Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

Perfect Pulled Pork Recipe

Perfect Pulled Pork Recipe was pinched from <a href="http://amazingribs.com" target="_blank">amazingribs.com.</a>
INGREDIENTS
pulled pork sandwich from pork butt
The perfect pulled pork sandwich doesn't have too much sauce.
It allows the pork and smoke and rub to shine through.
Perfect Pulled Pork Recipe
Mrs. Meathead: Where are you going? Meathead: To watch the smoker. Mrs. Meathead: Mind if I come along?
By Meathead Goldwyn
With smoke woven through shards of moist meat, potent bits of strongly seasoned crust mixed in, and a gentle splash of barbecue sauce, pulled pork is the most versatile and foolproof low and slow smoked food, perfect for feeding large crowds. And it
pulled pork from prk butt at Dinosaur Barbecue
Here's a whole mess of shoulders coming out of the smoker at the Dinosaur Barbecue in Rochester, NY.
Mustard or oil under the rub?
You can put a rub right on bare meat, or you can help it stick by moistening the meat with a little water, or you can put down a slather of mustard or ketchup, or you can use cooking oil.
My experience that they make little or no difference in the final outcome. Mustard is water, vinegar, and maybe white wine (all mostly water) with mustard powder mixed in. The amount of mustard powder is so small that by the time the water steams off
I usually use a cooking oil because it helps keep meat from sticking to the grates and because most of the herbs and spices in typical rubs are oil soluble, not water soluble.
Then again, salt is water soluble and, as we explain in our articles on marinades and brines, salt is pretty much the only thing that penetrates meat more than a fraction of an inch (with seafood being the notable exception). So using mustard might h
Far more important is what is in the rub than under the rub. So use whatever you want.
How the champions do it
For home cooks, the easiest thing to do is trim off excess fat and cook the Boston Butt whole. But competition cooks think the ne plus ultra in this tangled mass of muscles is what they call the money muscle, pork collar, or tiger muscle because it i
pork butt with money muscle
It is a tube shaped muscle that runs across the butt on the surface on the side opposite the blade bone. Competition cooks try to isolate it during the cook so it can brown all around. Rules forbid them from removing it altogether, so they leave it a
money muscle
Here is a money muscle after the cook, removed from the rest of the butt, and sliced for presentation in a competition turn-in box, as cooked by Todd Johns of Plowboys Barbecue team. Notice that it is not pulled. Each slice is a succulent, juicy nugg
money muscle cooked
Pumping
Nowadays, with prize money in the thousands, most of the competitors strive for every edge they can get and many of them inject their butts with a moisturizer/flavorizer/tenderizer like Butcher BBQ Pork Injection. I've used it a few times, and it wor
Cooking more than one large hunk o' meat
I frequently get asked how to handle cooking two shoulders (or more) or a shoulder and a brisket, or a shoulder, brisket, ribs, and a muskrat. The answer is here, in my article on Cooking More Than One Large Hunk O' Meat.
Cook today, serve tomorrow
So you're going to the Grandma's on Saturday, but you don't want to spend the day cooking. You can do it, but it will not be as good as fresh. You will be serving leftovers. Fresh is always best. But if you have no choice you can do it. For more on t
Look for Berkshire
Berkshire hogs are a breed that became scarce when the pork promoters moved to leaner pork to promote it as "the other white meat". Berkshires tend to have darker, fattier, and more flavorful meat. The best pulled pork I ever had was a Berkshire serv
For more crust or if you are in a hurry
Purists will fall out of their lawn chairs when they read this, but a good shortcut is to and cut your butt into two hunks. This will give you more surface area with more crunchy, tasty bark, more smoke penetration, and significantly speed up the coo
Let's say your butt is about 10" long, and 6" diameter. If you feel around you will find the blade bone embedded in there. You may even see it sticking out. It is usually pretty much on one end, the slightly fatter end. You can cut it across the widt
Put the large piece on the smoker first, and then the small piece about two hours later.
Pulled pork is a great place for the beginner to start experimenting with smoke cooking. It is made from big clod of meat that is a lot more forgiving than other meats. And you can do it well on practically any grill with a lid.
