Simple Smoked Pulled Pork Butt (Smoked Pork Shoulder)
On March 15, 2021 (Updated September 27, 2024)
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My Simple Smoked Pulled Pork Butt (AKA Smoked Pork Shoulder) is a go-to any time I am looking to feed a hungry crowd and don’t want too much fuss. With only 3 ingredients, you’re looking at some good, classic BBQ with plenty of flavor.
Smoked Pulled Pork
This process for smoked pulled pork is a delicious way to cook pork butt. It’s a relatively easy process that requires a bit of time, some simple ingredients, and a trusty smoker.
This post is the perfect guide for your first pulled pork. Make sure to read it to the end (lots of good info here) as well as scroll below to the printable recipe card to take in all the pork knowledge so you’ll be fully ready to take on this delicious beast.
The reason I call this smoked pulled pork butt “simple” is because of how little effort it takes. This recipe doesn’t require any fancy injections, tools, spritzing concoctions, or wrapping to have it come out absolutely perfect every. single. time. All you need to make this recipe a success is a good pork shoulder, my famous homemade sweet BBQ rub, good smoke, and plenty of time.
Smoked Pork Butt vs. Smoked Pork Shoulder
Most smoked pork butt recipes call for a bone-in pork shoulder, sometimes also labeled a Boston butt roast or a pork butt. All of these labels are for the exact same cut of pork.
None of them actually come from the butt end of the pig (which can definitely be confusing), but from the upper part of the shoulder. The pork butt, or pork shoulder, has many overlapping and hard working muscle groups that are bound together with tight connective tissue.
That tight tissue makes this cut particularly well suited for smoking. It would be very difficult to simply slice and serve a pork shoulder roast that wasn’t cooked low and slow to break down those tight muscles and connective fibers. You’d end up chewing for a long time and not getting anywhere.
By using the low and slow process of cooking the meat over a wood fire for a long time, those tissues begins to break down, tenderize, and create amazing strands of super succulent smoked pork shoulder.
Ingredients for Smoked Pulled Pork
Here’s all you’ll need to grab to make your simple smoked pulled pork butt:
- 8-10 pound bone-in pork shoulder roast (or Boston butt)
- 2-3 Tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon Signature Sweet Rub, divided use (this rub can be made using my recipe for the Best Sweet Rub, or you can purchase it pre-made from Patio Provisions)
Bam. That’s it. Three ingredients are all that stand between you and some sweet, sweet, smoked pulled pork.
How to Smoke a Pork Butt
This simple smoked pulled pork shoulder is made using old school BBQ techniques and flavors to give you super authentic and extra tasty pulled pork. Here’s how to do it:
- Preheat. Get your favorite smoker running steady at 225 degrees F. My favorite woods for making smoked pulled pork is either hickory or apple (or a combination of the two). Both are mild enough to complement the pork without overwhelming you with smoke.
- Slather in mustard. Grab some nitrile gloves and liberally coat the pork shoulder with mustard.
- Season. Season on all sides with my signature sweet BBQ rub. This rub is a cornerstone of Hey Grill Hey made from a brown sugar base seasoned with smoked paprika, onion, garlic, and a little cayenne.
- Smoke. Once the pork has been prepped, place it directly on the grill grates of the smoker (preferably fat side up). Close the lid, and smoke for 15-20 hours, or until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 195-201 degrees F.
- Rest, shred and serve. Once your pork has reached temperature, remove it from the smoker, and wrap it tightly in aluminum foil. Allow the roast to rest for at least an hour.
- Shred and serve. Once your pork has had time to rest, grab some forks or my awesome Hey Grill Hey shredder claws and go to town. Remove the bone and discard any fat or gristle. Serve as-is or on a bun with some Homemade Coleslaw for a delicious pulled pork sandwich.
How Long to Smoke a Pork Butt
With your smoker running steady at 225 degrees F, you can typically plan about 2 hours of cook time per pound of pork.
For example, an 8-pound pork shoulder will take about 16 hours from start to finish. Quick note! Every cut of meat is a little bit different, so plan ahead for variations in cook time! I’ve had some 8-pound smoked pork butts finish in 12 hours and some 10-pound smoked pork butts take 20 hours to finish.
