Pulling Out All The Stops: A Pulled Pork Primer

Pulled pork BBQ.  I love it but I've never cooked any... until now.  Time to get busy.

Got a couple of small bone-in Boston butt pork shoulders at my local butcher shop with one goal in mind: smoked pulled pork BBQ.  I've researched the methods, studied cooking times, stocked my wood piles, checked my schedule... I'm ready.  Gonna smoke some Boston butt on my day off from work.

Smoking day; time to prep.
First step: set out my 5+ lb chunk of pork to apply seasonings and rub.  I used regular yellow mustard to slather all over the pork first, then applied a commercial spice rub, Bad Byron's Butt Rub, which is very similar to my own homemade rub with a bit more black pepper.  This is then covered with aluminum foil and can be refrigerated overnight if possible.  I was a bit pressed for time so I put my rub on the Boston butt then started to get my smoker ready.

first mustard, then spice rub

Second step: Lit my charcoal chimney using hardwood chunks instead of briquettes for a quicker better fire start, apple and hickory woods used for smoking the meat after fire gets going.

Third step: Once the cooking area of the smoker is up to around 225°F degrees, I start smoking the Boston butt pork shoulder roast.  At proper temperature, the pork should take 1 1/2 hours per pound to fully cook.

starting charcoal as pork rub sets on Boston butt

lump hardwood charcoal in the firebox

split hickory wood and whole short cut apple wood chunks

5+ lb Boston butt pork shoulder

Steady steps: Now I've got the smoker temperature steady at 225°F, adding wood every hour or so while also turning the meat quarter turns every hour.  The scent of the mostly apple wood smoke is tantalizingly welcome - I want to bathe in it! Wow - it is sweet and inviting.  Always great to use fruit woods in the smoker.  I know the neighbors like it.

apple and hickory wood smoke - succulent and sassy

Extra step: Added a special guest to my BBQ, say hello to Chubby Bologna.  Smoked bologna is quite a treat and very easy to add to your smoke deck if you have the room.  Just get a loaf of your favorite brand, open it, put it on the back end of the smoker and turn it every 45 minutes.  A 1 lb loaf will cook in about 3-4 hours.  Easy, delicious, different.

bologna and Boston butt on the smoke deck

Important step: After smoking the Boston butt for around 7 hours and the bologna for about 3 hours, I check the internal temperature of the pork to make certain that it has fully cooked. Using a meat thermometer, I insert it into the meat and the internal temp should be 204°F.  When the desired temperature was reached, I removed the pork to a large tray and covered in foil.  I let it sit for about an hour to cool off so I could pull the pork and remove the bone.  I have already removed the bologna about an hour earlier and wrapped it in foil also.  I check on it and it is still hot!

still hot; beautiful pink smoke ring

Final step: The pork falls apart easily using first some forks then just my hands.  It is still a bit hot but the aroma and the beautiful smoke ring have me motivated and so does my hungry family.  Anticipation gives way to taste tests.  Light on the seasoning, heavy on the smoke, which is just right.  Side of smoked bologna, a couple of bottles of my favorite commercial BBQ sauces.  I'm ready to eat.  So is the clan.  Succulent, juicy, perfect.  I have to say it was the most tender pulled pork I have ever tasted.  And I smoked it!  Another method marked off the list.  I'm ready to tackle beef brisket.  But that is for another time... for this one, I pulled out all the stops - and made damn near perfect pulled pork BBQ.



Bonus step: beer pairings.  There are several really good beers to pair with smoked pulled pork. The best ones I've tried are:

1.  Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen - a German smoked beer that pairs perfectly with any smoked meat.
2. Yazoo Pale Ale - locally brewed pale ale that also pairs well with many dishes.
3. Downtown Grill and Brewery Alt - nice German-style beer that lends itself nicely to hearty meats and roasted dishes.
4. Sprecher Black Bavarian - a black lager, tasty, light enough for many foods, dark enough to have some flavor.   

Musical step: I always have my iPod on when I'm on my deck attending my grills and smoker, listening to an eclectic mix of tunes.  During this smoking the music that moved me was:

1. Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
2. Johnny Winter - Roots
3. Tab Benoit - Medicine
4. The Black Keys - El Camino
5. Sean Costello - Sean's Blues

Smokin' Good Time

BBQ.  Barbecue.  Barbeque.  Bar-B-Q.
Smoking meats using indirect heat with charcoal and wood can be delicious no matter how you spell it.  Pork, beef, poultry, fish, mutton, even goat, venison, and wild game can all be smoked, barbecued, successfully and flavorful.  Methods vary as much as the meats that are chosen to be smoked.  And the cooking meat with fire or hot coals is as old as humanity.

Growing up in the South, Mecca for good BBQ, I learned at a young age that I really liked it.  East Tennessee is the crossroads for BBQ.  There is Memphis BBQ, Carolina BBQ (North AND South), Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky... all with different variations of mostly pork (western Kentucky is famous for mutton), different sauces and rubs, and that is just in the Southeast.  Kansas City and Texas are both big BBQ regions with their own distinct styles.  Then there is Hawaiian, Jamaican, Mexican, even Mongolian BBQ; all over the world man has established tasty methods of preparing and cooking meats and food items with smoke from various woods in order to obtain savory and filling meals.  Now everywhere traveled I endeavor to try the local BBQ to see the local methods and flavors;  maybe finding something that I can incorporate into my process.  It is my "Quest for Smoked Nirvana" to paraphrase a friend.

It takes patience and practice to become adept at the art of BBQ.  ANYONE can become accomplished at cooking good BBQ.  All it takes is a passion for savory smoked goodness.  Everyone has their favorite meat, favorite seasoning and rubs, favorite spices, favorite woods to use, favorite sauces.  The novice can be successful using a regular kettle charcoal grill.  That is how I learned.  Then bigger smokers come into use.  Mine is an Oklahoma Joe Smoker that was given to me by my brother-in-law.  That's right - GIVEN.  It took a backhoe to move the heavy son-of-a-gun!  After receiving that beautiful piece of equipment and getting it cleaned up and BBQ-ready, my cooking became quite a bit more serious.  Reading BBQ manuals and blogs, asking friends their BBQ methods, learning from some who showed me the ropes on good rubs and preparation - all of this helped me become somewhat of an amateur pit master.  It is gratifying and enjoyable to cook, nay BBQ, good meat, enjoy some good Blues music and some cold adult beverages while my masterpieces slowly cook, then share the goodness with my family and friends.  It is an art when done correctly. 

BBQ is social... and it is in our DNA.   That's why I have a smokin' good time when I BBQ.