We can’t have a year go by without a pulled pork addition to ForensicBBQ.com. This is the 2023 version – made with the love and care that Father’s Day deserves. Both MrsForensicBBQ and I are blessed to have outstanding fathers in our lives, so we have to do it up right. If you haven’t already – go back to MrsForensicBBQ’s Father’s Day Post and you can see the spread we had.
The Prep Table
I gotta mix it up a little bit. If you remember back to my Piedmont/Carolina Gold post, I had those sauces ready for the trial run today. In addition to that, I love a pulled pork sandwich with some quick pickled onions. Let’s do that real quick.
Simmer the vinegar and salt with a little bit of sugar and then add it to a jar with some super thinly sliced red onion. That’s my super secret quick-pickled onions.
The Prep Table
The beauty of this website is that when I know I have a cook coming up – I hit that search button and see what I did and how I did it. This works especially well for those overnight long cooks when you’re trying to time it. This venture was no different. No need to re-invent the wheel.. when you have it dialed it, use it and abuse it.
I love the stages of color these pork butts go through. Our families weren’t going to eat this much food on Father’s Day, but might as well cook two and freeze some up. Also nice to pass some out to some close friends and colleagues. Let’s just enjoy the look of these.
Pretty awesome seeing these come together. If your guests come early, they can get a peek of what they look like on the grates.. pop the lid off the RecTeq and take it that beautiful aroma.
The Result
My time was about 30min late, so I didn’t get the full rest period that I was hoping for. No big deal, just means I have to don the heat gloves when doing the pull. Speaking of pull:
Sure was a lot of pulled pork! Had an array of sauces out to accompany. I usually toss it with a variation of that Piedmont sauce, but I kept it as-is and let the crew soak their own.
There’s your 2023 Pork Butt post! Check out MrsForensicBBQ’s Father’s Day Post to see what we had in the kitchen. She worked her ass off and it was a great time with family. Maybe we’ll mix it up next year and entertain with a beef dish!
The Recipe
The Smoked Pork Butt
Ingredients
- 1 8-ish Pound Bone-in Pork Shoulder Pork Butt
- 1 Cup Favorite BBQ rub Fine Swine
Instructions
- Remove pork from the refrigerator and let it sit on the counter for a few – we don't want it refrigerator cold.
- When it's lost some of that refrigerator chill, took it out of the bag and rinsed it off. I scored the fat cap about 1/2" through to let some rub get in there.
- Sprinkle enough seasoning on there to coat the butt. Let it set for about 5 minutes before flipping over and giving the other side some love.
- Preheat smoker for 180 degrees (or LO on my RecTeq). We're going to change up the cooking times a little bit, but we're going max smoke for this one.
- Place a probe and introduce the shoulder to the grates. I did this around 10pm. Tuck it in for the night and "sleep well" 🙂
- After about 8 hours on the smoker, and you've gotten a little bit of sleep – raise the temp to 225. I was shooting for a 3pm finish when the guests were coming over.
- If you're getting to crunch time, no harm in shooting for 250. Your bark will have been developing and you're not getting much smoke in there anymore. When you've reached about 195 (or 200ish – but over 195 for pulled), take it out – place in a half/full pan, foil top it and then wrap in a towel. Place it in a cooler for when it's time to go.
- When it's time to pull – remove the bone (should slide out – impressing your guests). You can even pull the "knife trick" and pretend you're going to slice it up and then show them how moist and easy that pork falls apart. Shred it up, remove any unrendered fat if you wish – it's done! Enjoy it!