Free: Contests & Raffles.
I like Bobby Flay's recipe for pulled pork. 225 degrees and 165 internal temp for pulling and 170 for slicing. The only seasoning I use is Johnny's.
Yup....initial smoke then low and slooooooow
I smoke A LOT of meats, and Pork Shoulder is one of my 'go to' favorites...First, you want to make sure you buy enough meat. A typical pork shoulder will weigh 8-10 pounds, before you trim it. YES, you'll want to trim the fat off, no matter what you've read in the past. Fat does NOT melt into the meat, flavoring it. That's a myth. Fat also inhibits smoke. Remove the fat! You'll lose 30% of the raw weight, once smoked. Plan on about 1/2 pound of finished pork, per person.Do not brine! Rub the pork shoulder with a binder (mustard or olive oil...you will not taste the mustard), then rub liberally with seasonings. Wrap in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge. You will do this the day before smoking.Start EARLY!! Pork shoulders can take anywhere from 9-16 hours!! You cannot rush it! If they finish early, no problem. I'll get to that in a bit.Fire up your smoker and get it to 225-240. You need a way to determine the temperature of the smoke chamber, AND a way to determine the internal temperature of the meat, without having to open the smoker. I use an electronic probe system that has 6 probes. This allows me to monitor the temperature of the smoke chamber, and up to 5 pieces of meat.Get your water pan full of liquid. I say 'liquid' because I don't use just water. I usually use a 50/50 mix of water and either apple juice or apple cider. Smoking is a very dry process and you need to introduce moisture into the smoke chamber. That's one of the roles of the water pan. The water pan also acts as a 'heat sink,' stabilizing the heat inside the chamber. The water pan will also catch the drippings, unless you have a separate drip pan. You want these drippings. I'll explain later. Make sure your water pan always contains enough liquid that it doesn't burn. The sugars in the water pan will actually burn, if there's not enough liquid.Get those pork butts into the smoker and add your wood. DON'T soak the wood. That's another myth. Wet wood will steam, not smoke. Wood will not smoke until it's moisture level is below 11%. I use wood chunks, not chips. In fact, I usually use actual wood logs. For pork butts, I use a combination of Maple, Apple and Cherry. Sometimes I'll toss some Pecan into the mix.After about 3 hours, you'll want to start mopping the butts about every 90 minutes. I mop with a mixture of apple cider and whiskey. Your target internal temperature is 205. Below that and you'll not be able to "pull" the butts. You will hit what's called a "stall" or "plateau." This is where the energy of the heat starts to break down the muscle. When the stall happens, the internal temperature with STOP rising, and might even drop slightly. DO NOT raise the temperature of the smoker, to speed up this process. You need to be patient through the stall. The stall can last anywhere from an hour, to several hours, depending on how much muscle is present and how dense that muscle is. Be patient...eventually the stall will end and the internal temperature will begin to rise again. The stall typically happens at an internal temperature of about 150-165. Wait it out.Now, here's where you can go a couple different directions...Do you wrap or not? I do not. I have wrapped in the past, but like the results better, without a wrap. Some people remove the butts at about 195 and wrap them. Wrap in foil, then a couple old towels, then place it in a cooler to finish. The cooler is not to cool, in this instance. It's to retain heat. The temperature will continue to rise for several hours. Why don't I wrap? BARK! I like the bark! The bark is the hard crust created by the sugars that are in the 'mop.' Wrapping softens the bark. That's the only reason I choose not to wrap. If you wrap, do so at about 195, and place in the cooler for a couple hours. Once the internal temperature has hit 205, allow another 45-90 minutes to 'rest.' If you do not wrap, leave them in the smoker until you have an internal temperature of 205, then you'll still allow another 45-90 minutes to 'rest.'IF your butts are done early, don't worry about it. Wrap them and put them in the cooler. They'll still be HOT 4 hours later!Or, after the rest period, go ahead and shred (pull) the pork, place it in a large pan, lightly cover with foil.Remember those drippings I spoke of earlier? I hope you saved them. Add a little apple cider, or apple cider vinegar to them now. After you're shredded your pork, add those wonderful drippings (liquid gold) back to the shredded pork and mix well.Cole Slaw. You need cole slaw, ON the sandwiches. If you've never tried it, trust me, just do it. I have a recipe for a cajun slaw that I'll find for you.I'm sure I've left out something. Please don't hesitate to ask questions. Not only do I do a lot of smoking, I've also been in the culinary industry for almost 20 years, as a cook, chef, and currently kitchen manager.
