Smoked Pulled Pork
The ultimate guide to cooking smoked pulled pork at home! Cooked low & slow in a barbecue, this pork is incredibly tender & juicy.
Servings: 10 Portions
Equipment
- Barbecue/Smoker
- Digital Temperature Probe
- Spray Bottle
Ingredients
- 2.5 kg Pork Shoulder With The Bone Left In
Rub & Slather
- 30 g Fine Sea Salt
- 30 g Demerara Sugar
- 20 g Coarse Ground Black Pepper
- 1½ tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin
- 1 tsp Garlic Granules
- ½ tsp English Mustard Powder
- ½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- French's Mustard To Slather
To Spritz
- 100 ml Apple Juice
- 100 ml Cold Water
To Serve
- Burger Buns See Notes
- Slaw See Notes
- Barbecue Sauce See Notes
Instructions
Prepping The Pork
- Remove any skin/rind from the pork shoulder then trim the fat with a sharp knife so that it's a ¼" thick.
- Lightly score the fat in a criss-cross pattern then leave the pork uncovered in the fridge until ready to cook. I like to trim the pork the night before so that it's ready for the following morning.Make sure to only score the fat, don't cut all the way down to the meat!
Rub
- To make the rub, place the salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, cumin, garlic, mustard powder & cayenne pepper into a bowl then mix to combine.
- Next, rub a thin layer of French's mustard (or veg oil) all over the pork then cover completely with the rub. Place the pork back in the fridge & leave to sit for 30 minutes or so, whilst your smoker heats up. Alternatively, leave the pork in the fridge for several hours before smoking.
Smoking
- Light your smoker/barbecue & leave to preheat to 275°f/135°c. Make sure that your barbecue is set up for indirect cooking.
- Once up to temperature, place the pork shoulder fat side up in the barbecue then leave to cook undisturbed for 3 hours. Make sure to maintain a consistent barbecue temperature throughout the whole cook!
- In the meantime, add the apple juice & water into a spray bottle then set aside. We'll be using this to spritz the pork.
- After 3 hours have passed, continue cooking but spray the pork with the apple juice spritz every 45 minutes, until a decent bark has formed & the internal temperature is at least 165°f/74°c.
- Next, lay down a couple of sheets of foil, overlapping them slightly then place your pork shoulder in the middle. Give the pork a good spritz then wrap up tightly in the foil.
- Return the pork to the smoker (or into an oven) & continue cooking at 275°f/135°c until it is tender & probes like butter. The internal temperature of the pork will be between 195°f-205°f (90°c/96°c) once cooked.If you're cooking in an oven, place the wrapped pork into a roasting tin then pour in a thin layer amount of water. Once wrapped, the pork will need anywhere from 2-6 hours of cooking to become tender.
- Let the pork rest (still wrapped in the foil) for at least an hour then shred the meat by hand, discarding the bone (it should pull out clean). Mix the meat with any juices then serve!
Serving Suggestion
- Serve the pulled pork in buns with homemade barbecue sauce & slaw.Any leftover pork can be reheated with a splash of barbecue sauce (or water) in a 180°c/356°f oven.
Notes
1. Pork - For this recipe, you'll need a 2.5kg pork shoulder. Any skin should be removed & preferably, the bone will be left in.
2. Smoker/Barbecue - You can use any barbecue to cook pulled pork as long as you can cook indirectly on it. If you're using a charcoal barbecue, I'd recommend adding in a chunk of wood just before adding in the pork. Cherry or apple wood work really well with pork.
3. Rub - I've included the recipe for the rub that I like to use on pork shoulder but feel free to use a different one if you'd prefer.
4. Spritz - Spraying the meat helps with bark formation but you don't have to use apple juice. Cider, beer or cola would be some other good options.
5. To Cook Without A Smoker - This pulled pork can also be cooked in an oven at 275°f/135°c. I'd recommend cooking it uncovered in a roasting tin then wrapping in foil once it's taken on a good amount of colour.