In North Carolina there is controversy, to put it mildly, over what part of the hog to use for pork sandwiches. In the eastern part of the state, most joints cook the whole hog, chop the meat, and mix it all together. They feel that the unique textur
Inland and in the foothills of North Carolina, the preference is for shoulder meat and a sauce with a little tomato paste or ketchup mixed in. Frankly, I'm with them. Pork shoulder is the cut that is best for texture and flavor, and it has the added
Pork shoulder is a hunk of meat that is laced with flavorful fat and connective tissue. That's the story of the origin of Southern barbecue. A cheap cut of meat that the slave owners didn't want, that, as the slaves discovered, when cooked low and sl
Please don't ruin a lean, tender, pork loin by trying to make pulled pork. Loin meat has little of the fat and connective tissue necessary to make great pulled pork. If you have a loin, use this approach.
A full shoulder can weigh 8 to 20 pounds and has two halves, the "Boston butt" and the "picnic ham".
The top half of the shoulder, from the the dorsal of the animal near the spine through the shoulder blade, has too many names: Boston butt, pork butt, butt, shoulder butt, shoulder roast, country roast, Boston roast, and the shoulder blade roast. Cal
The picnic ham, which is not really a ham, runs from the shoulder socket through to the elbow. True hams come from the rear legs only. The picnic ham usually weighs from 4 to 12 pounds.
Why is it called a butt? Some say that because, when trimmed, the butt is barrel shaped, and barrels were often called butts by English wine merchants. Others say that they are called butts because they were shipped in barrels. A reader has suggested
I buy bone-in butts because the bone helps hold it together. Boneless butts are often are tied with string because they fall apart easily. It is not unusual to find partial butts in the 4 to 5 pound range. These small cuts are especially nice because
How much meat do you need
There is significant shrinkage and waste in the form of bone and globs of fat you discard when pulling. Count on about 30% loss, and if there is less, then you'll have leftovers. How much per person? That depends on the gender, age, time of day, what
Skip the marinade, injections, and brines
Some folks like to inject butt with an internal marinade. Typically they will do something like mix about 4 tablespoons of their rub with 1 cup of warm apple juice and pump it deep into the meat. Some even use chicken stock. I don't bother. I think t
Competition cooks almost always inject with flavor enhancers such as MSG and moisturizers like Butcher's BBQ Pork Injection. They work, and if you compete you should consider them to get an edge. But the improvement is small. I never use them for coo
Marinating will not penetrate a big hunk very far, so don't bother. Read my article on marinating. Wet brining lean pork chops helps, but to penetrate such a large thick hunk of flesh, you would need to brine the meat for more than a day and even the
Dry brining works and if you can get salt down a day in advance, it will penetrate some. Use a good rub, and let the smoke flavor it and the internal fat and collagen moisturize it. Keep it simple.
Beware the stall, but skip the foil
When the meat hits 150 to 160°F, moisture moves to the surface and starts evaporating and cooling the meat like sweat on a marathon runner. As a result, the meat temp will not rise for as long as 5 hours. It stalls at 150 to 160°F. And it significa
Competition cooks wrap their meat very tightly in a couple of layers of foil and toss in a few ounces of liquid such as apple juice. Then it goes back in the cooker. This stops the evaporation and powers the meat through the stall, retains moisture,
I never bother with the crutch when cooking at home. Beginners should skip this step. The benefits are minimal and it just makes the whole process more complicated. You'll still have killer meat. Focus on temperature control and fire management. Try
And one more thing
You absolutely positively cannot rely on bi-metal dial thermometers. If you are not monitoring your cooker with a good digital oven thermometer, and if you are not monitoring the meat with a good digital leave-in thermometer you are setting yourself
Pulled Pork Recipe
Makes. 5 pounds of bone-in pork butt, enough for 12 to 14 generous sandwiches after shrinkage, and trimming. Leftovers freeze nicely.
