Pulled pork is an excellent starting dish for cooks getting into proper barbecuing.  The right cuts of meat are reasonably priced, the cooking process is relatively easy (almost foolproof), and the end result is delicious!

Grochow writes:

Below is my most recently used recipe; noting that I’ve never followed one particular recipe so my process is a bit different each time.

Steps:

• Go to a good butcher and buy a nice lump of pork shoulder. For this particular dish I used two pork collar butts weighing ~3 kg each.

• Sprinkle pork with salt and dry brine in fridge overnight (see here for further information on dry brining and other excellent barbecuing tips http://amazingribs.com/).
• After ~24 h, take pork out of fridge and crank BBQ up to ~107°
  • I used my GMG Daniel Boone Pellet Grill this time, but have had equally good results in my Dragon Kamado.
  • I like to place a full water pan in the BBQ at this stage.
• If you want (I did this time but don’t always), inject the pork with some combination of warm apple juice/dry rub/chicken stock/sugar/Worcestershire sauce/melted butter. See here for some tips on doing this http://amazingribs.com/)
• Rub generously with your favourite homemade or store-bought dry rub (one that does not contain salt, as we’ve already added a good amount during the dry brining process).

•  Place pork directly on grill/on a rack (not a pan) in the BBQ.
• When using the Daniel Boone, I also add an A-MAZE-N tube smoker filled with smouldering apple wood pellets at this stage for supplemental smoke.

• Over the first two hours of the cook, spritz the pork every 20/30 minutes with a mixture similar to the injection marinade above. I’m not confident it actually does anything, but smoke adheres to cold/wet surfaces, so in my mind it will enhance the under-bark smoke ring as it wets and cools the surface of the meat.
  • This is also why I put the pork in the BBQ cold rather let it rise to room temperature. The flavour will be no different had you not done this, but the smoke ring looks cool.
• Go and do something else for a while. You will have a bit of time before the pork is ready for pulling.  For example, these butts took 16 hours…
• That said, don’t cook to time – cook to temperature. The pork is ready for pulling when the internal temperature reaches 88–95°  Trial a few temperatures and see what works best for you.  I took these off the BBQ when the internal temperature reached ~92°C.  The meat should have a nice dark bark and probe like butter.

• Remove the pork and pull apart using forks.

• The rich bark and moist pork tastes pretty good on its own, but I like to drizzle with a homemade vinegar/mustard BBQ sauce
• Serve as you please! (e.g. with a side of homemade coleslaw, in sliders, on pizza, with nachos, etc.).  Leftovers freeze well.

Give it a go guys,

Grochow

 

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