Meat & Seafood · American

Pulled Pork

Name: Pulled Pork
Total time: 510 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 2 lb pork shoulder, bone-in (Boston butt, fat cap scored); 1 tbsp yellow mustard (as slather); 2 tbsp brown sugar (packed); 1 tbsp smoked paprika; 2 tsp salt (coarse); 1 tsp black pepper (coarse ground); 1 tsp garlic powder; 1 tsp onion powder; ½ tsp cumin (ground); ½ tsp cayenne pepper; ¼ cup apple cider vinegar; 3 unit hickory wood (chunks)

12 ingredients · 510 minutes · 8 servings

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296kcal31.3g protein16.1g fat4.8g carbs~$1.12/ serving*

No alcohol

Ingredients

Servings:

2 lb	pork shoulder, bone-in (Boston butt, fat cap scored)
1 tbsp	yellow mustard (as slather)
2 tbsp	brown sugar (packed)
1 tbsp	smoked paprika
2 tsp	salt (coarse)
1 tsp	black pepper (coarse ground)
1 tsp	garlic powder
1 tsp	onion powder
½ tsp	cumin (ground)
½ tsp	cayenne pepper
¼ cup	apple cider vinegar
3 unit	hickory wood (chunks)
4 unit	hamburger buns (toasted)optional
2 cup	green cabbage (shredded, for slaw)optional
¼ cup	ketchupoptional
1 tbsp	molassesoptional
1 tsp	worcestershire sauceoptional
1 tsp	hot sauceoptional
¼ cup	pickle (sliced)optional

Method

season60 min
uncovered, refrigerated
pork shoulder rubbed with mustard, then coated on every face with brown sugar + smoked paprika + salt + black pepper + garlic powder + onion powder + cumin + cayenne — the mustard is glue, not flavor; it burns off. The hour is for the salt, which draws moisture out, dissolves in it and is pulled back in, so the seasoning reaches past the crust. Overnight is better; more than 24 hours makes the surface hammy.
prep15 min
225–250°F, indirect heat
bring the smoker or a charcoal grill banked to one side up to temperature and settle it there before the meat goes on, then add hickory chunks. Hold this band: below 225°F the fat renders too slowly to keep the meat lubricated, above 275°F the exterior tightens and squeezes out juice before the collagen has had time to convert.
smoke240 min
225–250°F, fat cap up, lid closed
pork over indirect heat with the wood smoldering — not flaming. Smoke chemistry only binds to a cool, damp surface, so the first two hours do nearly all the flavoring; adding wood after the bark dries just makes soot. The bark is drying rub plus smoke condensate, and every time the lid opens the chamber loses the humidity that keeps it pliable.
barbecue120 min
wrapped in foil with vinegar, 250°F, to 203°F internal
once the surface is mahogany and firm and the internal temperature parks around 160°F, wrap tight with the apple cider vinegar splashed in. That plateau is the stall: moisture evaporating from the surface cools the meat as fast as the fire heats it. Wrapping stops evaporation, so the temperature climbs again and the meat spends the crucial hours between 160°F and 203°F converting collagen to gelatin. Pull at feel, not number — a skewer should slide in with no resistance at all.
rest60 min
still wrapped, in a cooler or turned-off oven
rest the wrapped shoulder before touching it. Gelatin is liquid at 203°F and thickens as it cools; shredding hot lets it run straight out of the foil and the meat tastes stringy even though it cooked correctly. An hour lets the juices thicken enough to stay in the strands.
mix10 min
warm
pull the bone out — it should lift clean — and shred with the grain in coarse chunks, discarding the hard lumps of unrendered fat and chopping the bark through the pile so every forkful gets some. Pour the defatted foil juices back over and taste for acid: the vinegar is what keeps a fatty shoulder from going flat on the palate. Sauce, if used, goes on at the table.