Takes. 25 minutes to trim and rub the meat. 12 to 24 hours to let the salt penetrate. Allow 8 to 12 hours at 225°F cooking time. This is flesh, not widgets, and one hog is different than another and your cooker has its own peculiarities that can sig
The meat is at its maximum tenderness and juiciness when it hits 195 to 203°F (203°F is my target, but actual time and temp varies on the individual animal). If it is not ready on time, don't panic. You can crank up the heat if you are running behi
If it is time to serve and it is still not at the ideal temp, just slice the meat. Don't pull it because it won't shred easily. Slices of smoked pork butt are wonderful.
Pulling time. 30 minutes if you do it with your fingers (ouch!), 10 minutes with Bear Paws.
Toolkit
about 16 ounces of wood by weight
1 grill or smoker with lots of fuel
1 digital meat thermometer with a probe and a cable
1 digital oven or grill thermometer
1 alarm clock
1 lawn chair
1 good book
6 pack of beer
1 pair of shades
plenty of food themed tunes
sun tan lotion
Ingredients
1 pork butt, about 5 pounds
1/3 cup Meathead's Memphis Dust
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt per pound of meat
2 cups wood for smoke
10 kaiser rolls or hamburger buns
1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce
About the wood. The idea here is to measure how much you use so next time you can add or subtract a measured amount until it is exactly the way you like it. You can use cups or handsful. Just be consistent. and go easy on the wood. Too much smoke is
Method
1) Trim most of the of fat from the exterior of the meat but not all of it. Leave no more than 1/8". Some folks like to leave it all on hoping it will melt and baste the meat, but I want the seasonings on the meat, not on the fat, and I want the meat
2) Rinse and thoroughly dry the meat. Salt it. If you have the time salt it 12 to 24 hours in advance. Called dry brining, this gives the salt a chance to start penetrating. The rub will not penetrate, but the salt will. Just before cooking, wet the
3) Insert a digital probe like the Maverick ET-733 and position the tip right in the center. Make sure it is not touching the bone or within 1/2" of the bone. Fire up the cooker to about 225°F and set it up for 2-zone or indirect smoke cooking (cook
4) When it hits about 170°F, collagens, which are part the connective tissues, begin to melt and turn to gelatin. That's magic baby. The meat gets much more tender when this happens. And juicy. When it hits 195°F, it may be ready, and it may not be
The fast method. After 2 hours of smoking at about 225°F with lots of smoke, put the meat on a roasting rack in a roasting pan and pour a cup of water or apple juice into the pan. Cover the meat with foil and fasten the foil tightly to the edges of
Barbecued pork butt with Smoke Ring ready for pulled pork
5) When it is finally ready, go ahead, take a taste. You should notice a thick flavorful crust, and right below it is the telltale "smoke ring", the bright pink color caused by smoke mixing with combustion gases and moisture. If you are more than an
removing the blade bone from a butt to make pulled pork
6) About 30 minutes before sitting down for dinner, put the meat into a large pan to catch drippings. If your butt came bone-in, the blade should slide right out if it was cooked properly.
the blade bone removed from pork butt
Here's the blade bone removed from the butt after cooking. You can see the shank part at the top protruding from the butt on the left below. This is the arm bone that connects to the picnic ham at the elbow. If the meat is properly cooked this bone s
bear paws for pulling pork butt
Pull the clod apart with Bear Paws, gloved hands, or forks. Discard big chunks of fat. If you wish you can slice it or chop it like they do in North Carolina, but I think you lose less moisture by pulling it apart by hand since the meat separates int
For big parties I will smoke 3 or more butts, pull them, and then put them in a big pan. I add about 1/2 cup of water per 5 pounds, and about 1 tablespoon of butter per pound. I carry it to the party in a cold cooler. When I get to the party I heat i
Serving pulled pork
There are so many wonderful ways to serve pulled pork. It is marvelous just piled warm and steaming on a plate with no sauce. So many people make the mistake of dumping a bottle of sauce over the meat. Please don't. The taste unadorned and unadultera
The classic pulled pork sammich. Mound it high on a nice bun. Top it with a small amount of your favorite sauce. Kansas City Classic sweet red sauce is always popular, but this is where the Carolina vinegar and pepper sauces really shine. They soak i
Mound it on a bun with slaw, South Carolina style. In many places in the South folks often crown a pulled pork sandwich with slaw (use my Creamy Deli Slaw). Barbecue champ and instructor Jack Waiboer of Charleston tops his slaw with dill pickle chips
With melted cheese. Mark Stevens in NJ says he takes "A nice bit of pulled pork, a thin slice of onion, a slice of pepper jack cheese, a good glug of Hoboken Eddies Mean Green Roasted Pepper Sauce" and puts it all on buttered white bread. He then pla
Pulled Pork Reuben. Serve it on thick bread with sauerkraut, thousand island dressing, and melted Swiss cheese.
