Smoked Pulled Pork
A pork shoulder smoked low, wrapped in butcher paper through the stall, and taken to probe-tender — then rested hard so it shreds moist instead of running dry. Mustard binder, Pulled Pork Rub, and time.
Ingredients
10 servings- 1 bone-in pork shoulder (Boston butt), about 8 lb
- 2 tbsp yellow mustard
- 1/2 cup Pulled Pork Rub
Method
- 1Season
Pat the shoulder dry. Coat lightly all over with yellow mustard as a binder — a thin, even tack for the rub that you won't taste after the cook. Coat thoroughly with the Pulled Pork Rub, pressing it into the surface.
- 2Smoke to set the bark
Smoke at 250–275°F until the bark is set and deep mahogany and won't smear when touched — internal is usually around 160–170°F by then, roughly 3 hours as a guidepost. Go by the bark, not the clock.
- 3Wrap through the stall
Wrap tightly in pink butcher paper and return to the smoker. Cook until probe-tender: the probe should slide in with almost no resistance. Internal around 205°F is your signal to start checking, not an automatic pull — confirm with the poke.
- 4Rest
Rest wrapped and off the heat at least 45–60 minutes — longer is better in a towel-lined cooler, where it holds safely above 140°F for a few hours. Resting lets the fibers reabsorb moisture and the rendered fat and gelatin thicken so they cling to the meat instead of running out.
- 5Pull
Unwrap, pull the pork apart while still hot, and mix the shreds back through the rendered juices caught in the paper.
Notes
Wrap by bark, not by clock — a smaller shoulder sets its bark well before a big one, so the 3-hour mark is a guidepost, not a trigger. Pull by tenderness confirmed with a poke; 205°F just tells you to start checking. Don't skimp the rest: it does more for the final texture than any brine, and resting unwrapped or in open air only cools and dries the bark. Uses the Pulled Pork Rub from this site.