few hours, then place the butt in pan and wrap for the next several hours until the internal temp hits about 200. Then I leave wrapped for an hour or so on the counter to let it rest before pulling.
Hopefully that clears it up – let me know if you need anything else!
Kevin just wanted to drop in and give you another success story. Followed your cooking instructions on my first Butt attempt in my new electric smoker and oh man! I wasn’t prepared for that quality. It was the best flavored, most tender pulled pork I have tasted. My dinner guest are still talking about it 2 weeks later. Ty for a great site and all the helpful tips. Trying my first Smoked Whole Chicken this weekend with your instruction and will let you know how it goes but I am sure it will be amazing.
That is excellent feedback, Ronnie – thank you! I really appreciate hearing the results when my recipes and techniques are tried. Have fun with the chicken – it’s sure to be delicious.
Kevin,
I received a Weber Smokey Mountain 18.5″ cooker as a gift. Thus far I have smoked St.Louis Ribs and Beef Short Ribs. The St. Louis ribs were good, but the rub was a bit spicy. The Beef Short Ribs were over smoked. I cooked them at 225 for 12-14 hours. They were very dry and tough. Thus I’m a bit apprehensive to try them again. Now I want to try my hand at pulled pork. What is the best temperature and how long should I cook the pork. Am I better off with a butt or shoulder for my first pulled pork?
Hey Scott – great to hear you’re trying different stuff.
Go to your local grocery store and pick up a Boston butt – make sure bone is in.
Keep your smoker around 225-250, and cook the butt until the internal temp hits 200.
Check out my pulled pork recipe for more details! Have fun!
I just learned of your site today and I am really impressed, I have been looking for a site like this for a long long time, and I will be telling my friends about this site too.
Thanks so much! We really work hard to share great recipes and techniques, with a nice looking format, layout – and of course awesome pictures. Feel free to email or leave comments with questions any time if you need anything at all!
Hey Kevin, a thousand apologies for my late update, I was going to respond the next day with results but ended up with a sinus infection
I am feeling human today so I had to let you know that things went great! I have done the chicken before and your recipe is awesome and pretty much fool-proof. The pork was also awesome!! The only thing that was not spot on was me, I pulled it off a little early by about 10 degress early because we had to leave the house and I was not comfortable letting is sit unattended, plus I was not sure how long we would be gone. So, I kept it wrapped and placed it in a cooler while we were out. It pulled apart perfectly and was still very juicy and awesome! Thanks so much for your assistance. I had no Issues cooking the chicken and pork simultaneously. It was great!!
I do have another question, here is my issue.. My verticle smoker is small so if I do ribs I have to roll them or cut them (it is even too small for a rib rack to fit inside). I do have a nice 22 inch weber kettle. I tried smoking a rack of baby back ribs on it. I know my time was off.. I should have cooked them a little longer (I did not crutch these). They had almost a soot-y taste to them.. I am not too sure why, I was sure to never let my top vents closed more than half way. I used Stubbs naturals as my fuel and wood chunks.. Anyways, I am having a go at it again tonight, except this time I rinsed out the kettle of any debris thinking this may have attributed to that? The outside of the ribs had the not so good flavor, the inside was fine and had a good smoke ring to it.
What is your advice/expertise for doing baby backs on a weber kettle? My temp was spot on. Waterpan under the meat, coals/wood to the side. I also but some foil against the coals/wood as a barrier to the meat. Thanks so much for your help!!
Great feedback to hear! So happy you had positive results.
On ribs – Ironically I’ll be posting my entire rib process starting Sunday, so you’ll get all the details. A few thoughts:
Make sure the membrane is removed from the back of the ribs. This can give a chalky/soot taste to them.
Let the coals get good and gray before putting ribs on. Sometimes the black charcoal can really give a bad taste to your meat.
Rotate the ribs. Make sure each side gets equal time facing the heat.
Cut the ribs in half if needed for space on the smoker or your Weber. I used to do this all the time. You don’t lose a thing cutting them in half.
Try marinating your ribs in the dry rub for awhile before cooking. This will hopefully allow the flavors to seep deeper into the meat.
Hope these few thoughts help. Have fun!
Thanks Kevin. I will be sure to make sure my coals from the chimney are nice and ashed. How long would you say I should let them burn in the chimney and how long should I let them burn with the unlit coals before I put the ribs on. I know it is only a rough estimate due to temperatures but a ballpark might be nice.. Do you have good results smoking on your webber kettle/charcoal grill? Should I crutch my baby backs? Thanks.
P.S. I am smoking 4 chickens this weekend for Easter, using your methods and I will most definitely be directing my guests to your page when they beg me for how I did it
When the coals at the top of your chimney are gray, they’re ready. That’s all I do. Wait til the top ones are gray, dump them out, and you’re ready to smoke. I would start smoking with those gray coals – no black ones. Then when your temp starts dipping too low, you can add more. By that time hopefully you’ve given the ribs a good amount of clean smoke.
I’ve had good success…but I haven’t used my Weber for ribs in a long time. I’m spoiled with my huge smoker, and when I make ribs I usually make a ton. But you should have great success on the Weber.