Carnitas. Bill Martin, a friend in Texas, likes to cut smoked butt into 1/2" pieces and fry them in a pan with some of the fat that dripped off. When crisp they make wonderful carnitas tacos, he says.
Rollups. Roll it in a tortilla with chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, jalapeño pepper, shredded cheese.
Serving it the next day and serving leftover pulled pork
I often get asked what's the best way to cook pulled pork on Saturday and serve it on Sunday. My answer is "don't do it". That's called serving leftovers. Fresh meat is best. But it can be done.
These meats are best fresh off the smoker. If you have to serve it at noon on Sunday, the best method is to get up in the middle of the night and start cooking in the wee hours. If you need to take it to a game, then wrap the hot meat in foil and bla
If you cook it Saturday to serve Sunday, click here for tips on how to pull it off.
If you have leftovers that you will not scarf down in a few days, mix the leftovers with a bit of barbecue sauce, and freeze them in measured portions in zipper bags. The sauce prevents freezer burn. Pop one in the microwave and you've got a great em
Pulled pork the following day is best reheated in the microwave a small amount at a time. But it will be a bit drier and tougher than the first day, so bring back some life with a splash of water, apple juice, or barbecue sauce. The best method is in
Here are some other things to do with leftovers.
Tacos or enchilladas. Buzz in Wisconsin sez: "leftovers are made into tacos and enchiladas". I have been known to make tacos with slaw and bits of corn chips.
Taquitos. Mark Thomas Corn uses "Tortillas, red onion, cilantro. Thin pieces of leftover pork make great taquitos. All those ingredients compliment each other perfectly."
Nachos. Try adding pulled pork to nachos.
With scrambled eggs. Duane Daugherty says "I make a pineapple-habanero hot sauce, and I love to use it with leftover pulled pork, mixed with scrambled eggs and my sauce, in a flour tortilla for breakfast."
Egg muffins. Trace D Hillman says "I made egg muffins. Beat eggs, a little milk, salt cheese, leftover pulled pork, bake in muffin tins for 20 minutes at 400°F." The full recipe and a photo are on his blog.
BBQ Eggs Benedict. Dan Allatt makes "BBQ eggs Benny! Some English muffins, pulled pork, poached eggs and hollandaise with a little BBQ sauce, cumin, mustard powder, and ancho chile powder."
Poppers. I love to make a killer app with pulled pork: jalapeño poppers. Split jalapeño peppers in half, scoop out the seeds and hot ribs with a spoon, and chop off the stems. Mix 1 part leftover pork with sauce and 2 parts fresh chevre or another
Hash. In South Carolina, leftover pulled pork is often used in making "hash". The recipe varies from place to place, but it is typically a stew of pulled pork, pork liver, onion, and mustard sauce, served over white rice. Sounds plebeian, but I think
Dirty rice. Another nice dish is pulled pork in Louisiana Dirty Rice. Classic Dirty Rice is white rice mixed with cooked chicken livers and giblets and the "holy trinity", which is sautéd green pepper, onion, and celery. But you can substitute or ad
Load a baked potato. Here's something fun: Plop some on top of a baked potato.
Bistro salad. Kelly Abbott in San Diego stir fries it a bit til it is crunchy and makes a "bistro salad" with a poached egg.
Brunswick stew. Joe Wells in Arkansas says he puts the leftovers in "Brunswick stew, baked beans, mixed with scrambled eggs, hash, the list goes on and on."
BBQ spaghetti. Sandra Aylor of Memphis sez: "With the leftovers, I like BBQ spaghetti or BBQ pizza". BBQ spaghetti is big in Memphis.
