Pulled pork is one of my favorite things to cook because not only is it delicious, it’s pretty damn easy. In this recipe I will show you how to properly smoke a pork butt (aka boston butt) on your pellet grill to produce that juicy, smokey, shredded pork that you only thought was possible by traveling to Memphis. You don’t need any fancy ingredients or fancy kitchen gadgets either. Just a nice plump pork butt, mustard, some S&P (salt and pepper) and your pellet grill.
How to make smoked pulled pork
1. Preheat your pellet grill
The first step is to preheat your pellet grill to 275 degrees. I like to get it up to temperature and let it run for 30 minutes so the temperature stabilizes. Don’t forget to top off your hopper with pellets. Running out of pellets halfway through the cook is a major bummer.
2. Prep the pork butt
While the cooker is heating up prep the meat. Take it out of the packaging and use paper towels to wipe off all of the liquid before you transfer it to a cutting board or baking tray for trimming. Trim off any excess fat and hanging pieces of meat. Anything that is small and hanging off will dry out and could burn off anyway so you might as well take it off now. Depending on how the pork butt was processed you may have a very thick fat cap, or no fat at all. There is plenty of fat and connective tissue inside the meat that will break down during the cook so don’t worry if you got one with no fat cap. If the fat cap is pretty thick I always trim it down so its 1/8″ to 1/4″. I’m really not too precise when I’m trimming my pork butt, because the meat is going to get shredded (its not like a brisket that you are going to slice and want a perfect, even 1/4″ of fat on each slice). If there is too much fat left on the butt it wont render down and will prevent the meat from forming a nice crusty bark.
3. Apply the slather
Apply the slather. You can really use anything you want here, but my standby is yellow mustard. I always have it in the fridge and doesn’t offer any crazy flavor profile that might turn someone off. You can also use olive oil or honey mustard here too (feel free to add some hot sauce if you like spice). Coat the entire pork butt with a liberal amount.
4. Make the rub
My standby rub for pork butt is 1 part salt, 1 part ground pepper, 0.25 parts paprika (for a nice deep red color). I prefer coarse salt and fresh ground pepper but if you don’t have a way to fresh grind pepper, just use what you have. I use a small coffee grinder to pulse whole black peppercorns for 20 seconds to get a nice coarse grind. Mix 1/4 salt, 1/4 cup pepper, and 2 tablespoons of paprika in a bowl.
5. Apply the Rub
Place the pork but fat side down and coat the underside liberally with your salt and pepper rub. Do not be stingy, as this is all the seasoning for 8-10 pounds of pork. Let the rub set for 5 minutes, then flip the pork over so the fat side is now facing up. Coat the top and sides liberally with salt and pepper.
6. Smoke the pork butt
Place the pork butt on the lower grate of your pellet grill and add a temperature probe to left or right of the shoulder bone so it sits in the middle of the meat. Smoke the pork butt at 275 degrees for 3-4 hours or until the temperature is 160 degrees. If you dont have a temperature probe you are looking for the fat cap to start to crack at this stage. Try to keep the smoker closed as much as possible here, there is no reason to keep peaking every 15 minutes.
When the pork is at 160 degrees (or the fat cap has started to crack open the smoker and place the butt in a 10″ x 14″ tin foil pan. Lightly spritz the pork with some apple juice or apple cider vinegar then cover the pan tightly with tin foil. Re-insert the temperature probe back into the meat and continue cooking until the temperature reaches 205 degrees (another 3-5 hours).
7. Rest and shred the pork
Remove the pork butt from the grill and let it rest covered with foil for at least 30 minutes. It will stay hot for 60-90 minutes this way. Or you can wrap a towel around the pan and throw it in a cooler for up to 4 hours.
Place the pork on a plate and transfer the drippings from the pan into a measuring cup. Shred the pork into the tin foil pan and add some of the dripping to suit your taste.
There are many ways to enjoy perfectly smoked pork butt. Throw it on a potato roll with coleslaw and bbq sauce for a delicious sandwich. Toss some on your nachos or use it the next days in tacos. Or just eat it for breakfast with some rice, beans, and a fried egg. There is no wrong way to enjoy!
Easy Pulled Pork
Equipment
- 1 Pellet Smoker
Ingredients
- 8-12 LB Bone-in Pork Butt (aka Boston Butt)
- 4-6 tbsp Yellow Mustard
- 1/4 cup Rub (equal parts salt and pepper mixed together + 2tbs paprika) Fresh coarse ground pepper and coarse kosher salt is best, but whatever you have on hand will work
- 1 cup Apple juice or apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat your pellet grill to 275 degrees for 30 minutes
- While the cooker is heating up prep the meat. Wipe down any excess liquid and trim off any unwanted fat or small pieces of meat that will burn off during the cook
- Apply the slather; coat the entire pork butt with yellow mustard
- Apply the Rub. Place the fat side down and coat the underside liberally with your salt and pepper rub. Do not be stingy, as this is all the seasoning for 8-10 pounds of pork. Let the rub set for 5 minutes, then flip the pork over so the fat side is now facing up. Coat the top and sides liberally with salt and pepper
- Smoke the pork butt at 275 degrees. Place the pork butt on the lower grate of your pellet grill and add a temperature probe to left or right of the shoulder bone so it sits in the middle of the meat. Let the butt smoke for 3-4 hours or until the temperature is 160 degrees. Do not open the smoker.
- When the pork is at 160 degrees (or the fat cap has started to crack open) open the smoker and place the butt in a tin foil pan. Lightly spritz the pork with some apple juice or apple cider vinegar then cover the pan tightly with tin foil. Re-insert the temperature probe back into the meat and continue cooking until the temperature reaches 205 degrees (another 3-5 hours).
- Remove the pork butt from the grill and let it rest covered with foil for at least 30 minutes. It will stay hot for 60-90 minutes this way. Or you can wrap a towel around the pan and throw it in a cooler for up to 4 hours.
- Place the pork on a plate and transfer the drippings from the pan into a measuring cup. Shred the pork into the tin foil pan and add some of the dripping to suit your taste. Enjoy!
A pork shoulder comes in two parts, the lower and upper, which then dived and sold separately. The top part is called the pork butt, or boston butt, which the lower is known as the picnic ham. If your grocery store does not offer pork butt you can also smoke the picnic roast, but I prefer the port butt. The port butt has less bone and more connective tissue, making it more tender and juicy. The picnic also ususally comes with the skin left on, which isnt great for pulled pork, but fantastic for another one of my favorite pork recipes, pernil.