This is an easy smoked pork butt recipe. It will give you plenty of pulled pork for a party or meal planning. The tenderness will have you making it again and again.
The hickory wood imparts the classic smoked BBQ flavor with a hint of bacon. No worries if you don’t eat it all, it will be the star of numerous meals you can make in the following weeks.
smoking a Boston Butt on the bbq
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 pulled pork 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.
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.
homemade pulled pork rub
We love creating easy rubs so you can use household spices to wow your taste buds. Our pulled pork 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.
meals we love with 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/or warm-up for a quick and tasty meal.
My head was filled with ideas. Now, smoking a Boston 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 refrigerator 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:
- Tacos
- Mixed with pasta or rice
- Sliders
- Burgers
- Quesadillas
- Fajitas or Burritos
- Nachos
- Pizza
Tips:
- Timing your cook, the general rule for smoking or BBQing is an hour per pound at 250 degrees F
- For marinading, time is your friend. The longer in the fridge, up to 24 hours, the better
- The dry mustard aids in tenderizing the Boston Butt
- Prep the BBQ the day/night before the cook
- Charcoal BBQers, place your smoking wood off-center on top of the charcoal
Ingredients to make this recipe
- 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.
what you will need for this recipe
- BBQ Grill (I used a Large Big Green Egg)
- 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
step-by-step directions on how to smoke a pork butt
Here is a step-by-step on how to make the recipe. You can find all the instructions and ingredients amount at the end of this post in the recipe card.
Prep the Pork Butt
- Take the Boston Butt out of the packaging and dry with a paper towel
- Set it on a prep surface
- 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
- Coat the pork with the dry rub, and gently press it all over the pork
- 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 cook
- Set your BBQ grill for indirect cooking (Tip do this the day/night before). I set my diffuser plate with the legs up
- Light your charcoal or fire up the smoker, preheat the cooker to 250 degrees F
- 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 container (heatproof) of the water off to the side of the pork, this helps with moisture during the cook
- 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
- Cook with the cover closed, for about 5 hours
The peek (check at halfway)
- At the estimated halfway point, I check the internal temperature, mine was 160 degrees F and I could feel the pork getting tender
- I decided to increase the temperature to 275 degrees F because the Boston Butt had a great golden bark
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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 for this cook
- 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
- 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 Pulled Pork
- Unwrap the Boston Butt onto a prepping surface
- Now you need to remove the bone. Be careful here the bone is hot
- Time to shred the pork. I used two forks or if you have those cool shredding claws, you will make quick work of it
- Serve and Enjoy!
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 a freezer-safe bags/containers
faqs
Yes. We did that for our Burt Ends recipe and it worked perfectly.
Unfortunately, the fresh garlic may catch and give a bitter taste.
Yes, you can use a different cooker. The key to this cook is the temperature for the smoking and the internal temperatures for when to wrap then pull and rest. However, you made need to adjust the time and temperature of your cooker.
Other recipes that go great with pulled pork
Smoked Pork Butt
Equipment
- BBQ Grill or Smoker
- Smoking Wood
- Marinading BBQ tray
- Clear mixing bowl
- Instant read thermometer
- Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil
- BBQ tongs
- BBQ spatula
Ingredients
- 1 Boston Butt bone-in (about 10lbs)
Dry Rub
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons smoked Paprika
- 2 teaspoons celery salt
- 2 teaspoons garlic salt
- 2 teaspoons ground mustard
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons celery seeds
Instructions
Prep the Boston Butt
- Unpack the pork and dry with a paper towel
- Place on a prep surface. Set aside
- In a medium-size bowl mix together: light brown sugar, ground black pepper, smoked Paprika, celery salt, garlic salt, ground mustard, minced garlic, celery seeds
- Fully coat the pork with the rub
- Place the pork on the tray and leave uncovered in the refrigerator overnight
Time to cook
- Prepare your BBQ for indirect cooking
- Preheat BBQ or smoker to 250 degrees F
- Place a drip pan under the grill with water in it. If this is not possible place a small fireproof container of water on the side of the Boston Butt
- Once the BBQ has reached temperature, place the pork on the grill with the fat side up
- Cook with the cover closed for 5 hours
The peek (check at halfway)
- I check at the estimated halfway point for the cook, 5 hours
- Increase BBQ to 275 degrees F, and continue to cook with the cover closed
- At 8 hours in the Boston Butt had a dark red mahogany color and the fat cap had a good crack. The internal temperature was between 185 to 190 degrees F. Time to pull the pork off the BBQ
Wrapping, finishing and resting
- Be careful when you pull the pork it is very tender. Wrap the Boston Butt in the aluminum foil tightly. Place back on the BBQ and close the lid. Continue cooking at 275 degrees F
- Wait for the pork to come up to an internal temperature of 200 to 205 degrees F. This took another 2 hours
- Pull the wrapped pork and rest for 1 hour
Time for Pulled Pork
- Once you have rested the Boston Butt, now you need to remove the bone
- Shred the pork
- Serve and enjoy!
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