For Father’s Day my husband and I wanted to treat his dad to some yummy pulled pork! We were given two Boston Butts and we decided we would smoke them low and slow on the grill. This is quite a process, but the flavor was unbeatable. And it made a TON of meat!
Equipment for this recipe:
- A charcoal grill (gas will work but it will have less of a Smokey flavor)
- Flavor Injector
- Sauce Pan
- Tin foil tray
- Spray bottle
- Flavored wood chips (we used oak)
- Charcoal
- Aluminum Foil
- Old Towel
- Large Insulated Cooler
- BBQ Claws or two giant forks (for separating meat)
Setting up for BBQing:
First you will need to make the rub. The rub is simple just mix together the ingredients and it’s ready to go! Then you will make the injecting sauce. This sauce is 3 simple ingredients, apple cider vinegar, apple juice, and adobo powder. Mix it together, boil it down for 15 minutes, then let it cool. Next you will need to preheat your grill and add your flavored wood chips. You will preheat your grill to 225º, allow it to settle at 225º and burn for at least 20 minutes so that the wood chips can burn off any bitter flavor. When you first burn wood chips they can cause a bitter smoke that can give your meat a bitter flavor. In our green egg grill, we use a plate setter. This gives the meat an indirect heat, but if you don’t have a plate setter that is fine. If you do have a plate setter, we like to put an aluminum foil pan full of water on the plate setter, below the grate.
While your grill is getting ready, you will want to inject your meat with your injecting sauce. Try to inject your meat in the fatty areas if the meat. You will also want to save 1/4 of the injection sauce, so that you can spray down your meat at a later stage. Once you have injected the meat, rub the meat down with your BBQ Rub. Once the grill is at a steady 225º, place your pork shoulder on the grill. You will grill it low and slow for at least 4 hours or until the BBQ reaches an internal temperature of 175º. Then, take the meat off the grill and rub 1 cup of brown sugar on the meat and spray it down with the rest of the injection sauce. Wrap the meat in aluminum foil and put back on the grill for at least 2 hours or until the BBQ reaches an internal temperature of 195º.
Take the pork shoulder off of the grill and leave wrapped in the aluminum foil. Wrap it also in a large bathroom towel and set in a insulated cooler. Don’t add ice to the cooler, this is just to allow the pork shoulder to rest without cooling down too quickly. Allow the shoulder to rest for at least 3 hours. Then, unwrap the pork and shred the meat with either two large forks or BBQ claws. Serve while warm!
Storing your BBQ:
This recipe makes a TON of BBQ. It’s great if you’re hosting a big party, but if not it can be a lot, because it makes 20 servings. I don’t recommend cutting the recipe in half, but instead cook it all and freeze it. We typically cook it all for the two of us and then we split it up into fourths; one serving that we eat immediately and the three that we put into gallon ziplocks. I get all of the air out of each bag and store them in the freezer. They will store for up to two months. I like to pull them out, dump the pulled pork on aluminum foil, wrap the foil around the pork (this will help it stay moist because it will steam inside the foil), and heat it up at 350º in the oven for 25 minutes. Then Voila! Perfectly moist pulled pork AGAIN!
Recipes with or to go with the BBQ Pulled Pork Shoulder:
BBQ Pulled Pork Shoulder
Notes
Want recipes to go with the BBQ? Check out these three recipes:
Brown Butter Keto Biscuits
Cowboy Potato Salad
BBQ Eggs Benedict with BBQ Hollandaise Sauce
Ingredients
- 5 lbs of Pork Shoulder
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- •
- Injecting Sauce:
- 1 cup of apple juice
- 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of adobo powder
- •
- BBQ Rub:
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp pepper
- 1 tbsp adobo powder
- 1/2 tbsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tbsp cumin
- 1/2 tbsp ground mustard
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp dried italian herbs
- 1/2 tbsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
- First, preheat your grill to 225º. If you have flavored wood chips you can put them in your grill at this time. We use oak flavored wood chips. It created a great smokey flavor. Make sure the flavored wood chips burn for at least 20 minutes before you put the meat on the grill. The wood chips can have a bitter smoke at first and you don’t want that on your meat.
- While your grill is preheating, In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the BBQ Rub.
- In a sauce pan combine apple juice, apple cider vinegar, and adobo powder. Boil for 15 minutes and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Slowly inject apple juice mixture into your pork shoulder. Inject it all over especially in fatty areas. Set aside 1/4 cup of the injection sauce to spray down your BBQ later.
- Now, take your rub and rub down your BBQ really well on all sides. Use all of your rub on your shoulders, there should be none left.
- Once your grill is ready and at a steady 225º, place your pork shoulder on the grill. Keep an eye on your grill temperature. You will need to cook the shoulder for at least 4 hours or until your meat hits an internal temperature of 175º.
- Once it hits this first internal temperature, take it off the grill and coat it in one cup of brown sugar. Spray the remaining injecting sauce over the meat as well.
- Wrap the meat in aluminum foil and place it back on the grill for 2 more hours or until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 195º.
- Take the pork shoulder off the grill and wrap it in a towel and place it in an insulated cooler (not iced down-this is just to keep the meat hot and in a resting state) for at least 3 hours to rest.
- Once it is done resting you can use two large forks or BBQ claws to pull apart your meat. Serve warm!
Nutrition Facts
BBQ Pulled Pork Shoulder
Serves: 20
|
Amount Per Serving: 1 cup
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 326 | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 16.3 g | 24.6% | |
| Saturated Fat 5.1 g | 25% | |
| Trans Fat 0 g | ||
| Cholesterol 70 mg | 23.3% | |
| Sodium 823.5 mg | 34.3% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 24.9 g | 8% | |
| Dietary Fiber 1 g | 4% | |
| Sugars 22.8 g | ||
| Protein 22.4 g | ||
| Vitamin A 8.1% | Vitamin C 10.3% | |
| Calcium 22.2% | Iron 9% | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Muddled and Minced
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