Brock’s Pulled Pork
Description
One of our all time family favorites and this is all Brock. Below is the outline (after many years and a few smokers, all smoked meat is now done on the Kamado Joe), but coleslaw and a special barbecue sauce are a must – enjoy!
Ingredients
1 bone-in pork shoulder (also called a Boston Butt) – usually around 10 lbs.
prepared mustard – (Brock always uses French’s mustard) – the mustard doesn’t affect the flavor at all, it’s used simply as ‘glue’ for the spice rub
your favorite spice rub for meat with NO sugar – we have a couple that we love from The Silk Road Spice Merchant
Your favorite ‘serving sauces’ – we love Ron’s Rich and Deeply Satisfying Barbecue Sauce and Mustard Sauce
Your favorite coleslaw – we have many (it’s a mood thing), but Coleslaw (Clear) and Coleslaw (Tidewater) win the most often – and oh my goodness, while you’re at it, make the Creamed Corn too!
**And yet another note – I had some bit to use up in the fridge so I grated a couple of carrots and tossed them with some thinly sliced red onion with some leftover dressing from this salad, and it may be our new favorite quick pickle/smoked meat sandwich topper!**
Instructions
As with all fabulous smoked meat, you need to plan ahead. Pulled pork usually takes around 10 hours and Brock usually gets up at around 5:00 am to have one ready for a late afternoon barbecue and he always gets the smoker going before preparing the meat; for a pork shoulder, 3 or 4 hickory wood chunks with a hickory and oak lump charcoal mix.
Trim the pork so that any fat is no more than 1/4-inch fat – if the fat is any thicker then the smoke won’t penetrate. Our go-to butcher Master Meats usually has this step mostly done, and therefore there’s hardly any prep on our end. Rub the meat all over with prepared mustard, sprinkle it generously with spice rub and get it onto the smoker. Smoke at approximately 225 to 250 degrees for 10-11 hours until the internal temperature is 195 to 200 degrees. All smoked meat is best if you give it time to rest (so add the resting time into your preparation calculations!) and we have a designated ‘smoked meat cooler’ where the meat is well wrapped in heavy foil, and then towels, and then tucked into the cooler for a couple of hours before ‘pulling’ and enjoying. For a pork shoulder, you know it’s going to be sweet perfection if the bone pulls out cleanly and easily.
I listed above what our favorite sides are – obviously pulled pork sandwiches are a hit, but we often leave buns off the menu so there’s room on our plates for more pork!
