For my Smoked Pulled Pork Butt I have always trim off the fat cap. Like many other Pitmasters, I used to trim the fat cap down to a ¼ inch, barbecue low-and-slow for countless hours, and Foil Towel Cooler (FTC) the smoked pork butt for 3 to 5 hours before pulling it. Then there's the question of fat cap up or fat cap down! The fat cap up camp swear that during cooking, the fat cap bastes the pork butt while the fat cap down camp swear that the fat cap protects the pork butt from burning on the bottom. All I know is keeping even a ¼ inch of fat cap prevents half of the pork butt from forming that beautiful and tasty bark cause fat does not form a bark. Also, all that fat cap melting makes one big mess in your wood pellet grill pit. Even with the fat cap removed, there will still be plenty of grease on the grease tray.

Over the years, I have tweaked my smoke pulled pork butt recipe down to 8 - 9 hours rather than 14 - 18+ hours. No more loosing sleep for me when it comes to enjoying some great pulled pork.

Rub the trimmed boneless pork butt on all sides with roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil and season all around with an ample amount of Jan's Original Dry Rub - page 168 of my cookbook - The Wood Pellet Smoker and Grill Cookbook. I like to use Silicone Hot Cooking Bands to hold the boneless butt in place and promote even cooking. Wrap the small seasoned pork butt in plastic and refrigerate overnight.

• Preheat your wood pellet smoker grill to 225ºF using CookinPellets.com Premium Perfect Mix hard wood pellets
• Smoke the pork butt for 3 hours at 225ºF
• Increase the pit temperature to 350ºF and cook for an hour
• Remove the pork butt and double wrap in heavy duty foil
  • Make sure to keep meat probe in place when wrapping in foil
• Return the foil wrapped pork butt to the 350ºF pit
  • Finish cooking the pork butt until the internal temperature reaches 205ºF
• Wrap the foiled pork butt in a towel and place in a cooler for 2 - 3 hours
• Pull the smoked pork butt and enjoy
• Took about 8½ to 9 hours from start to finish ... Times are for planning purposes only

Served with a side of Cole Slaw and Instant Pot Great Northern Beans

For years, I've enjoyed the convenience of smoking small 3 pound Sirloin Tip Pork Roasts. Historically, I have purchased my Sirloin Tip Pork Roasts at Costco. Costco used to always carry Swift Premium Pork Sirloin Tip Roasts (package of 4 roasts) but lately, at my local Costco, they are carrying their own packaged roasts. I don't think they call it the same but to the best of my knowledge, it's the same cut of pork.

For the most part, these roasts are void of any excess fat and/or silver skin to trim off because these cuts of pork are naturally lean. The general method for cooking is ... "The leaner the meat, the higher the heat". Cooking a Sirloin Tip Pork Roast at 350ºF to 375ºF until the internal temperature reaches 145ºF produces great results but I prefer to often just smoke the roast with delicious results. You can also combine the two methods, smoke for a length of time before bumping the pit temperature to 350ºF until your roast reaches your desired internal temperature.

USDA guidelines and the National Pork Board recommends cooking pork to an internal temperature between 145ºF (medium rare) and 160ºF (medium) followed by a 3 minute rest. That temperature should be measured with a food thermometer placed in the thickest part of the meat.

Rub the Sirloin Tip Pork Roast with roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil and then season the roast liberally with my Pork Dry Rub. Page 169 of my cookbook - The Wood Pellet Smoker and Grill Cookbook. Wrap the seasoned roast in plastic and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat your Green Mountain Grills WiFi controlled Davy Crockett grill or your wood pellet smoker grill of choice to 250ºF using CookinPellets.com Premium Perfect Mix hard wood pellets. I like to use a Teflon grill mat to keep the meat from sticking to the grates. Smoke the Sirloin Tip Pork Roast at 250ºF for approximately 3 hours until the internal temperature of the roast reaches 145ºF. Rest the roast for 3 minutes before carving and serving.

Gotta love that beautiful smoke ring on those delicious medium rare slices of pork roast. Remember that you don't need to take pork to 160ºF like the old days which pretty much dried out the meat. The new guidelines are perfectly safe to use and enjoy. A nice green salad is great accompaniment.