So no minion type of method with the kettle? I’ll give it a try, so would you say a whole chimney full in that case?
I smoked a Pork Butt not long ago per your instructions, and WOW! everthing was as you said it would be. Although I did pull it earlier than suggested because after sampling it I was so excited I had to eat.. no sauce cause the flavor was impeccible. But the rest of the family needed sauce. Thank You. I will always do my pulled pork this way from now on.
That is excellent news, Matt! So great to hear. I’m the same as you – I don’t need any sauce when it’s nailed. The juices and flavors are enough for me. Thanks so much for the feedback and please let me know if there’s anything else you need!
What is the math on cooking time per pound? I’m thinking of doing a 5-6 pounder. Also, on vertical smokers like a master forge or WSM, is there any difference cooking something on the lower grill? I’m assuming so. Thanks for the help and awesome website!!
Thanks for the kind words! It probably ends up being about 1-1.5 hours per pound. But it’s not an exact science because of smoker temp. I usually do 9 lb butts and for me to get them perfect it takes about 14 hours, at around 225 degrees. So if I were you, I would count on at least 8 hours to nail it.
And yes, on vertical smokers it makes a huge difference. Probably 15-25 degrees between top and bottom racks. I prefer the top rack to really get that bark hard. If it’s getting too dark or cooking too fast, move it down.
Good luck and let me know how it turns out!
Wow, awesome response time!! I plan on doing a chicken & shoulder at the same time using your recipes. However my smoker hovers between 240-265 measured by oven thermometer on the top grate. How do you reccomend I manage using both lower & top grills? Chicken ontop? Or pork? Chicken is about 5lbs and the shoulder is just shy of that.
Thanks – I try! Always put the chicken on bottom. Main reason: You don’t want raw chicken juice dripping on your other meat. But also in this case the chicken will cook quicker than the pork for sure, so it doesn’t need to be on top. And that temp range is perfect. A little high, but as long as it spends most of the time at 250 or below, you’ll be in good shape.
Sweet deal. So I’ll assume my chicken will cook faster than usual being on the bottom, hopefully it won’t be too warm.. So for the butt I just want to make sure and pull it off at 200? At what point should I wrap it considering it being just shy of 5lbs?
Thanks so much for the help! I can’t wait, I will mos def follow up with an update after consumption
Will smoking two or more eight pound butts cook in the same amount of time as only cooking one?
It depends on your smoker, but no, it shouldn’t, UNLESS having that much meat lowers the temp of your cooker. It’s all about temperature. I can cook 6 butts on my smoker, and as long as I control the temp they still get done as quickly as one.
Kevin,
The wife got me a Master Built 30 smoker for Christmas and I am about to tackle my first Boston Butt, per your recipe and was wondering if the butt goes in the smoker “fat cap” on top or bottom? Or, am I flipping it around every so often? Last question, how long after the butt is prepped / rubbed do I let it sit? Do I cover it and refrigerate overnight, a few hours or just leave it out on the counter for an hour or so while the smoker is heating up?
Love the site and thanks, –Bill
billmesserly@gmail.com
Hey Bill – great questions! And the answers are…cloudy.
Fat cap up or down? Most say up so the fat drips through the meat. Some say down so they get better bark on the non-fat cap side. Others say cut the fat cap off – pork has enough fat. The right answer? There isn’t one. I trim my fat cap, and cook fat down because I want good bark. But your idea of flipping it is great – try that, start with fat down, and flip after an hour or two. I bet you’ll like the results. Just make sure with the wrap phase you have fat down.
How long on rub? If you have the time and space, overnight in the fridge is great. Make sure to toss some fresh rub on there before you put it on the smoker. Most of the time I’m rushed and simply put the rub on an hour or so before it goes on. But sometimes I will sprinkle additional rub during the smoking phase just for fun.
And in case I didn’t emphasize it enough in my recipe, don’t quit on it early – get that internal temp up to 200! Your Masterbuilt is electric I believe, so don’t be afraid to let it sit in there wrapped overnight. I do mine that way and the results are silly. Nothing like pulled pork that has cooked for 12-16 hours.
Please let me know how it turns out!
…..I’m now hungry for delicious pulled pork!
I would say after about 3 – 4 hours of smoke, it’s taken in plenty and you could wrap it. If you want to go by temp, then wrap it when the internal temp hits about 160. At 160 it won’t take in any more smoke anyway.
And yes, 200 and it’s nailed. The bone will pull out clean, the fat will be 90% rendered, and you’ll have the juiciest pulled pork you’ve ever had.
Glad to help! Tell your friends to check out the site, sign up for the newsletter, and spread the word about how GREAT it is!
Is 3 hours of smoke too much smoke for the chicken?
No – that’s the beauty of chicken – the skin protects it. I’ve smoked chickens for 8 hours and they aren’t too smoky.
Make sure you check out my ultimate smoked chicken guide. Lots of great ideas and recipes. You’ll love it.
Correct. I just pile them to one side. And yes a chimney full should be a great amount. Then as temperature dips I just drop 5-10 more coals in there.