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Home » Recipes » Beef, Venison, Lamb, Pork

Smoked Boston Butt Recipe The Best Pulled Pork Techniques

Published: May 14, 2022 · Modified: Oct 15, 2024 by Marisa Franca

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How to make a Smoked  Boston Butt Recipe tender, juicy, and tasty so that you have perfect barbecued pulled pork isn't difficult if you know what you're doing. We're going to show you how to smoke the Boston Butt. How long to smoke the pork. What temperature the smoked Boston Butt is done. And we're going to show you the techniques and recipes we use to give you the best pulled pork you've ever had! Guarantee!!
For this recipe, you will need: Boston Butt, apple juice, sugar, salt, water, apple vinegar, ketchup, dark brown sugar, yellow mustard, molasses, salt, red pepper flakes, hickory chunks, charcoal, and a grill with lid.

Smoked Boston Butt recipe made into pulled pork in a sandwich on cutting board with dill pickle on side
Jump to:
  • How long does it take to make the Smoked Boston Butt Recipe?
  • Getting the Pork Butt Ready
  • Smoking the Boston Butt
  • Finishing up The Boston Butt Recipe
  • How to serve Smoked Pulled Pork
  • Smoked Boston Butt Recipe Marinade and BBQ Sauce
  • 📖 Recipe
  • 💬 Comments

How long does it take to make the Smoked Boston Butt Recipe?

Our smoked pork shoulder technique takes two days. On average a pork butt will weigh between 6 to 10 pounds. Our Boston butt weighed 7 pounds.

What to expect with the pork:

  • 30% loss in the form of shrinkage, bone, and fat.
  • If it's the only meat we serve, we plan on ½ pound per person. (Believe me, some adults will go back for seconds ????)

Getting the Pork Butt Ready

Day One: Prepare the pork butt by trimming the excess fat and seasoning it.

  1. Slather mustard all over the butt.
  2. Inject the marinade in the Boston butt.
  3. Generously sprinkle the magical All Our Way rub all over the pork.
  4. Then Put the pork butt in a zip lock bag to rest overnight in the fridge.

Day Two: Take the pork out of the fridge and let it start to come to room temperature.

In the meantime, put hickory wood chunks in water. You don't want them dry -- they'll burn instead of smoke.

If you prefer, use your favorite wood chunks that are appropriate for smoking meats.

Best wood for smoking meat

  • oak
  • maple
  • pecan
  • alder
  • mesquite
  • apple
  • cherry
  • hickory

Experiment and try different ones and see which one you like the best.

Technique for preparing the grill for pulled pork at Allourway.com

Smoking the Boston Butt

Prepare the Grill for Indirect Heat.

  1. Use two pans -- one is a steam pan and one is a drip pan. Line the drip pan with aluminum foil.
  2. The drip pan is on the lower rack and the steam pan is on the upper rack over the coals. Naturally, the steam pan will have water in it and this will help regulate the heat.
  3. Fold a strip of aluminum foil and put it in between the grate. The foil acts as a  curtain between the drip pan and the coals. It's a barrier to prevent direct heat from touching the meat.
  4. Douse vegetable oil on 3 or 4 sheets of paper towels and put them on the bottom of the chimney and follow the natural starter technique we posted on starting the grill.This works much better than the wadded up newspaper.
Steps to smoking a pork shoulder butt on the weber grill.

Smoking Pork Butt on Grill Technique

Start cooking the Smoked Boston Butt Recipe.

  1. The grill temp should be at 250 F and we make sure it doesn't get above 275 F.
  2. Put the charcoal below the steam pan and fill the steam pan halfway with water.
  3. Position the pork above the drip pan. The bottom air vents are half open.
  4. Immediately place the lid on the grill.
  5. Make sure that the top vent is half open and over the meat. This smoked pulled pork technique draws the smoke up and over the meat and it also controls the temperature.
  6. Maintain a constant temperature of 225 F to 250F and keep water in the steam pan.
  7. Add wet hickory chunks (or your wet wood chunks) as needed for the first two hours of cooking. It's important not to over smoke. Our hickory measures 2x2 inch chunks and we use  2 at a time.
  8. How long does it take to make a pork butt? Plan on smoking the meat for 10 to 11 hours with a constant temperature of 225 F to 250 F.

It is a long slow process but one well worth the time to get a perfect smoked Boston Butt recipe.

Smoking Pork for Pulled Pork Technique at Allourway.com

The Pork is ready to become Pulled Pork

Finishing up The Boston Butt Recipe

The Smoked Boston Butt is ready to become Pulled Pork.

  • The pork develops a nice bark. The bark is the seasoned crust which is the goal for all pit-masters. In fact, the crunchy crust is the first thing that competition judges reach for.
  • At what temperature does the pork come off of the grill? When it reaches an internal temperature of 195 F. take it off the grill and wrap it in aluminum foil. Then let it rest for 30 minutes. This technique is the recipe for success.
  • Now remove the blade bone. It should come out easily without any meat sticking to it. This is a sign that the pork was done just right.
  • Use two forks to shred the meat. When we pull the pork, we make sure that the flavorful crusty bits are distributed throughout the pulled pork.
  • We splash a little bit of beef broth on top of the shredded pork. This will keep the meat moist.
Three tacos on wood board filled with smoked Boston Butt recipe turned into pulled pork and toped with feta cheese and green cilantro.

