Smoked. Pulled. Pork. In the land of Q it just doesn't get much better than a pork shoulder that is smoked properly. It is one of my favorites not only because of taste but because of the price. If you find a pork shoulder or pork butt on sale you get get 8lbs for less than twenty dollars. I like a pork butt with the blade bone in it. At that price point it makes it easy to feed a large group or have leftovers to feed your family multiple times. In the past I have bagged the leftovers in 1-2lbs increments to put in the freezer for a later date. The beauty of leftover pulled pork is that it is versatile and can be used for a lot of recipes. We'll use leftovers for sandwiches, burritos, grilled cheese, nachos, and some day I plan to make a pulled pork chili. Pork Shoulder/Butts are great for beginners due to their high fat content, with the high fat content they can take some abuse.
For this post I will not provide a recipe as this is another recipe from Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book but walk you through the process, show some photos, and let you know how it turned out.
This recipe has several steps.
1. Dry Rub - this is applied before the cook to help enhance the bark. To help the rub adhere and lock moisture in I will rub the pork butt with olive oil.
* Bark is the crust that forms on the outside of the meat, you want a good bark.
2. Big Bob's Sop Mop - this a vinegar based mop. The mop is brushed onto the meat in the latter half of the cook to help add flavor and moisture. It can also double as sauce when the meat is served.
3. Injection - to add flavor and moisture this recipe calls for an apple juice based injection.
As always I advocate prepping some of these items in advance. I planned for Saturday cook so I mixed the dry rub and sop mop Thursday night and then prepared the injection and readied the smoker Friday night.
Note: For this cook I had an 8lbs pork butt. I'll be looking to cook at 225 degrees for 8 hours +/- using charcoal and apple wood chunks. (For the wood chunks I'll add a small chunk every hour for the first 4 hours).
7:30 a.m. - Gentleman. Light. Your. FIRESSSSS!!!! Once the fire is lit and the smoker is heating up it is time to get the pork butt ready. Start by applying the dry rub, once the rub has been applied you can inject the pork butt from the top down, do not turn it over as you will lose the liquid that has been injected.
9:00 a.m. - It's time to place the pork butt in the smoker.
***I won't remove the smoker lid at all for the first few hours as you will only lose heat. This is a patient cook, low and slow baby!
***Just monitor the temperature of your smoker and adjust accordingly.
2:00 p.m. - It's time to get a look at the meat and apply the first coat of the sop mop.
3:00 p.m. - Apply sop mop.
4:00 p.m. - Apply sop mop.
4:30 p.m - I applied the Texas Crutch after failing to beat the stall.
http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/the_stall.html
6:30 p.m. - I've lost all patience and opted to pull the pork butt off of the smoker 170 degrees. Normally for pulled pork you want closer to 195 degrees to really break down fat and collagen. The pork was safe to eat at 160 degrees. (I stalled at 150 degrees at 1:30 p.m. And stayed there until I used the crutch).
I let the pork butt rest a half hour before shredding. When it is time to shred there is no better tool tool to own than bear claws. If you are looking to make some pulled pork and don't have bear claws I suggest investing in a pair.
This pork itself had a lot of flavor and was very juicy!
Hope you enjoyed the process and pictures! Thanks for reading again!
If you want the recipe go to www.bigbobgibson.com the recipes are great and it also gives some insight to creating rubs and would selection.
For this post I will not provide a recipe as this is another recipe from Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book but walk you through the process, show some photos, and let you know how it turned out.
This recipe has several steps.
1. Dry Rub - this is applied before the cook to help enhance the bark. To help the rub adhere and lock moisture in I will rub the pork butt with olive oil.
* Bark is the crust that forms on the outside of the meat, you want a good bark.
2. Big Bob's Sop Mop - this a vinegar based mop. The mop is brushed onto the meat in the latter half of the cook to help add flavor and moisture. It can also double as sauce when the meat is served.
3. Injection - to add flavor and moisture this recipe calls for an apple juice based injection.
As always I advocate prepping some of these items in advance. I planned for Saturday cook so I mixed the dry rub and sop mop Thursday night and then prepared the injection and readied the smoker Friday night.
Note: For this cook I had an 8lbs pork butt. I'll be looking to cook at 225 degrees for 8 hours +/- using charcoal and apple wood chunks. (For the wood chunks I'll add a small chunk every hour for the first 4 hours).
7:30 a.m. - Gentleman. Light. Your. FIRESSSSS!!!! Once the fire is lit and the smoker is heating up it is time to get the pork butt ready. Start by applying the dry rub, once the rub has been applied you can inject the pork butt from the top down, do not turn it over as you will lose the liquid that has been injected.
9:00 a.m. - It's time to place the pork butt in the smoker.
***I won't remove the smoker lid at all for the first few hours as you will only lose heat. This is a patient cook, low and slow baby!
***Just monitor the temperature of your smoker and adjust accordingly.
2:00 p.m. - It's time to get a look at the meat and apply the first coat of the sop mop.
3:00 p.m. - Apply sop mop.
4:00 p.m. - Apply sop mop.
4:30 p.m - I applied the Texas Crutch after failing to beat the stall.
http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/the_stall.html
6:30 p.m. - I've lost all patience and opted to pull the pork butt off of the smoker 170 degrees. Normally for pulled pork you want closer to 195 degrees to really break down fat and collagen. The pork was safe to eat at 160 degrees. (I stalled at 150 degrees at 1:30 p.m. And stayed there until I used the crutch).
I let the pork butt rest a half hour before shredding. When it is time to shred there is no better tool tool to own than bear claws. If you are looking to make some pulled pork and don't have bear claws I suggest investing in a pair.
This pork itself had a lot of flavor and was very juicy!
Hope you enjoyed the process and pictures! Thanks for reading again!
If you want the recipe go to www.bigbobgibson.com the recipes are great and it also gives some insight to creating rubs and would selection.
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