The Stall
I recommend a good instant read probe thermometer to keep track of the internal temperature of the meat, and for this one reason. You’ll notice a pattern emerge as you start to smoke pork butts more frequently. Your meat rises in temperature up to about 145 degrees F pretty quickly, then the cooking process will slow dramatically and take hours to increase in temperature from 145 degrees F to 165 degrees F. This phase is called the “Stall” and is completely normal. Don’t panic, just let everything keep cooking and eventually the temperature will start to rise again.
A lot of pitmasters choose to wrap their smoked pork butt in foil or butcher paper at this point to help shorten the process and push their meat through this stall period (you can see how I utilize this technique HERE). For this simple smoked pork butt recipe, I did not wrap at all.
Instead, I let the smoke continue to work on the pork shoulder and it helped to develop a really amazing exterior crust on the outside of the meat called “bark.” For those not familiar with the world of BBQ, this outer coating may appear burned, but to those in the know, that dark caramelized bark is absolutely coveted!
How to Freeze Smoked Pulled Pork
If you’re like me, you often have a hankering for pulled pork when you only have your small family to feed. If you find yourself in this predicament, simply freeze the leftovers!
- Get your pork cooled to room temperature or colder before putting in the freezer bag. Hot pulled pork will steam and form moisture crystals in the bag. It also seems to result in mushy pulled pork when reheating.
- Shred the pork before freezing. This will allow you to flatten your bags before adding them to the freezer, saving space and getting your pork frozen faster (which means better tasting meat when it is reheated).
- Use freezer-safe bags. Freeze the pork in either gallon sized zip top bags or a vacuum sealed bag that is freezer rated. This helps preserve freshness and cut down on freezer burn. It is also crucial during the reheating process.
- Remove excess air in the bag. Whether you use a food saver or just a regular zip top freezer bag, remove as much air as possible. This will help your meat last longer frozen.
- Use it or lose it. Frozen pulled pork will last 6 weeks in a fridge/freezer combo, or up to 6 months in a deep freeze if the air has been sufficiently removed. Write the name and date on your freezer bags so you can keep track.
How to Reheat Smoked Pulled Pork
Ready to reheat that pork you have ready in the freezer? Here are some ways to get your pork tasting just as good as the day it came off the smoker.
- Defrost first for crispy pork. Pop your frozen pork into the fridge to defrost for 24 hours before heating through. Next, add some cooking fat, like avocado oil, to your cast iron skillet and add your shredded pork, flipping the pulled pork pieces every 2-3 minutes, until cooked through. I use this method most often for pulled pork tacos or burritos.
- Simmer from frozen for freshest flavor. If you want your reheated pork to taste as good as the day you made it, a slow simmer in water is the way to go. Make sure your freezer bags are sealed tightly, so no water gets in the bag. Bring a large pot of water up to just barely a simmer (don’t boil!) and slide your frozen bag of pulled pork into the pot. If your pulled pork bag is about 1 inch thick, you’ll need to let it simmer in the water for about 25-30 minutes.
- Smoke it some more! I’ve also used the smoker to reheat frozen pork. Defrost the package enough to remove the meat. Place the pulled pork in a disposable aluminum pan, pour about 1/4 cup of apple juice into the pan with the pork, and place it into a preheated 225 degree F smoker. Close the lid lid smoke for about 2 hours, breaking apart and stirring the pork every 30 minutes or so, until it is fully reheated.
More Smoked Pulled Pork Recipes
Hooray! You’ve mastered this simple pulled pork recipe! Ready to get a little fancy and try some other flavors and techniques? Try my other tasty recipes below! Each one is unique and simply bursting with flavor.
Smoked Pulled Pork Butt/Shoulder Recipe
Sweet Rub
$12.99
Everything BBQ Sauce
$8.99
Simple Smoked Pulled Pork Butt/ Shoulder
Video
Equipment
- 1 Smoker I highly recommend this pellet grill!
Ingredients
- 1 8-10 pound bone-in pork shoulder roast AKA Boston butt
- 2-3 Tablespoons yellow mustard
- ¼ cup Signature Sweet Rub link in recipe notes
- 1 Tablespoon Signature Sweet Rub for later use
Instructions
- Prep the meat. Remove your roast from the packaging and wipe it down on all sides with paper towels, cleaning off any small bone fragments or extra liquid on the exterior.
- Slather the pork butt in mustard. Slather the entire exterior of the pork shoulder with the yellow mustard.
- Season with Sweet Rub. Season your pork roast on all sides, top and bottom, with the Homemade BBQ Sweet Rub. Don't worry about rubbing the seasoning into the meat, just be sure it is liberally coated all over.
