Smoked Pork Butt

Tender, and flavorful, this recipe is proof that Smoked Pork Butt is easier than one can imagine. It can be shredded simply with 2 forks, enjoyed as is, or with your favorite BBQ sauce.

A classic BBQ recipe enhanced with hickory wood smoke. The hickory binds the flavors and adds a hint of bacon without overpowering the natural taste of the pork. The smoked pork butt will be the star of your next BBQ party. If you have any leftovers or you were meal planning, the pulled pork can be frozen. Then it will be ready for a quick and flavorful dinner on a busy night.

Smoked Boston Butt

Boston Butt and pork butt are one and the same. Boston is a reference to how the pork butt was cut in Boston and the name stuck. If you want to have a laugh, check out this article in Southern Living.

A great aspect of the Boston Butt is that it picks up flavor so well, especially during a “Low & Slow” cook. The long cook allows the complex flavors to infuse into the pork like nothing else. This is why I used hickory wood and celery seeds in our pork butt rub for this cook. Don’t worry the rub ingredients are usually in your cupboard and the recipe is straightforward. The only hard part is patience and planning.

Pork Butt Rub

We love creating easy rubs so you can use household spices to wow your taste buds. Our pork butt rub uses celery salt and seeds to highlight the BBQ flavors for this low and slow cook. The pepper and Paprika give that kick of spice, and the garlic salt and minced garlic combine all these flavors. The light brown sugar adds a beautiful and tasty caramelization to the smoked pulled pork. This homemade classic BBQ rub can be used on pork, chicken, or beef to give it a sweet-salty and subtle peppery taste.

Smoked Pork Butt Time

Now, this is a long smoke, 10 hours, and well worth it. The slow cook truly brings up the aromatics of all those BBQ flavors we love. Smoking also gives you the opportunity to have a lot of fun with woods and rubs. You can simply choose a sweet wood, like peach, or change to a tangier dry rub to find a new flavor combination you and your family will love.

Smoked Pulled Pork

I used to only think that pulled pork was for our big BBQ parties to feed a crowd, which it does fabulously. Until I had a light bulb moment thanks to a friend. She gave us the idea about meal planning. Oh my gosh! Smoked pulled pork at my fingertips. All I had to do was defrost and warm it up for a quick and tasty meal.

Now, my head was filled with ideas. Smoking a pork butt is part of our family meal planning. We are a family of four. So, this 10 lbs. pork butt gives us a wonderful meal and 4 others. Our second meal with the fridged leftovers is one we love doing with brisket as well, tacos. It puts a BBQ twist onto Taco Tuesday. The frozen leftovers are a great solution to the always-present, “What’s for dinner question”. In fact, last night was one for us. We defrosted the pulled pork added some BBQ sauce and mixed it in with pasta. Wow, smoked pulled pork rigatoni pasta for a quick and tasty dinner. Here are some of our favorite meal ideas.

Pulled Pork leftover recipes

• Tacos
• Mixed with pasta or rice
• Sliders
• Burgers
• Quesadillas
• Fajitas or Burritos
• Nachos
• Pizza

What you will need to make Smoked Pork Butt

• BBQ Grill (with indirect cooking)
• Smoking Wood (I used Hickory)
• Clear mixing bowl: Anchor and Hockings
• Marinading BBQ tray (red tray): William Sonoma
• Instant read thermometer
• BBQ tongs and a BBQ spatula
• Heavy-Duty Aluminum Foil

Ingredients to make Smoked Pork Butt

• Boston or Pork Butt bone-in (about 10 lbs.)
• Light brown sugar
• Ground black pepper
• Smoked Paprika
• Celery salt
• Garlic salt
• Ground mustard
• Minced garlic
• Celery seeds

See the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for a full list of ingredients with measurements.

How to smoke a pork butt

Prep the Pork Butt

1. Take the Boston Butt out of the packaging and dry with a paper towel
2. Set it on a prep surface
3. Dry rub. Mix the following in a medium-size bowl: light brown sugar, ground pepper, smoked Paprika, celery salt, garlic salt, ground mustard, minced garlic, and celery seeds. Blend all ingredients together
4. Coat the pork with the dry rub, and gently press it all over
5. Time to refrigerate, place the pork on a tray uncovered overnight. I find not covering it allows a slight crust to form, which aids in keeping the pork moist through the first part of the cook

Time to Smoke

1. Set your BBQ grill for indirect cooking
2. Light your charcoal or fire up the smoker, preheat the cooker to 250 degrees F
3. Place a drip pan under the Boston Butt. I filled it with water or you can use apple juice for more aromatics
   • This step helps catch all the drippings. In my BBQ, I can place a drip pan under the grill resting on the indirect diffuser plate
   • If you don’t have room, place the drip pan on the grill and the pork on a rack above it (a roasting pan is ideal)
   • Still not enough room, just add a small heatproof container of the water off to the side of the pork, this helps with moisture during the cook
4. Once the BBQ has reached temperature, take the pork out of the fridge and place it on the grill fat side up
   • Coming directly from the fridge, I find helps the smoke penetrate more into the meat
5. Cook with the cover closed, for about 5 hours

The peek (check at halfway)

1. At the estimated halfway point, I check the internal temperature, mine was 160 degrees F and I could feel the pork getting tender
2. I decided to increase the temperature to 275 degrees F because the Boston Butt had a great golden bark
3. At 7 hours into the cook, I could see a crack thru the fat cap of the pork and it had a dark red color. This is a great indicator that you are getting close to wrapping, the final part of the cook
4. Eight hours in and the Boston Butt was a dark red Mahogany color and had reached a temperature of 185 and 190 degrees F on the thick and thinner side. Pull the pork and wrap

Wrapping, finishing, and resting

1. Be careful removing the Boston Butt from the grill, it is tender like Jello. I used BBQ tongs and a BBQ spatula to move it to the foil, which was staged in two layers to prevent any leaks
2. Once you wrap the Boston Butt tightly place it back on the grill at 275 degrees F until it reaches 200-205 degrees F. This took another 2 hours
3. 10 hours in and the internal temperature reached 203 degrees F. I pulled it off the BBQ and placed it on a sturdy wood cutting board
4. I let it rest for an hour. This is not a hard time just what I find that works for allowing the juices to be reabsorbed

Time for Smoked Pulled Pork

1. Unwrap the Boston Butt onto a prepping surface
2. Now you need to remove the bone. Be careful here the bone is hot
3. Time to shred the pork. I used two forks or if you have those cool shredding claws, you will make quick work of it
4. Serve and Enjoy!

You can find all the instructions and ingredient amounts at the end of this post in the recipe card.

Tips for Smoked Pork Butt:

1. Timing your cook, the general rule for smoking or BBQing is an hour per pound at 250 degrees F
2. For marinading, time is your friend. The longer in the fridge, up to 24 hours, the better
3. The dry mustard aids in tenderizing the Boston Butt
4. Prep the BBQ the day/night before the cook
5. Charcoal BBQers, place your smoking wood off-center on top of the charcoal

Storage

• If you have made this to use later, you have made a great decision. I actually find that the pulled pork is still as flavorful when used later. According to USDA, you can keep cooked pork in the fridge for 3-4 days and frozen for 3-4 months
• Easy solution for freezer storage. Separate your leftovers for future meals in freezer-safe bags/containers

FAQs

Other recipes that go great with pulled pork

• Focaccia
• Cheesy Garlic Bread
• Crispy Mushroom Bites
• Fudgy Nutella Brownies

Congratulations on your 1st Smoked Pork Butt! What did you do with the leftovers? Let us know below.