Looking for a piece of meat that's full of flavour and that you can turn into mutliple different dishes and that's CHEAP, then look no further than pulled pork and my recipe below.
I am not going to sit here and lie and tell you that I am a BBQ expert. Truthfully I only really got into bbq'ing properly after the move to Bris-Vegas and that was only 15 months ago. What I can attest to being fair to middling at is cooking and knowing how to put damn good flavour combinations together. I used to cook pulled pork in the oven before I moved to Brisbane and got myself a deck, warmer weather and a BBQ so you will see my recommendations on oven cooking in the tips/tricks below, BUT now that I have used a BBQ and added a little smoke to the mix there really is no turning back. Next stop is to get a kettle BBQ so I can really take things to the next level.
Boston Butt
Pulled pork is typically made from whole pork shoulders but they are not commonly found in the average supermarket. Often what you will find is a half shoulder or butt also known as the Boston butt. Why is it called a Boston butt? Well, this is because the barrels that pork used to be stored & transported in were called "butts" and this particular shoulder cut became a New England specialty back in colonial times. So the name Boston butt just stuck.
There is no need to get grossed out thinking you are munching on a pigs butt. As I say, the Boston butt comes from the shoulder so you can breath a sigh of relief! I like to skip the supermarkets whenever possible and source my meat direct from the butcher. This particular cut came from my go-to butcher Steve down at the New Farm markets - All About Meat. As usual the quality is excellent as I think the photos confirm. Check out the recipe below and click here to check out my BBQ sauce that I make to go with it.
Did I mention how versatile this cut is? Check out these recipes to see ways I have used it
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Ingredients
- 1.5 kg pork butt
- 2 tbls yellow mustard
- 4 handfuls applewood chips
Rub
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
Basting Liquid
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp lea & perrins
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup orange juice or peach nectar juice
Instructions
This pulled pork was made on a gas bbq
- Mix all dry rub ingredients together.
- Mix all basting liquid ingredients together.
- Rub the pork butt all over with the yellow mustard and rub on the dry rub ingredients.
- Inject the pork butt in various locations with 1/2 of the basting liquid (this step is optional but it does help keep pork moist and add extra flavour).
- Place wood chips in smoker box or wrap them in 3 seperate pieces of tinfoil like a little parcel and poke holes in the top to allow the smoke to escape.
- Heat BBQ to 150c for indirect cooking *see tip* and place wood chips in back left of BBQ.
- Once wood chips are smoking, place pork on right hand side of BBQ away from the heat. This is called indirect cooking.
- Leave pork to cook for approx 4 hrs and then baste every 30 mins for the next hour or until internal temp reaches 75c.
- Once internal temp reaches 75c then wrap tightly in tinfoil and leave cook for approx 1 hour until internal temp reaches 93c.
- Remove from BBQ. Leave wrapped in tinfoil for 30 mins longer. I place mine in a cooler bag/box so it doesn't cool too much. Then shred using forks or tongs.
Notes
Essential Tools
- baking tray
- small
- mixing bowl x 2
- measuring spoons & jug
- basting brush
- syringe - optional
- thermometer
Tips/Tricks
- indirect cooking means cooking something away from the heat, we do this so we don't burn the item we are cooking on one side. To do this on larger BBQ's we heat up one side and cook the meat on the other side
- to cook pork in the oven I would place on a trivet in a baking pan with some root vegetables underneath along with some aromatics like ginger, garlic, bay leaves & anise. Then add 1 cup of liquid (beer, water, stock or ginger beer) to the baking pan making sure pork doesn't touch the liquid. Cover tightly in tinfoil and cook for 3-4 hours or until internal temp reaches 93c @ 150c.
- using a thermometer is key in hitting the correct internal temp time. If you are making dishes like this regularly I would suggest investing in a digital thermometer that you can stick into the meat and read the thermometer as it cooks. Weber have a great one called iGrill but I am sure your local BBQ shop would also have something similar
- the times on cooking the pork are approximate as different pieces can take longer or shorter depending upon the fat and how it breaks down this gives you is a good idea of how long it will take
Mmm looks delicious, reminds me of summer and BBQs for some reason!
It’s pretty much summer all year round here in QLD so bbq all the time
Gavin your picturres say it all BBQ is the cat's butt when it comes to cooking butt yum.Thank you for sharing the trivia about where the butt originated from,now I can be a smart ass and impress my family and friends.
My husband loves pulled pork and would want me to make this. He and my son love pulled pork sandwiches.
Better make them so ?
Looks delicious and simple to make. I will definitely have to try this.
Thanks Georgina
I have to admit I've never tried making my own pulled pork this makes it sound quite easy though. Definitely something I need to try and make myself.
The beauty of it is there will be plenty to make other things like pizza and potato hash too
Oh wow!! You perfected the crap out of this pork! HELLO DELICIOUSNESS!
Thanks GiGi ?
Yum, this would be a delicious meal for sure. It's been a while since I've had pulled pork. I really need to make it.
I lo e pulled pork and how versatile it is, your pulled pork sandwiches do look very delicious.
Thanks Joan. Give it a go sometime soon