Smoked Pulled Pork Shoulder
Cut used: Pork Shoulder (Boston Butt) pork →
Prep
20 min
Cook
10 hrs
Total
10 hrs 20 min
Boston butt is the gold standard for pulled pork because its generous marbling and thick collagen seams render down into pure succulence over a long smoke. Patience is the only real skill required here: a low pit temperature and a stall-defying wrap technique get you to that magic pull-apart texture. This recipe makes enough for a crowd and freezes beautifully.
What Ingredients Do You Need?
- 8-9 lbs Bone-in pork shoulder (Boston butt)
- 1/4 cup Yellow mustard
- 1/2 cup Brown sugar
- 1/4 cup Paprika
- 3 tbsp Kosher salt
- 2 tbsp Black pepper, coarse
- 1 tbsp Garlic powder
- 1 tbsp Onion powder
- 1 tsp Cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup, for spritzing Apple cider vinegar
- for smoking Hickory or oak wood chunks
How Do You Make Smoked Pulled Pork Shoulder?
- 1
Trim and coat
Trim the fat cap on the shoulder down to about 1/4 inch. Rub the entire surface with a thin layer of yellow mustard as a binder — you won't taste it once cooked.
- 2
Apply the rub
Mix brown sugar, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne. Pack the rub generously over every surface of the meat and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- 3
Set up the smoker
Preheat your smoker to 225°F using hickory or oak. Place the shoulder fat-side up and insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part, avoiding the bone.
- 4
Smoke and spritz
Smoke undisturbed for the first 3 hours, then spritz with apple cider vinegar every hour to keep the bark from drying out.
- 5
Push through the stall
Around 160-165°F internal, the temperature will plateau for hours as moisture evaporates. Wrap tightly in butcher paper or foil to power through this stall.
- 6
Cook to pulling temperature
Continue cooking until internal temperature reaches 200-205°F and a probe slides in with no resistance, roughly 9-11 hours total.
- 7
Rest
Rest the wrapped shoulder in a cooler for at least 1 hour to let juices redistribute before pulling.
- 8
Pull and serve
Remove the bone, discard large fat pockets, and shred the meat with two forks, mixing in some of the rendered juices for extra moisture.
What Are the Pro Tips for This Recipe?
- 💡 Buy a shoulder with a good fat cap — it self-bastes during the long cook.
- 💡 Never rush the stall; wrapping is the fix, not raising your pit temperature drastically.
- 💡 Rest time matters as much as cook time for juicy pulled pork.
- 💡 Leftover pulled pork freezes well for up to 3 months in its own juices.
