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Easy Smoked Pulled Pork Recipe

Our Smoked Pulled Pork recipe is super easy to make and is the perfect summertime recipe.

Tender, fall off the bone pork that is easy to shred and serve on buns, in tacos, or as a stand alone main dish.

smoked pulled pork
Smoked Pulled Pork on a bun – no need for barbecue sauce!

Because it is slow cooked in a smoker, the flavor of the meat doesn’t require any barbecue sauce. However, we always leave it as an option to put on sandwiches or as a side for dipping.

Best Cut of Meat For Smoked Pulled Pork

Just like when we make our Slow Cooker Pulled Pork recipe, we prefer to use a Pork Butt for this recipe.

And no, this cut of meat doesn’t come from actual hind end of a pig. In fact, it is the top section of the shoulder.

You will find this cut of meat in just about every grocery store. However, you may recognize it by a different name. It is often called Boston Butt in many sections of the country.

pork butt
Pork butt is also known as Boston Butt and has beautiful fat marbled throughout the meat.

You can also use a Pork Shoulder Roast (aka picnic roast) to make Smoked Pulled Pork as well. This cut of meat also comes from the pig’s leg, but is located just below the pork butt. It has a little less marbled fat throughout the fibers, but when cooked low and slow, it also shreds easily.

Plan For Enough Time

Once you have your roast, it is time to prepare to put it in the smoker. But before you begin, make sure that you have an entire day available to monitor the temperature of your smoker.

This is a long and slow cooking process. You need to plan for 1 1/2 -2 hours of cooking time per pound.

pork roast in smoker
Allow 1 1/2 – 2 hours of smoking time per pound of meat.

Our 8 pound roast took 13 hours to cook in our electric smoker. But the results were a fall apart, tender and juicy, smoked pulled pork!

Dry Rub

Before the pork butt goes into the smoker, you must add a dry rub to the entire surface.

You can use whatever dry rub that you prefer. We have used both McCormick’s Applewood Rub and our homemade dry rub and both turn out fantastic.

homemade dry rub
Our homemade dry rub ready to be applied to the pork butt.

When we make our own Homemade dry rub, we use the same recipe that we use to rub on our Smoked Chicken. The flavor is outstanding is perfect to use when smoking either chicken or pork.

However, when making pulled pork, we recommend rubbing yellow mustard instead of oil on the meat’s surface prior to applying the dry rub.

The mustard helps break down the fibers in the smoked pulled pork and adds just a thin layer of crust to the surface which is often sought after in traditional barbecue recipes.

The Smoking Process

Now that your meat is coated with your dry rub it is time to put it in the smoker!

dry rub pork
Apply a layer of mustard to the meat’s surface before adding the dry rub.

Set your temperature at 225°F and add your wood chips. For this pulled pork recipe we use apple, hickory or pecan wood chips in the smoker.

Then place your seasoned pork away from direct heat and with the fat side facing up.

Continue to smoke until a digital food thermometer reads 201°F. Just be aware that around the 160°-170° mark, your roast will go into a stall period.

It will seem like your meat is never going to increase in temperature. However, give it time and eventually, it will begin to increase.

pulled smoked pork
After the smoked pork rests for an hour, it will shred easily with a fork.

Once the internal temperature reaches 201° F pull the pork shoulder out of the smoker and wrap in foil.

Let the meat rest for an hour before shredding. We typically will place our foil wrapped, smoked pork butt in a towel and place in a cooler to keep it nice and warm.

Once that hour is up, unwrap the foil and shred. The meat will literally fall apart with just a slight pull between two forks.

And since you already have your smoker out, how about smoking some Baby Back Ribs, Chicken Wings or a Whole Chicken along with your Pulled Pork!

Enjoy!

Mary and Jim

Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.

As always, feel free to email us at thefarm@owgarden.com with comments, questions, or to simply say hello! You can sign up for our free email list in the subscribe now box in the middle of this article. Follow us on Facebook here : OWG Facebook. This article may contain affiliate links.

Simple Pulled Pork Recipe

smoked pulled pork

Fall apart, tender and juicy, shreds of smoked pork that will literally melt in your mouth. Use the meat for sandwiches, tacos, salads or serve naked for a low-carb main dish.

Ingredients

  • 1 8-10 pound, bone-in pork butt or shoulder roast
  • 2 TBSP yellow mustard
  • 1/4 cup BBQ Rub

Instructions

  1. Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees F. Add your apple, pecan or hickory wood chips to the smoker box.
  2. Remove your roast from the packaging and pat it down with paper towels to remove any moisture.
  3. Coat the entire exterior of the roast with yellow mustard.
  4. Sprinkle the BBQ Rub Seasoning all over the roast, on all sides.
  5. Place your seasoned roast, fat side up, in the smoker, away from direct heat.
  6. Close the lid and smoke the pork until it reaches an internal temperature of at least 201 degrees F. Plan on smoking yor pork shoulder for approximately 1 1/2 - 2 hours per pound.
  7. Remove the pork shoulder from the smoker and wrap tightly in foil. Allow the roast to rest for at least an hour before shredding.
  8. Pull apart the shoulder, discarding any chunks of fat or gristle.
  9. Serve immediately plain or with your favorite barbecue sauce.

Notes

Recipe courtesy of Old World Garden Farms

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size:

1 grams

Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
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