Learn my secrets to fall-apart, perfectly smoked pork shoulder butt with the most incredible bark. Super tender and packed with so much flavor. Truly one of the best-pulled pork you’ll ever have!
No Sauce Needed
The sign of really amazing pulled pork is when you eat it straight out of the pan and realize no sauce is needed. And this is coming from a girl that LOVES her sauce. As my Momma used to say “I like ketchup on my ketchup!”.
Just a few simple ingredients and a lot of patience are all needed to produce one of the best-pulled pork. I make this statement as my husband is NOT a pulled pork fan and when I made this, he ate 6 out of the 7 pounds!
Grab Your Ingredients
I’m going to be honest, I prefer to keep mine simple. I’ve seen it injected, marinated, vacuum sealed, and honestly, all I want to taste is just some amazing pork that anyone can make at home. Well okay, you do need a way to smoke this.
- Boneless (or bone-in) Pork Shoulder Butt. Often you’ll see it packaged that way at Costco
- AP Rub by Yoder Smokers
- Yellow Mustard
Equipment: Yoder Smokers YS640 – seriously this smoker is THE BEST I’ve ever had!
Watch The Video
I can’t urge you enough to watch the video. Trust me, it’s worth it. When you season these, it’s a messy job. Wear plastic/latex or some type of food-service gloves.
- Pat your pork shoulder butts dry and coat the top and sides with mustard. Sprinkle on some of the AP rub, patting it in.
- Next sprinkle on the Ribnoxious, coating the top and sides. You want both seasonings to be pretty heavy.
- Turn them over and repeat – mustard, AP rub, and Ribnoxious. Place on a rimmed baking sheet with a cooling rack inserted. Allow the meat to rest for about 30 minutes or until the seasonings “wets”. It will sink into the meat.
- *OPTIONAL – If time permits, place the prepared pork into the fridge, uncovered for 4 hours. This can help with the bark. Make sure to take it out 1 hour prior to putting it on the smoker. You just don’t want the meat super cold/
Let’s Smoke These Butts
- Preheat the Yoder Smokers YS640 smoker to 225. Place the prepared butts on the top rack, insert the temperature probe(s), and close the lid. You want to smoke this uncovered until the internal temperature reaches 165F. This was a 7-pound pork butt and it took about 15 hours to get there.
- Once it reaches 165F, increase the smoker temperature to 250F and close the lid. Let this cook until the internal temp reaches 195-200F. This can take 4-5 hours more as well.
- Remove from the smoker, place on a pan, and let it rest uncovered for 15 minutes. Then wrap tightly in butcher paper, and aluminum foil and place in a cooler if you have one. You can also place the whole thing in an insulated bag and zippers completely shut. If you don’t have that, wrap the bundle in a clean towel (that doesn’t smell like laundry stuff). and allow to rest for at least 1 hour.
That Bark Tho…
Seriously, LOOK at that coloring and bark! Even after resting for about 1.5 hours these shredded like butter. And even though I wrapped them after smoking, that bark was STILL amazing. Not rubbery but perfect!
Shredded Pork Butt
- After an hour, unwrap and shred. This will still be VERY hot so use meat gloves to protect your hands. You can also use shredder claws too!
- Serve and enjoy!
Like for real, this is one of those times when I WISH there was a way you could smell this. It was pure meat heaven! Like it was perfectly smoked, so tender, juicy, with the most incredible bark ever!
The Stall – It Happens To Everyone
Oh, the stall…it’s our nemesis, to say the least in the BBQ world. This typically happens between the 150-165F mark. It’s COMPLETELY normal.
In a nutshell, it’s when you put a large piece of meat on the smoker, and when the meat reaches a certain temp it just stops rising. Completely. It can take several hours for the stall to “restart” itself.
As the temperature of your smoker starts to rise, the moisture in your meat starts to evaporate. Eventually the cooling balances the heat and the meat just plateaus or stalls. I personally just push through it and let it go but there are a few things you can do to try and aid it along.
The Texas Crutch
- When your meat stalls at around 150-165, remove it and double-wrap wrap tightly in aluminum foil. You’re essentially not allowing any moisture to escape. Place it back on the smoker (with the meat thermometer inserted) and allow it to finish cooking until it reaches 195-200F. I’m not a fan of this as well, you’re losing all of that amazing bark you worked so hard to get.
Butcher Paper
- Just like the Texas Crutch, this time you’re going to use BBQ Pink Butcher Paper. This is porous which means smoke can still permeate through and it will help with the stall however it could stall again but it shouldn’t last long. Again this is better than the Texas Crutch but it can make the bark a tad softer than I like.
Ways To Serve Smoked Pork Butt
I mean, it’s kind of obvious that this sandwich would be my first suggestion. But no worries I have a bunch of other suggestions:
- Pizza – use BBQ sauce, mozzarella, and cheddar, and when it comes out, top it with slaw and pickles
- Totchos – everything you love about nachos but use crispy tater tots or waffle fries!
- Grilled Cheese with Pulled Pork
Mastering the Art of Smoked Pork Butt: My Secrets To The Best Fall-Apart Pork!
Learn my secrets to fall-apart, perfectly smoked pork shoulder butt with the most incredible bark. Super tender and packed with so much flavor. Truly one of the best-pulled pork you’ll ever have!
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 15-19 hours
- Total Time: 19 hours
- Category: bbq, game day foods, grill, meal prep, pork, smoker
- Method: smoker
- Cuisine: bbq, game day foods, grill, meal prep, pork, smoker
Ingredients
- 7–10 pounds boneless Pork Shoulder Butt
- 2–3 Tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1/4 cup All Purpose Rub by Yoder or this Garlic and Onion, Black Pepper and Sea Salt All Purpose Seasoning by McCormick
- 1/3 cup Chupacabra Ribnoxious
Instructions
- Preheat the smoker to 225.
- Pat your pork shoulder butts dry and coat the top and sides with mustard. Sprinkle on some of the AP rub, patting it in. Next sprinkle on the Ribnoxious, coating the top and sides. You want both seasonings to be pretty heavy. Turn them over and repeat – mustard, AP rub, and Ribnoxious. Place on a rimmed baking sheet with a cooling rack inserted. Allow the meat to rest for about 30 minutes or until the seasonings “wets”. It will sink into the meat.
- Place the prepared butts on the top rack, insert the temperature probe(s), and close the lid. You want to smoke this uncovered until the internal temperature reaches 165F. This was a 7-pound pork butt and it took about 15 hours to get there.
- Once it reaches 165F, increase the smoker temperature to 250F and close the lid. Let this cook until the internal temp reaches 195-200F. This can take 4-5 hours more as well.
- Remove from the smoker, place on a pan, and let it rest uncovered for 15 minutes. Then wrap tightly in butcher paper, and aluminum foil and place in a cooler if you have one. You can also place the whole thing in an insulated bag and zippers completely shut. If you don’t have that, wrap the bundle in a clean towel (that doesn’t smell like laundry stuff). and allow to rest for at least 1 hour.
- After an hour, unwrap and shred. This will still be VERY hot so use meat gloves to protect your hands. You can also use shredder claws too!
- Serve and enjoy! Store any leftovers in the fridge or use a vacuum sealer for long-term freezing.
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