Texas style smoked pulled pork is a delicious dish that is perfect for any barbecue party. It is a the perfect recipe to cut your teeth on in backyard barbecue with a twist on the rub influenced by famous Central Texas Style BBQ.
2tbspcayenne pepperomit if you don't want it spicy
2tbspbrown sugaroptional
1tbspcelery saltoptional
PULLED PORK
8-10lbpork shoulder butt
2tbspyellow mustard
1cupapple cider vinegar/apple juicein a spritzer bottle
Instructions
Prepare your pork butt. trimming any excess fat leaving about 1/4 inch of fat on the fat cap side. Trim off any unwanted glands or cartlilage as well. Pat dry with a paper towel, then spread a light coat of mustard.
With your rub ingredients combined, liberally coat your pork butt. You shouldn't see anything but your rub on the pork.
Preheat your smoker anywhere from 235 depending on the speed of your cook Place your pork butt, fat side up on the grates. Close the smoker and don't peek for about 2 hours. Spritz every hour after the 2 hour mark.
At around the 4-5 hour mark start probing for temperature. When you get to about 160, it's time to wrap. Taking a couple 18x30 sheets of aluminum foil. Remove your pork butt from the grates with a towel and place on the foil fat side down; spritz one more time. Wrap as tightly as possible so that you don't lose any of that bark. Double wrap so that the foil doesn't tear on the grates.
At this point your pork butt has taken all the smoke its going to get. You can either leave the temperature at 235, or increase to around 275 to speed up the process. Place the pork butt fat side down onto the grate and close. Probe for tenderness and temperature at the 7 or 8 hour mark until the internal temperature is around 200-205. If you can easily pull the blade from the meat, you're ready to take off the grill.
Keep wrapped and let rest off the grill for about 30-45 minutes. Pull the blade bone out, and pull the meat apart by hand or with a pork pulling claw. Add a little BBQ sauce mixed with apple cider vinegar and mix it into the meat along with a little more of that rub seasoning. Serve on a bun with sauce and pickles and enjoy!
Notes
This post original had brown sugar, but I have now moved it to an optional ingredient. You may experience bitterness when smoking with sugars.I suggest spritzing with apple juice instead!