Raviolis. Delaney Boling says "I've done raviolis before that turned out pretty great. Make a simple pasta dough and then prepare each ravioli with about 1 teaspoon of pulled pork mixed with a bit of mozzarella and some fresh chopped chives. Drop the
Hash. Gerry Curry of Nova Scotia sez: "For leftovers I love it hashed for breakfast." Bill Martin likes to make a variation on hash by frying chopped pulled pork, chopped onion, minced chili peppers, and Tater Tots. He then tops this with poached or
Sausages. Marshall Rothman says "Chop some red onions finely and mix with pulled pork and mix in bowl with some of your favorite bbq sauce add chopped hamburger dill pickles. Get some sausage casing ready and fill with the mixture and tie off links.
Mac & Cheese pie. A reader named Jeanne makes a pie with a layer of collards, mac and cheese, and then the pulled pork between the crusts. Click here to see her recipe on her blog.
Sliders. Scottlaw says "We use small dinner rolls, add pulled pork, 1 slice of ham, Jarlsberg cheese, a pickle, and some homemade garlic aoli sauce (1 cup mayo, 3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, 5 roasted garlic minced). Delicious."
Grilled cheese sandwiches. Donald Warner puts it on "Grilled cheese with sourdough or rye, cheddar and jack, pulled pork, sliced pickles and chopped hots."
Potstickers. Craig Shields makes potstickers with his leftovers.
Crab rangoons. Robb Barrett says "Pulled Pork works great in crab rangoons. Also as Pulled Pork Benedict. With cheese and crackers. In baba ganoush. There's no place where pulled pork DOESN'T work well."
Egg rolls. Jason Evers makes egg rolls with the leftovers. He mixes the pulled pork with coleslaw, wraps it up and fries them. Then he dips them in either peanut sauce or salsa verde. When you think of it, in the Carolinas pulled pork is usually topp
How do you like your pulled pork? Tell us below.
This page was revised 8/9/2015
Return to top
Follow
on Facebook Follow
on Twitter Google Plus Logo Follow
on Google+ Huffington Post Food Follow
in HuffPost Amazingribs Barbecue & Grilling favicon Our free email
newsletter
Please read this before posting a comment or question
grouchy?1) Please use the table of contents or the search box at the top of every page before you ask for help, then please post your question on the appropriate page.
2) Please tell us everything we need to know to answer your question such as the type of cooker and thermometer you are using. Dial thermometers are often off by as much as 50°F so if you are not using a good digital thermometer we probably can't he
3) If you post a photo, wait a minute for a thumbnail to appear. It will happen even if you don't see it happen.
4) Click here to learn more about our comment system and our privacy promise. Remember, your login info for comments is probably different from your Pitmaster Club login info if you are a member.
Moderators:
Meathead bbq guruMeatheadMax bbq equipment guruMaxBlonder bbq scientistDr. Blonder David ParrishDavidJerodJerodHuskeeHuskeeCandy Sue WeaverCandy SueChef RyanChef Ryan
Return to top
BBQ Association Award
FIRST PRIZE:
Award of Excellence
National BBQ Association
World Food Media Award
NOMINEE:
World Food
Media Awards
IACP Logo Barbecue
MEMBER:
International
Association of
Culinary Professionals
LIFETIME MEMBER:
Kansas City
Barbeque Society,
Certified BBQ Judge
Memphis Barbecue Network
MEMBER: Memphis Barbecue Network
National Barbecue Association logo
MEMBER: National
Barbecue Association
southern foodways alliance loves bbq
ORDER OF THE SCUPPERNONG:
Southern Foodways Alliance
Operation Barbecue Relief
FOUNDING MEMBER:
Operation BBQ Relief
The Lisa Ekus Group loves bbq
REPRESENTED BY:
The Lisa Ekus Group
Promoting A World
Of Culinary Talent
GACC
SUSTAINING DONOR:
Global Alliance For Clean Cookstoves
| Homepage | Table of Contents | About Us | Pitmaster Club | Newsletter |
| Tips & Techniques | Recipes | Equipment Reviews | BBQ Culture & History | Weights, Measures, Conversions |
| Privacy Promise, Terms of Service, Other Legal Stuff | Advertising & Sponsorship Opportunities |
This site is brought to you in part by readers who support us with their membership in our Pitmaster Club.
