Hickory Smoked Pulled Pork

Bradley Smoker + Pork Shoulder = Awesome

Two years ago I bought a Bradley Smoker and have enjoyed it thoroughly. I recently decided to try to make hickory smoked pulled pork and I can't believe how awesome-tasting and easy it was.  There is also the evil pleasure of permeating the entire neighborhood with the scent of burning hickory.

The Rub

2 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

The night before smoking, mix the ingredients together and rub the mixture all over the pork shoulder. Put the pork shoulder in a Ziploc back or wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight.

BBQ Sauce

I confess: there is a BBQ restaurant neary named Waldos.  I have yet to be able to top their sauce.  Fortunately, they sell their sauce by the pint and quart.  

Pork Shoulder

I bought a 6 pound bone-in pork shoulder at Safeway for about $15. WHen shopping for pork shoulder bypass the ones that have been well-trimmed and are vry lean.  Go for the inexpensive fatty ones. One the moring of smoking day fire up the smoker. Set the temperature control on the smoker to 220-250F, load it with hickory bisquettes. Take it the pork shoulder out of the refrigerator and let it sit on the kitchen counter for about an hour.

Put the pork shoulder in the smoker and forget about it for 8-12 hours. 

Using an instant-read thermometer (I really like my Thermoworks Thermapen), you are looking for an internal temperature of about 195F.  Normally, I think of well-done pork as having a temperature of about 160-170F.  When I checked after eight hours of smoking and found it to be !95F I thought "Oh no, I've ruined it." Nope.  It was the most tender and juice thing I'd ever cooked.

Since then I've learned that 195 F is when the meat is at it's most tender and juicy. You should be able to easily wiggle the bone. If there is no bone then stick a fork into it and you should be able to rotate the fork with little resistance.

At that point, it's time to pull it out of the smoker, put it on a plate, and let it rest and cool down enough for you to pull it apart. I'm probably going to buy a pair of Bear Claws to make this job easier.

This is such an easy way to turn a cheap cut of meat into food for the gods.  I'm going to be doing this a lot more.