Pulled Pork

I prefer a pork shoulder with bone in but you can use bone out as well, that is strictly up to your preference.

You may need the following:

  • 2 gallon ziplock bag

  • Meat thermometer (I use one from meater.com)

  • Syrup

  • Rub (I use Meat Church Honey Bacon)

  • Marinade Injector

  • Turkey Pan (it will make sense later)

  • Meat Shredder Claws

  • Pork Shoulder (I have done the same recipe from 4lb to 12lb)

I brine my pork for a minimum of 12 hours, but never over 24. The brine I use I have built up over time and everything is an estimate, I am bad with measurements for this:

  • 1/2 cup of salt

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar

  • 1/2 Worcestershire sauce

  • 4 garlic cloves (I used the chopped ones from the store, so much easier when you use garlic all the time)

  • 1 small onion sliced fine

  • 2 tbs of crush red pepper flakes

  • 1/2 cup of bourbon (I use Jack Daniels)

  • 5 to 10 cups of water, enough to cover the pork shoulder

Mix this all up and add it with the pork into a 2 gallon ziplock bag or a large pot and let sit

In the morning I take out the pork shoulder rinse it off, pat it dry and place it on the tray from the smoker fat side down, letting it rest for a little while; while I prepare the smoker. I have a Bradley smoker, some call it cheating but now I can smoke and work at the same time. I don’t have to keep going to the smoker to adjust the temperature, especially in the winter.

I set the temperature for 230 in the summer and 240 in the winter (even an electric smoker hates the winter) for 9 hours. I also set the smoker side for 9 hours, though it won’t make it there. I use 2 hickory to 1 apple, if you have a Bradley, you get that. If you are using chips you can stick with hickory.

While the smoker is heating up I use an injector and inject, of all things syrup into the pork shoulder, helps to keep the meat moist and adds a nice flavor to the meat, I use the Heavy-Duty Stainless Steel Marinade Injector Syringe I got from Walmart, it has worked great for years. I then use a rub called Meat Church Honey Bacon, which can be found on Amazon, it adds a real nice flavor for the burnt ends, I am very heavy on the rub. I then flip the pork over (fat side up now) and inject again as well as rub again.

I then stick a meat thermometer into the pork shoulder, I use the meater pro. If you don’t have one of these you are missing out, check them out at meater.com.

Once the smoker is ready I add the meat in. The object it to get the pork shoulder to 160 degrees, at 160 the pork will stall on cooking as the surface moisture begins to evaporate. Pull the pork out, remove the thermometer and use heavy duty tin foil to wrap the pork tight then put the thermometer back in and put it back in the smoker. At this point I now also turn off the smoke, I don’t see a need to burn when the meat is wrapped up tight.

The object now is 204 degrees.

Once it gets to 204 degrees pull it out and let it rest for 30 to 45 minutes, I let it sit in a turkey roasting pan of all things. This way when I am ready to open it the juice will stay in the pan with the pork, and there will be quite a bit of juice so don’t open this on a counter, be prepared.

Shred it and enjoy, I found the meat shredder claws work real well and can be found at Walmart as well. (and your fingers don’t get burnt)