Hickory Smoked Boneless Pork Shoulders … Quick & Dirty Pulled Pork

posted in: Pork 2

The uses for Pulled Pork are only limited by one’s imagination.   Lately we’ve been treating ourselves to Mexican delicacies which use shredded Pork for tamales, tacos, burritos, tostadas, etc recipes.  Only problem is that I don’t have a stash of Pulled Pork so I decided to use a quick & dirty recipe to rectify the situation instead of using the time and tested “low and slow” method that can take up to 20+ hours.

Picked up 2 Boneless Pork Shoulders at Costco each weighing in at about 7 lbs.  Using High Temperature Silicone Cooking Bands to secure the loose ends of the Pork Shoulder where the bone was removed.

Rubbed the Pork Butts with Carolina Treet Original Cooking Barbecue Sauce for the glue and seasoned liberally with Head Country Championship Seasoning.  Made sure to apply the glue and seasoning inside where the bone was removed.  Wrapped the Pork Butts with plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight.

Preheated the MAK 2 Star Wood Pellet BBQ Smoker-Grill to 225ºF using Hickory wood BBQ pellets.  Smoked the Pork Butts at 180ºF for 2 hours before bumping the temperature to 375ºF until the Internal Temperature (IT) reached 160ºF.

Took 4 hours to reach an IT of 160ºF.  With the “Low and Slow” traditional method of smoking Pork Butts it would have taken me 7 hours to get to this stage and the Butts would now go into a stall for hours.  During the stall the magic with Pork Butts happen when the connective tissues and fats break down.

Double wrapped the Pork Butts in foil and back into the MAK 2 Star at 375ºF until the IT reaches the 200ºF range.  This procedure essentially bypasses the stall phase.

The Pork Butts were foiled already which made it easy to FTC.  Took a total time of 5½ hours for the Butts to reach an IT of 200ºF.  Not bad considering that the “Low and Slow” method would have taken me 17+ hours and involved an overnight cook.  Being Winter, it’s nice not to be up at all hours and having to worry about the ambient temperatures of an overnight smoke.  Here’s one of the Pork Butts after a 3 hour FTC and ready to pull.

The pulled Pork was delicious!!  The main difference I noticed using this method is that the bark is not as pronounced but still provided excellent flavoring.  Once Spring and Summer roll around I will be using the “Low and Slow” method at 225ºF vs the “Quick & Dirty” at 375ºF more often but there’s a lot to be said for not spending the better part of 2 days achieving that wondrous delicacy known as Pulled Pork …

The Money $Shot$ …  A nice portion of Hickory Smoked Pulled Pork served with a side of Mashed Potatoes & Gravy and steamed fresh Broccoli …  Bon Appétit

What you see above on the tray is one of the two 7 lb Boneless Pork Shoulders pulled minus the portions we enjoyed for dinner.  Once I pulled the second one I vacuum sealed 6 lbs for Sandwiches, Tamales, Tacos, and a vast amount of delectable recipes!  You can never have too much pulled Pork on hand …

2 Responses

  1. […] (vinegar, sugar, red pepper, mustard, garlic, onions, hot sauce, smoke flavor, Worcestershire . Hickory Smoked Boneless Pork Shoulders … Quick & Dirty – Smokin … Rubbed the Pork Butts with Carolina Treet Original Cooking Barbecue Sauce for the glue and seasoned […]

  2. bbq don
    | Reply

    Did this method over the summer, the best boneless butt ever! I will use this method again and again. Thanks

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