How to serve Smoked Pulled Pork

There are many wonderful ways to serve the smoked Boston Butt Recipe. At times we like it unadorned or with just a splash of All Our Way BBQ Sauce for Pulled Pork on a hamburger bun. A crunchy coleslaw on top of the pork is also delicious. We like the simple additions because we don't want to mask the yummy smokey taste of the meat. Here are some more ideas for the smoked pulled pork:

  • Pork Quesadillas -- pork, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions seasoned with cumin and chili powder.
  • Pizza - make it a barbecued pulled pork pizza.
  • Pork Ragout over pasta.
  • Enchiladas -- oh!yum!
  • Tacos -- delicious with a smoky flavor
  • Shepherds or Cottage pie.

There is no limit to the dishes you can make with Smoked Boston Butt Recipe. And if you keep a close eye on your store ads you can get some real bargains for Boston Butt.

We've included the recipe for the marinade that we used to inject the pork and the BBQ Sauce for the smoked meat.

Smoked Boston Butt Recipe made into pulled pork sandwich on a hamburger bun with a dill pickle in background all on a light wood cutting board.

If you have any questions about the pulled pork technique and recipes, we'll be happy to answer them.

Tutti a tavola è pronto!

Un caro saluto e alla prossima.

Smoked Boston Butt Recipe pork is done and shredded with forks on a cutting board with barbecue sauce on the side in a brown bowl.

YOU MAY NEED...

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Smoked Boston Butt Recipe Marinade and BBQ Sauce

The pork butt marinade is just right for injecting into the meat before smoking. This guarantees the pork is nice and juicy. The zingy barbecue sauce compliments the pulled pork rather than taking away from the delicious smokey flavor. This Smoked Boston Butt will yield the tastiest smoked pulled pork.

For a change, serve your pulled pork like they do in the Southeast, with Carolina BBQ Sauce. The mustardy sauce is tangy with just a bit of sweetness. It's perfect on pork and chicken.

And if you're searching for a delicious go-along with your pork sandwich, be sure to check out our Broccoli Slaw With Ramen Noodles recipe. It's a winner!

If you like this recipe, please consider giving it a five-star rating.

📖 Recipe

Pulled pork sandwich with barbecue sauce made from a smoked Boston Butt.

Smoked Boston Butt Recipe Marinade and BBQ Sauce

This marinade and BBQ sauce will compliment your delicious pulled pork without masking or be overwhelming to the flavor of the meat. A step by step approach making it easy to make get outstanding results.
5 from 19 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 12 hours hours 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 11 hours hours
resting time: 30 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 day day
Servings: 18 people
Calories: 652kcal
Author: Marisa Franca @ All Our Way
As An Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Ingredients

Meat

  • 10 pound Boston Butt roast pork shoulder
  • ½ cup yellow mustard
  • 2 tablespoons Rub and Seasoning

MARINADE FOR PORK PUTT

  • ¾ CUP apple juice
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup salt

BBQ PULLED PORK SAUCE

  • 1 cup apple vinegar
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 3 Tbs dark brown sugar
  • 1 Tbs yellow mustard
  • 1 Tbs molasses
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 10 pound Boston Butt shoulder roast
  • ½ cup yellow mustard
  • 2 Tablespoons Rub and Seasoning

All Our Way Rub and Seasoning

  • 4 tablespoons chili powder
  • 4 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 4 tablespoons paprika
  • 2 teaspoons black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons dried oregano

Wood for Smoking

  • 5 pounds wet wood for smoking soak in water before placing on charcoal.
Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

Meat Preparation

  • Slather mustard all over the butt.
  • Inject the marinade in the Boston Butt.
  • Generously sprinkle All Our Way Rub all over the pork.
  • Put in a plastic zip lock bag and refrigerate overnight.
  • Take the bag out in the morning and let the pork start to warm up.

All Our Way Rub and Seasoning

  • Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well with a whisk. Place in a large shaker container and store at room temperature.

MARINADE

  • Mix thoroughly so that the sugar and salt are dissolved. Use to inject the pork shoulder.

BBQ PULLED PORK SAUCE

  • Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
  • The sauce will not be thick -- for pulled pork, the sauce should be on the thinner side. 

Smoking the Boston Butt

  • Prepare the Grill for indirect heat using two pans. One is a drip pan and one is the steam pan.
  • Start the charcoal grill by dousing vegetable oil on 3-4 sheets of paper towels and putting them on the bottom of a chimney starter and light the towels. Follow the technique on our starting the grill post.
  • The grill temperature should be 250F. and not exceed 275F.
  • Position pork above the drip pan. The bottom air vents are half open.
  • Immediately place the lid on the grill
  • The top vent is half open and OVER the meat.
  • Maintain constant temperature of 225-250 F. and keep water in the steam pan.
  • Add wet hickory chunks as needed for the first two hours of cooking.
  • Plan on smoking the meat for 10 to 11 hours.
  • When the meat reaches an internal temperature of 195 ℉ remove from grill and wrap in aluminum foil.
  • Let rest for 30 minutes.
  • Remove the blade bone. Using two forks shred the meat.
  • Splash a little bit of beef broth on top of the shredded pork. This will keep the meat moist.
  • Use the meat for pulled pork sandwiches or for the many other suggestions we give in the Smoked Boston Butt Post.

Notes

Follow the step by step directions in the post. 

Nutrition

Calories: 652kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 79g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 254mg | Sodium: 3090mg | Potassium: 1609mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 1655IU | Vitamin C: 2.7mg | Calcium: 135mg | Iron: 7.7mg

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    First Published: March 15 21,2016... Last Updated: May 14, 2019

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