The Most Delicious Smoked Pulled Pork (Family Favorite)

I love smoked food, but I especially love when my husband and I work together as a team to make a great meal. Originally this recipe was inspired by an episode of America's Test Kitchen on PBS, as you can see in our original post Lexington-style pulled pork meal. We have since tweaked the original recipe as it was almost too spicy for the sensitive taste buds in our family. This recipe below is our tried and true, one we have been using for many years.This meat has so much flavor. We never feel the need to make the barbecue sauce in our old blog post or add barbecue sauce of any kind because it is just that good.

To prepare for the smoking process, I thawed a 6-8lb Boston butt pork shoulder roast. It would probably be a good idea to take it from the freezer a couple of days before smoking to allow time for the roast to thaw.

The rub recipe from America's Test Kitchen called for 2TBSP sweet paprika, 2TBSP kosher salt, 2TBSP ground black pepper, and 2TBSP brown sugar. Unless I am baking, I never really follow a recipe exactly, so I changed it a little bit by adding 1TBSP garlic powder, 1/2 TBSP cayenne pepper, and an additional 1TBSP of brown sugar. Instead of using sweet paprika, we use smoked paprika, which adds a delicious smoky depth to the flavor of the meat.

Once all the ingredients are measured, stir the seasonings together and rub all over that meat. Give it a good massage! Allow the meat to rest with the rub on it anywhere from 15 minutes to 24 hours. We wrap the roast in aluminum foil and place on a large plate in the fridge for several hours.

Since the last blog post for this recipe, we have upgraded from smoking the roast on our Weber Charcoal grill to my husband's "Ugly Barrel Smoker", a homemade smoker made from a large metal food grade barrel. If you are not familiar with one of these, there are several YouTube tutorials that walk you through step by step process of building one. To monitor the temperature during the smoking process, my husband purchased this wireless temperature probe from Amazon that not only monitors the internal temperature of the meat, but the internal temperature of the smoker without even having to step outside.

 

The smells from the Ugly Barrel Smoker on our patio are intoxicating at this moment. Yummmm! The flavored wood chunks are placed in a metal basket in the barrel separate from the coals. Our favorite flavors for smoking are mesquite and hickory. Today's flavor, hickory it is!

After smoking for 8 to 10 hours and maintaining the temperature of the smoker between 220 to 250 degrees, we removed the roast from the smoker once it reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, we transferred the roast to an aluminum disposable pan, covered tightly with a double layer of aluminum foil, and placed in the oven for 2 more hours at 375 degrees Fahrenheit until the internal temperature of the roast reaches 205. This allows for the fat to render to create the most delicious, flavorful, and tender roast. 

After removing from the oven, we let it rest for 30 minutes. Remove the fat cap and set aside, then, shred the meat and discard any large hunks of fat or gristle. We reserved some of the meat, placed 1lb in freezer bags, to save for tacos or sandwiches another day. 

We hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as we do. Although labor intensive, there is enough delicious and savory meat leftover for several meals.

Rub Recipe:

2 TBSP Smoked Paprika

2 TBSP Kosher Salt

2 TBSP Black Pepper

3 TBSP Brown Sugar

1 TBSP Garlic Powder

1/2 TBSP Cayenne Pepper