Pork Shoulder Recipe



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I've done this pork shoulder recipe both ways, simply applying my pork shoulder rub and smoking it, and by brining it and marinating it with the rub.

I brined the pork for 4 days, marinated it another 2 days and then I smoked it. I really can't explain why people don't brine their pork before smoking. It makes a huge difference in terms of the final flavor. 

The first method produced a delicious pulled pork recipe, but it lacked the overall flavor that the brined and marinated pork had. 

The moral of the story is, if you don't want to spend the time to brine and marinate the pork butt you can still produce a really good pork butt. But, if you put the time into brining and marinating, the results are going to blow your pork loving mind.

Why so much time for brining? Well, a pork shoulder, or pork butt, is a huge piece of meat and it is going to need time for the brine to penetrate all the way through.

Delicious Smoked Pork Shoulder Recipe

Slow smoked pulled pork.Pork shoulder recipe for mouth watering Texas style slow smoked pulled pork.
Pork shoulder with pork rub on it.

Lay out plastic wrap on a clean work surface. Shake the rub over the pork butt ensuring even coverage. Flip it over and repeat, making sure to coat the sides as well as the bottom and top.

Pork shoulder showing the insertion of the thermometer probe.

Insert the thermometer probe into the pork making certain to insert it all the way and making absolutely certain that you don't hit the bone.

Pork shoulder wrapped in foil, after smoking.

Open the foil to expose the bone. Give the bone a tug and check to see if it is beginning to release. If it is you are done. Wrap it back up and allow it to rest undisturbed for at least 30 minutes.

Smoked Pork Butt.

That is one beautiful smoked pork butt.

Slow smoked pulled pork.Pork shoulder recipe for mouth watering Texas style slow smoked pulled pork.
Pulled pork tacos with cabbage, cilantro salsa and guacamole on homemade tortillas.Pulled pork tacos with cabbage, cilantro, salsa, and guacamole on homemade tortillas.

Texas Style Slow Smoked Pulled Pork Shoulder Recipe

See Note 4

  • Yield: 20 to 30 servings
  • Prep Time: 1 week
  • Cook Time: 6 to 8 hours
  • Engaged Time: 4 to 5 hours, over a week

Equipment

  • Offset Smoker
  • Hickory Wood Chunks
  • Digital Thermometer
  • Spray Bottle

Ingredients

For The Pork Butt

For The Pork Shoulder Rub, See Note 2

  • 1/2 cup Cracked Pepper
  • 1/2 cup Kosher Salt
  • 1/4 cup Onion powder
  • 1/4 cup Garlic Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper

For The Spray Wash, See Note 3

  • 1/2 cup / 4 ounces water
  • 1/2 cup / 4 ounces apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup / 2 ounces Jack Daniel's whiskey

Method

To Brine The Pork Butt

  1. Prepare the brine, chill it to 40 F / 4 C degrees, or lower and submerge the pork butt into the brine. You may need to weight it down by placing a lid or plate over the pork butt. Allow it to brine for 4 days.
  2. Remove the pork butt and rinse it thoroughly. Allow to air dry in the refrigerator for a few hours.

To Marinate The Pork Butt

  1. Meanwhile prepare the pork rub by combining equal amount of cracked pepper and kosher salt. To this add approximately half as much, each, of garlic powder and onion powder. Next add a sew pinches of cayenne. When I mix this up I make about a 1-1/2 cups of rub. I place it in an empty spice container with a shaker lid. This way I am not making the rub every time I want to make pulled pork. I use about a half cup each of salt and pepper, and a quarter cup each of onion and garlic powder, with a few pinches of cayenne pepper. Once you have it in a container shake it thoroughly to mix it.
  2. Lay out plastic wrap on a clean work surface. Shake the rub over the pork butt ensuring even coverage. Flip it over and repeat, making sure to coat the sides as well as the bottom and top. Wrap the pork completely in plastic wrap and marinate it for at least 24 hours. You may want to place it on a large plate while it is marinating to prevent any leakage in your refrigerator.

To Smoke The Pork Butt

  1. Remove the pork butt from the refrigerator and push your probe for your thermometer into the pork making certain to insert it all the way and making absolutely certain that you don't hit the bone or come to close to the bone. Allow the pork about an hour on the counter before it goes into the smoke, to take off a little of the chill.
  2. Prepare your smoker by building a fire in the firebox. Give it long enough that you develop a good coal base. Additionally you want the temperature of the smoke chamber to be between 250 and 300 F / 120 and 150 C degrees when you put the pork butt in the smoker.
  3. Once the pork butt is in the smoker adjust your fire to maintain a temperature of about 275° F / 135° C. At this temperature a brined pork butt will take between 6 and 8 hours to reach its internal target temperature, which should be between 195 F / 90 C and 205 F / 96 C when you pull it off.
  4. Place the pork butt into the smoker, fat side up, with the thickest side facing the firebox, that is usually the side with the blade bone exposed. Sometime during the first hour of smoking combine the water, vinegar, and whiskey in a spray bottle and shake it to thoroughly mix it up. Set aside.
  5. As you are smoking the pork mist it about once every 30 minutes or so. Nothing complicated, just open the lid and quickly mist the top then close the lid again. You lose a lot of smoke and heat but it recovers in less than a minute. This process will allow you to monitor the pork thereby, checking the progress of the bark. Once the bark splits open on the fat cap remove the pork butt to a pan and transfer it to a work surface
  6. Lay out a length of aluminum foil big enough to wrap the pork butt. Place the pork on the foil and thoroughly mist it one last time. Wrap the pork with the foil being mindful of the temperature probe. It is a good idea to double wrap the pork in case you tear the foil going back into the smoker.
  7. Place the pork back into the smoke box and continue cooking until the internal temperature registers 195 F / 90 C and 205 F / 96 C.
  8. Remove the pork butt from the smoker and open the foil to expose the bone. Give the bone a tug and check to see if it is beginning to release. If it is you are done. Wrap it back up and allow it to rest undisturbed for at least 30 minutes.
  9. Next unwrap the pork and remove the bone. Using tongs and a fork shred the pork.

Notes

  1. Why not add all the marinade ingredients to the brine? You could and it would work but... While the brine will certainly carry the flavor I don't do it that way because, the spices are going to help to develop the bark on the finished product, and you get a more forward flavor from the spices if you use them as a rub.
  2. The pork shoulder rub is a simple ratio so the measurement device makes little difference. By that I mean you can measure with cups, or a scale or by dump-trucks if you so desire, though that last one would yield a great deal of pork rub.
  3. The same is true of the spray mist, just a simple ratio so use any measurement you like. For example, 1 dump-truck each of water and cider vinegar, and 1/2 a dump-truck of Jack Daniel's. Now there's a party.
  4. As I pointed out above, you can skip the brining and marinating steps entirely. In that case simply apply the rub to pork shoulder and allow it to rest on the counter for an hour or so before going into the smoker. 

Tags: pork shoulder recipe, pork shoulder rub, pulled pork recipe, pork shoulder smoked, smoked pork bbq