Nothing captures the taste of BBQ like smoked meat, and making smoked meat is easy! Especially this pulled pork recipe.
For a beginner who is just starting out making smoked meat, pulled pork is good to start, because pork is forgiving and less likely to be ruined if a mistake is made. For those who are smoked meat veterans, this recipe is tried and true and gives great results. Just follow these easy steps:
Always start with the best ingredients. Buy the best pork shoulder you can get from a local butcher or famers market. Buy bone in if possible. The bone adds moisture, fat and flavour.
The Recipe
This recipe makes about 8 generous sandwiches. You can freeze leftovers.
Ingredients
1 pork shoulder, about 2.5kg
1/3 cup of pork rub, recipe follows
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt per .5kg of meat
10 Kaiser buns
1 cup of your favourite barbecue sauce
The Dry Rub
Ingredients
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ground ginger powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 teaspoons rosemary powder
Mix the ingredients thoroughly in a bowl.
Method
- Prep the meat. Trim most of the fat so that you season the meat, not the fat. The rub will create a “bark”, which is a crunchy coating, full of flavour. Make sure the meat is tied up so the pork won’t fall apart.
- Dry brine the meat by sprinkling the kosher salt all over the meat up to 12 hours in advance or 24 if possible, and refrigerate. This will allow the salt to penetrate. The dry rub that is put on the meat later contains no salt, because of this step.
- Just before cooking, wet the meat with water and sprinkle on the pork rub. The water dissolves the rub so that it will adhere.
- Fire up the BBQ. If you have a smoker, set it up for 225ᵒF. If you don’t, set up the grill for indirect smoke cooking, adjusting the vents and adding wood chips, pellets or chunks to the fire, to bring the temperature to 225ᵒF.
- Once the smoker or grill is at the right temperature, use a digital probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the meat without opening the smoker or grill.
- When the meat reaches an internal temperature of 195ᵒF, which takes about 6 to 6 ½ hours, check for doneness. The outside will be dark brown, or even black, but it will not be burnt and won’t taste burnt. If the meat has a bone, the bone can easily be wiggled out if the meat is done. If there is no bone, insert a fork, and turn it, and if it is easy to turn, you’re done.
- Pull it! You can use specialty claws to do so, your hands or two forks. Now is the time to add the BBQ sauce.
- Serve on the Kaiser buns.
