Looking for the EASIEST pulled pork you’ve EVER made? Look no further than THIS recipe that my family has been using for years now. All you have to remember is: 200/200. It creates a rich bark, is simple to follow, and you can “WOW” your crowd with the big reveal! You may also know this is “no wrap” pulled pork!
THE PORK
Just like my VERSATILE PULLED PORK, I primarily buy my bone-in pork butt (you may find boston butt or pork shoulder) at my local membership grocery store. Ours comes in a two pack, which can be daunting to a new backyard cook. I simply open up the packaging, pull one butt out, and freezer seal it to use for another time. Some cooks end up smoking both at the same time but it all depends on the size of your smoker, the audience you’re cooking for, and if you want to freeze some at the beginning or at the very end. For now, we’ll focus on this pulled pork recipe but please check out PelletGrilling101 to learn about your options when your packaging has multiple butts in it.
THE TRIM
Unlike my versatile pulled pork recipe, we will be doing minimal trimming here. This recipe is all about ease, simplicity, and a fun way to change up our cook methods! I give the butt a once over and trim off any HARD fatty pieces but, other than that, I move straight to patting the butt dry with paper towel and applying my rub.
THE RUB
For this butt, I love mixing and matching my flavor profiles. I start rubbing my butt with a basic blend of salt, pepper, and garlic then rub it all over the butt. After that, I apply my favorite sweet rub with some heat but you may use any favorite rub you have. Once the butt is rubbed, I set it aside and fire up my pellet grill.
MITCH TIP: I love using a sweet rub that has some color to it – that rub will help create a beautiful mahogany bark that’ll develop throughout the smoking process.
THE COOK
I am a big fan of overnight cooks [INSERT HYPERLINK ABOUT OVERNIGHT COOKS TIPS & TRICKS IN PELLETGRILLING101]; that’s the beauty of having a pellet smoker! Stick the thermometer in, set the alarm for 200, and if you have one with an alarm, it’ll alert you if there are any issues. There’s no babysitting and there should be nothing to worry about if you follow my directions about overnight cooks!
MITCH TIP: Plan for 75 minutes of cook time per pound of pork butt
After I have rubbed the pork butt, I set my grill low to 200 degrees and, once it reaches that temperature, I place my butt on fat side down [INSERT HYPERLINK OF DEBATE BETWEEN FAT CAP UP OR DOWN FROM OUR PELLETGRILLING101 TAB] again. I let that butt live in the smoke overnight until my alarm goes off letting me know it has reached 200 degrees internal temperature. You WILL hit a stall again but, because it’s an overnight cook, you won’t realize it.
MITCH TIP: Stick your thermometer in the thickest part of the pork butt.
THE PAYOFF
Once your thermometer is going off at 200 degrees internal temperature, open your lid and take a look at how beautiful your pork butt turned out! Grab your thermometer and poke around the butt. You’re looking for a “like butter” texture when probing the pork butt; the thermometer should go in and out super easy; that’s when you know it’s done!
THE FINALE
Normally, we rest our pork butts for 2-4 hours but, with this recipe, we’re going to keep it super simple and pull the butt off the grill then set aside for 15 minutes to let the juices distribute throughout the butt. This is when you want your friends and family to gather around and get the camera ready! Put your gloves on, place the butt on a craving board, and reach for that pork butt bone. It’ll pull out smooth and clean! While everyone cheers and chants your name, begin pulling the meat apart; you can shred it, but it’s best to keep the tubes intact; that’s where your rendered fat is concentrated and the tubes will be super tender. I find it very easy to use my hands and gently pull the tubes; the meat will handle the rest and separate easily.
MITCH TIP: When pulling my finished pork product, my goal is to find the tubes of meat and try to keep them as intact as possible. A lot of people shred the entire butt, however, the most enjoyable bites come from the tubes within the pork butt – look for those and try and harvest as many as you can!
You may make sandwiches, nachos, or just enjoy as is with your favorite sauces!
INGREDIENTS
One 8-10 pound pork butt
Paper Towel
Gloves
½ cup salt
½ cup pepper
¼ cup garlic powder
One cup of your favorite BBQ rub
Thermometer
DIRECTIONS
Remove pork butt from packing and pat completely dry. Apply the salt, pepper, and garlic powder coating the entire butt and rub in with hand. Apply your favorite rub over that, coating the entire butt, rub in with hand. Set smoker to 200 degrees. Place butt on smoker and insert thermometer. Set thermometer to 200 degrees and let smoke roll until internal temperature reaches 200 degrees. Remove butt from smoker and let sit for 15 minutes. Pull bone out and pull the pork to enjoy!