- Smoke the pork butt. Place your seasoned roast on the smoker fat side up, preferably in the middle of the grate avoiding any direct hot spots. Close the lid and smoke the pork until it reaches an internal temperature of at least 195 degrees F. You can cook to 201 degrees F if you like softer pork. This process can take anywhere between 15-20 hours, depending on the consistency of heat in your smoker and the size of your pork shoulder.
- Wrap and rest the meat. Remove the pork shoulder from the smoker and wrap tightly in foil. Allow the roast to rest for at least an hour before shredding.
- Shred and serve. Pull apart the shoulder, discarding any chunks of fat or gristle. Sprinkle the roast with an additional tablespoon or so of the Homemade Sweet BBQ Rub. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
**This post was originally published in September 2017. We recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
Ok, so funny but I’ve been following your recipe for ribs for 2 years now and my hubby always says I’m a better smoker than he is ha. Well, we just made your pork shoulder bone in, 2 actually and they are amazing. So I showed him your site and after all this time realized you are you! I thought this was a guys website the entire time. Just proving, girls can smoke a mean meat!! I’m so excited to actually read about Susie’s adventures especially when I see the Trager guys all the time at work (Costco). What a fun revelation. I so enjoy this site and it’s the only one I ever look to for meat smokin’ thanks team!!!
So we smoked our butt yesterday and it ended up taking too long to have for dinner. We finished it and the taste test verdict- amazing!!! Question is, what is the best way to reheat for dinner tonight? It’s still wrapped in it’s original foil from yesterday and it rested comfortably before going in the fridge. Should I basically follow your method for reheating from frozen?
Put it in the oven at its lowest setting and reheat slowly!
We have used some other recipes of yours and they all have been great! Our smoker only goes to 10’s so either 220 or 230, what do you recommd?
Either will work perfectly fine!
Mine is only in 10 degree increments as well. I tend to do lower and watch the temperature.
Anyway to rate this recipe to 11? I just made this for eight people. 20 hour smoke on my Pit Boss for a 9 pound pork butt. Just prefect and everyone went back for seconds. I handed out a small sample to my neighbors and they thought it was just amazing. I can’t thank you enough for making me look like a BBQ Master. When I need to look for something to smoke on my Pit Boss, I look nowhere else but Hey Grill Hey!!!! Thank You Suzy.
Looks good. Bought a picnic shoulder to experiment with. Is it best to smoke this right on the rack or in a tin pan to a avoid it falling apart?
I smoke this right on the rack!
I use a foil pan to smoke my pulled pork in. You lose a bit of bark on the bottom, but i take all the juices that come out (after skimming the fat) and throw them in a pot to reduce by about 2/3rds. Pour that liquid back over the pulled pork for a FLAVOR BOMB.
Just finished it on my Traeger smoker. End result, AMAZING! Followed your recipe including the rub, and couldn’t be happier with the result.
Did yours take the full 15-20 hrs on your Traeger?
First time smoking a boston butt. Ten pounds, 225F, took 26hrs — lol. I had external temperature probes monitoring internal temperature. It cooked from 215 to 235F. The pork fell apart trying to take it out of the smoker – perfect! I was disappointed in my smoker, the pork didn’t have much flavor. My smoker didn’t want to burn the wood chips (apple) so I didn’t get much smoke. I’ll use BBQ sauce to add flavor. Any recommendations for getting the chips to start smoking? They were dry – no water in side as well.
I use a smoker tube because I have a pellet smoker. You can buy them on Amazon you will also need a torch because you have to let the tube burn for about 5-7 minutes before putting in the smoker.
I have an electric smoker the uses wood chips and 225 is not hot enough to burn the wood chips. I have purchased a tube smoker that uses pellets and it solved that problem beautifully.
Can you use a picnic pork shoulder? I know sometimes it is used interchangeably with a pork butt aka Boston butt, but it is a little different. Do you see/know of a difference when cooking both cuts this way? Thank you!!
A picnic shoulder will work great with this recipe!
Perfect thank you for sharing
Best use of “leftover” (if there ever is any!!) pulled pork? Toss it in some in cumin, smoked paprika, chilli powder, canned kidney beans and diced tomatoes. Serve with jalapeno corn bread and you’ve got yourself a great crowd pleasing second meal.
Take some left over pulled pork, toss it in a pan with some good green enchilada sauce, add some cream cheese to thicken it up, then pour that over some scrambled eggs or hash browns.