Smoked Pork Shoulder

My husband loves his smoker. One of the BEST things he makes on it is a Smoked Pork Shoulder, which he has fine-tuned through a lot of trial and error. So, I followed his steps, asked a gazillion questions, and am now sharing his delicious smoked pork shoulder (also known as pork butt) recipe and methods.

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About This Recipe

While I’m a self-proclaimed freezer meal queen, my husband’s domain is the grill. More specifically, the smoker.

Ever since he got his smoker, a Kamado Joe, he has been smoking all types of meat.

In fact, he and a group of his friends have an active text chain in which they exchange recipes they are trying, tips and tricks they have learned, and lively meat-smoking banter.

This post shares the collective wisdom and tips to give you the best smoked pulled pork you’ve ever had.

There are 3 main ingredients you will need for this pork shoulder recipe:

1. Seasoned rub
2. Pork shoulder (bone-in preferred)
3. Meat injection juice

Plan on serving at least 1/3 pound (and up to 1/2 pound) of smoked pulled pork shoulder per person. But, how do you know how big of a raw pork shoulder to buy to yield that amount?

Preheat your grill to between 225-250°F.

As with most smoked meats, it starts with a great rub. Mix seasonings in a small bowl.

Now give your pork shoulder a good rub down. Make sure it’s completely covered on all sides.

Your pork will still be tender and delicious, but if you want to take it to the next level, giving it a flavor injection is something you can do.

Inject the pork all over with the juice recipe listed below.

Don’t stress if you don’t use it all. Just try to get a bit of liquid in every few inches or so. If you get squeamish with shots, you might want someone else to do this!

One trick I do before adding the pork is place an aluminum pan beneath where the pork will sit to catch the drips.

Carefully add your seasoned meat to the smoker.

Close the lid and don’t peek for at least 6 hours! You’ll want to monitor the temperature of the grill through the gauge on your smoker and keep it hovering between 225-250°F.

At around 6 hours in, use your meat thermometer to give it a quick temperature check. Be sure to check it in a few different spots. Since every cut of meat cooks a bit differently, this will help you know how close your pork is to being done.

It’s ready to take off when it reaches an internal temperature of 190-195°F.

That’s the ultimate goal you’re working towards. Depending on the size of your pork shoulder, this will likely take 8-10 hours.

While you have the smoker open, drizzle some agave syrup over the pork. If you don’t have any, you’ll be ok, but this makes the outside SO delicious.

Next, tent the pork with some foil to protect the outside from getting too burned. Now close that smoker and give it a few more hours, until it reaches the desired temp of 190°F. Check with your meat thermometer as needed.

When the internal temperature has reached at least 190°F, remove it from the smoker. This can be a little tricky. My husband likes to use his meat shredders to do this. You could also use a large spatula to help or even your heat-resistant gloves.

Wrap your pork shoulder in foil and let it rest for 45-60 minutes. This allows the juices to distribute throughout the meat and the internal temperature to rise 5-10 degrees more, helping to break down the connective tissues even more.

How to Serve a Pork Shoulder

Well first, you have to shred it up. Two forks will work fine but if you have your meat shredders, this will speed up the process. This is one of the most satisfying parts of smoking meats so don’t rush it!

You can also sneak little bites as you shred the meat.

You can eat the shredded pork plain or turn it into a sandwich. Just be sure to provide some delicious BBQ sauce with it and pair it with our Coleslaw for Pulled Pork.

Tips & Tricks for Smoking Meat

Random tips from the chief griller in my home:

• If your grilling temperature gets too high, close the vents and wait for it to lower to the desired temperature. If it gets too low, open the vents more and wait until desired temp.
• Make sure you are going to have enough charcoal for the cook time. Err on the side of too much. If you run out, it’s really difficult to bring the temperature back up. You can always bring it down though.
• Read through the entire recipe and make sure to allow time for the grill to pre-heat (about 30-45 minutes), meat to cook (roughly 8-10 hours), and meat to rest (45-60 minutes). Work backward to estimate your start time. For example, if we want to eat at 6 p.m., the pork must come off by 5 p.m. That means the pork needs to be in the smoker by 7:00 a.m. if we want to be on the safe side. Which means it needs to start pre-heating around 6:15 a.m.
• If you know you’ll be making the recipe again, just double the rub and save it with your seasonings. No need to make it twice!