Simple Smoked Pulled Pork Butt (Smoked Pork Shoulder)
On March 15, 2021 (Updated September 27, 2024)
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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.
I need to smoke 27 pounds of pork. Planning on three 9lb shoulder, each cut in half. I usually plan close to 2 hours per pound (so 18 hours for a single 9lb split in half). How much would cook time extend if I have 6 of those approx 4.5 pieces?
You shouldn’t have to extend the cook time if you’re cooking several small cuts, as long as all of them have room to soak in the smoke.
Initially: “This recipe doesn’t require any fancy injections, tools, spritzing concoctions, or wrapping to have it come out absolutely perfect every. single. time.”
Later: “Once your pork has reached temperature, remove it from the smoker, and wrap it tightly in aluminum foil.”
Most recipes call for wrapping mid-cook. This is post-cook instruction. Nitpicky comment: not helpful.
HeyGrillGirlHey,
I’ve been a steak, chicken, salmon grillguy my entire life and just did my first low-n-slow pork butt with your recipe. Came out awesome!! but just a couple of questions:
1. To lower my risk, opted for a 4 lb rather than an 8 lb pork butt and put it on the grill indirect heat including the side smoker drawer. Kept it constant at 260-270* but it still took about 12 hours to reach about 200* internal. I know the bone-in will add time but still seems excessive for the expected 2 hrs/lb. Have you found that the smaller roasts take this much time?
2. Have you done two 4 pounders together rather than an 8 lb to save time? This would also seem to have an advantage of increasing glazing surface area and therefore 25% more bark (Yay to more bark!). Let me know if I’m barking up the wrong tree.
Thanks for a great recipe!
1. The smoker may not running at the temperature it says it is. Check with a known accurate external thermometer.
2. Yes, butterflying, or cutting a big one in half, will also work great for this.
Thanks for the info! I’m looking forward to smoking meat this weekend even more, now that I’ve read your blog.
Love reading your recipes. I recently saw a portion of a video where you removed the bone from a pork butt prior to smoking and thus reduced the cook time significantly by essentially butterflying the pork. Unfortunately I can’t find the video. Could you point me in the right direction?
This video is from our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iUk_jyRuD0
Ok, so got an 11 pound butt. Went as close to this recipe as I possibly could – with my inadequate cooking skills! Anyway, I did it on a Pit Boss pellet grill. Heated the grill and and got it settled on right at about 222f using one of the two probes to measure the grill temp right where the butt would be placed. The temperature setting on the grill was at 240 to maintain the internal temperature. Mixed up the dry rub, used the mustard – per the recipe – and placed it on the grill fat side up at 2pm. Watched the grill temp until I went to bed around 10pm. Next morning 5am, checked the grill. Temp was still holding steady between 220 and 225. Put the second temp probe in the meat, centered as best I could get it, and it was around 175. I started a spritz of 50/50 apple juice and apple cider vinegar and continued to watch it until it reached about 202 at about noon. Spritzed a total of 4 times. Went to get it off the grill and it almost fell apart. Had to use 2 spatulas to get it off. Wrapped it tight in heavy duty aluminum foil, placed it in the cooler and put a towel over it. I took it out of the cooler and used claws to shred it. Shredded very easily and I was absolutely pumped. Everything was going great – I thought. Turned out the flavor was lacking and the meat was too dry. Where did I go wrong or what do I need to do to get it better the next time? Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions!
It’s possible you just got a bad pork butt. I like to season mine again after shredding to add some flavor. Butterflying them before smoking can help with this. You didn’t do anything wrong, this method does take some time to perfect and sometimes there are bad cuts of meat. Try these tips and see how it goes.
Thanks so much for your response and suggestions. I’ll definitely try this again with your input. I think I might try a little bit smaller butt next time as well. As to your suggestion to butterfly and season…would you just tie it up tight with string? Again, I very much appreciate your help!!
Just watched your “butterfly” video. Definitely going to try that! Thanks again!
Put mine in the smoker at 6pm got up the next morning and it was at 202 degrees than wrapped it in tin foil for 90 minutes. It turned out perfect and delicious. I added more wood chips just about 10pm and that was enough smoke for the rest of the process.
Does it make a difference to wrap it?
Yes, you can wrap. I wrap around 175 degrees F when I do wrap. You’ll have a shorter cook time and less bark but it will still turn out great.
This was such a hit 2 weeks ago, I’m making it again tonight/tomorrow. I wouldnt change anything! Just dont fall asleep when its almost done and overcook it like i did Haha! I just pulled the bacon from your smoked bacon recipe off the smoker! Waiting on it to chill and will review that, but it looks incredible!
mine only got to 188 — hope that was enough ?
You’re within the safety guidelines, but it needs to get to that upper 190-200ish range to shred properly.