Carolina Pulled Pork
A Boston butt, a mustard slather, and a sweet-savory rub. Smoke it at 225F to 250F on hickory, push through the stall, and pull it at 200F to 203F when a probe slides like butter. Rest an hour, then hand-pull. Budget 10 to 12 hours.
- Method
- Low and slow smoke
- Total time
- 12 hr plus 1 hr rest
- Target internal temp
- 200F to 203F
- Gear
- Offset or pellet smoker, hickory, Folding Fork
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Serves
- 10 to 12
Ingredients
- 1 bone-in Boston butt, 8 to 9 lb
- 1/4 cup yellow mustard
- 1/2 cup sweet-savory rub (brown sugar, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic, onion)
- Hickory wood
The Cook
- 01
Slather the butt all over with yellow mustard. It is glue for the rub, you will not taste it.
- 02
Coat heavy with the rub. Press it in and let it sit while the smoker comes up.
- 03
Run the smoker at 225F to 250F with hickory.
- 04
Set the butt on fat side down and leave it alone for the first few hours.
- 05
Push through the stall around 160F to 170F. Failure point: the temp will park here for hours, do not crank the heat to force it. Wrap in foil or butcher paper if you want to speed it, or ride it out.
- 06
Pull it at 200F to 203F, when a probe slides in with no resistance.
- 07
Rest wrapped for 1 hour. Do not skip this.
- 08
Pull the bone, then shred by hand using the Folding Fork to lever and separate the muscle.
Doneness
200F to 203F is the window. The bone should wiggle free clean and the meat should fall apart when you twist a fork in it.
Pro Tip
Do not pull it by temp alone. Probe it in three spots. If one corner still grabs the probe, it needs more time even if the dome reads 203F.
Questions
Cooked By Our Readers
Real cooks, real fire.
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