Click here to learn more about benefits to membership in the Pitmaster Club.
Return to top
LeaderDog.org Ad on BBQ site
message from meathead
Meathead the Barbecue & Grilling Lover Cartoon
Get Smoke Signals,
our FREE e-letter.
No spam. Guaranteed. Enter your email:
Subscribe
//tinyurl.com/amazingribs
AN URGENT MESSAGE FROM MEATHEAD: If you like AmazingRibs.com, please save this link and use it every time you go to Amazon. Amazon and many other websites pay us a small referral fee when you click our links and purchase from them. It works on everyt
THIS IS NOT AN AD:
These Are Products We Love.
Digital Thermometers Are
Your Most Valuable Tool!
Gold BBQ AwardA good digital thermometer keeps me from serving dry overcooked food or dangerously undercooked food. They are much faster and more accurate than dial thermometers. The Thermopop (above) is about $29. The Thermapen (below), the Ferrari
bbq thermapen
THIS IS NOT AN AD:
This Is A Product We Love.
GrillGrates Take Gas Grills To The Infrared Zone
BBQ_grill_grates
Gold BBQ AwardGrillGrates(TM) amplify heat, prevent flareups, make flipping foods easier, keep small foods from committing suicide, kill hotspots, are easier to clean, flip over to make a fine griddle, and can be easily removed and moved from one gri
Click here to read more about what makes these grates so special and how they compare to other cooking surfaces. - Meathead
THIS IS NOT AN AD:
This Is A Product We Love.
If you have a Weber Kettle,
you need the Slow 'n' Sear.
Gold BBQ Award
The Slow 'n' Sear turns your grill into a first class smoker and also creates an extremely hot sear zone you can use to create steakhouse steaks.
Click here for more info on this breakthrough tool. - Meathead
THIS IS NOT AN AD:
This Is A Product We Love.
The Pit Barrel Cooker
The PBC has a rabid cult following for good reason. It is absolutely positively without a doubt the best bargain on a smoker in the world. Period.
This baby will cook circles around the cheap offset sideways barrel smokers in the hardware stores because temperature control is so much easier.
Gold BBQ Award
Best of all, it is only $299 delivered to your door!
Click here to read our detailed review and the raves from people who own them. - Meathead
THIS IS NOT AN AD:
This Is A Product We Love.
Is This The Kettle Killer?
The PK Grill has become our favorite charcoal grill. It proves some ideas never die.
Designed in 1952, the rectangular shape is easy to set up in 2 or 3 heat zones, it can easily be used as a smoker, the cast aluminum body is indestructible, airflow is easy to manage, and there is plenty of room under the hood.
Click here for more about this cool tool. - Meathead
Order Meathead's Award
Winning Meat Temperature
Guide & All Weather Magnet
bbq meat temperature magnet
scissor grill tongs
THIS IS NOT AN AD:
This Is A Product We Love.
Best. Tongs. Ever.
Gold BBQ Award
Made of rugged 1/8" thick aluminum, 20" long, with four serious rivets, mine show zero signs of weakness after years of abuse. I use it on meats, hot charcoal, burning logs, and with the mechanical advantage that the scissor design creates, I can eas
THIS IS NOT AN AD:
This Is A Product We Love.
Amp Up The Smoke With
Mo's Smoking Pouch
Gold BBQ Award
Mo's Smoking Pouch is essential for gas grills. It is an envelope of mesh 304 stainless steel that holds wood chips or pellets. The airspaces in the mesh are small enough that they limit the amount of oxygen that gets in so the wood smolders. Put it
THIS IS NOT AN AD:
This Is A Product We Love.
The Best Steakhouse Knives
Gold BBQ AwardThese are the same knives used at famous steakhouses like Peter Luger, Smith & Wollensky, and Morton's. Machine washable, high-carbon stainless steel, hardwood handle. And the manufacturer has printed the AmazingRibs.com name on it! Cli
About this website. AmazingRibs.com is all about the science of barbecue, grilling, and outdoor cooking, with great BBQ recipes, tips on technique, mythbusting, and unbiased
Go To Recipe
review
ADVERTISEMENT