Perfect Pulled Pork (A Monk's BBQ Original)

Delicious, cheap, and so easy I can do it in my sleep (no, seriously). 
Pulled pork makes for a great meal for large groups (or, in my case, lunch for a week or two from cooking once). If you make it right, it tastes great. It's dirt cheap and can often be found for $1.30/lb. The best part is that it's super simple to make, given you've got a pellet grill. So let's get down to it.

What You Need

• Pork Butt (also called picnic cut, boston butt, etc...) roughly 10lbs
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 2tbsp pepper
• 1tbsp chilli pepper
• 1tbsp paprika
• 2tbsp Cumin
• 1tbsp curry powder
• Jack Daniels or your favorite bourbon
• Apple Pellets

(I also advise building a hopper extension like the one HERE)

Step One: Mix the seasoning in a bag

Step Two: put the meat fat side up on a pan, and coat it thickly in the seasoning

Really rub the seasoning into the meat. It will help the flavors soak in.

 

Step Three: Refrigerate overnight

There should be no instruction necessary here. If you can't figure this one out, perhaps request that your wife take over all kitchen duties to cover your incompetence

Step Four: Drop it on the grill

Get your grill going and set it to 225° then let it go... for about 10 hours

Step Five: Inject your Jack or Bourbon (can be done as soon as it's on the grill)

Do this in multiple locations and be generous. The flavor will be better dispersed that way. Using straight Jack or Bourbon is best in my opinion. Other people use apple juice or a 50/50 mix... I think they're wrong. I've tried that and frankly I like my meat tasting like meat, not like a child's lunchbox

Step Six: Temperature and taking it off the grill

So you need an instant read DIGITAL thermometer. I'll have a post about the good ones soon. Ideally you want the meat to be 197-203° when you remove it from the grill. Personally I aim for 201-203° because this is the point at which it's most tender. It will literally fall apart while being picked up. 

Note; it shrinks a lot while cooking

Step Seven: Pull it. 

So for this step there are a few different ways you can do it. You can use bearclaws, which work very well. Personally, I'm lazy. I use a Kitchenaid stand mixer with the bread hook attachment, this makes quick work of it and saves you having to do it manually

Final Step: Put it on a bun, throw some of your favorite BBQ sauce on it and enjoy.

Other thoughts

So at the beginning I said I could make this in my sleep... I wasn't lying. The photos of this particular batch (I make this stuff pretty regularly) are of meat that was cooked overnight. I created that hopper extension for the specific purpose of being able to put it on the grill and not worry about it running out all night. I exclusively recommend using OMG Barbecue sauce with it. This is the best pulled pork I've encountered. It's a recipe I made personally based off my limited knowledge of meats and seasonings. My Aunt has been a huge help and influence in this knowledge as well as a tremendous amount of research I've done all across the web. Enjoy and as always...

#HardwoodsOnly