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+ servings
pork shoulder on the grates of a pit boss pellet grill with a probe thermometer inserted in the meat

Pit Boss Smoked Pulled Pork

Learn exactly how to smoke pulled pork on a Pit Boss pellet grill following our detailed instructions and recipe below!
This is an easy, yet really fun dish to prepare to feed a crowd, especially on a Pit Boss!
4.50 from 6 votes
Prep Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Resting and Pulling Time 1 hour
Total Time 11 hours 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Australian, barbecue, BBQ, Smoked
Servings 12
Calories 277 kcal

Equipment

  • Pit Boss Pellet Grill
  • Wood pellets for Pit Boss, preferably hickory, apple, and/or cherry
  • Aluminum Foil Trays
  • Plastic Wrap
  • Internal Meat Thermometer
  • Brush or spray bottle (preferably the latter)
  • Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil
  • Cutting Board
  • Knife
  • Large forks or a Pair of BBQ Bear Claws

Ingredients
  

  • 5-8 lb Pork Shoulder Bone-In. Also sometimes labeled as a Pork Shoulder or Boston Butt.
  • Olive Oil or Yellow Mustard

Mad Backyard's Pulled Pork Rub

  • 4 tablespoon Brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoon Salt
  • 3 tablespoon Paprika
  • 1 tablespoon Onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon Garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoon Ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Cayenne

Additional Ingredients

  • Apple Juice or Cola in a Spray Bottle optional to spray during the cook
  • Salt to taste
  • Apple cider vinegar to taste
  • Blues Hog Tennessee Red BBQ Sauce - OR - any vinegar based BBQ sauce for pulled pork

Instructions
 

Prepare the Pork Butt

  • Trim any excess fat from the exterior of the pork butt. Trim the fat cap down to ¼" thickness. Score the fat cap with a meat knife in 2 directions perpendicular to each other.
    5-8 lb Pork Shoulder Bone-In. Also sometimes labeled as a Pork Shoulder or Boston Butt.
    trimming the fat off a raw pork butt
  • In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. This includes the brown sugar, salt, paprika, cayenne, the onion and garlic powders and the ground black pepper. Mix it all to make the dry rub. Keep in mind you can always buy your own dry rub or use your own recipe. It’s up to you.
    4 tablespoon Brown sugar, 3 tablespoon Salt, 3 tablespoon Paprika, 1 teaspoon Cayenne, 1 tablespoon Onion powder, 1 tablespoon Garlic powder, 2 tablespoon Ground black pepper
  • Cover your boston butt with a thin layer of olive oil or yellow mustard, then generously apply your rub to coat the entire exterior of the meat.
    Olive Oil or Yellow Mustard
    a seasoned pork shoulder
  • Wrap your boston butt in plastic wrap and place it back in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

Start the Pit Boss

  • Add your chosen pellets to the hopper, start the Pit Boss pellet grill and put it on the "Smoke" setting with the lid open.
    pouring pellets into a pit boss pellet grill hopper
  • Once the Pit boss begins to produce thick white smoke, let it run for about 5-7 minutes until the smoke turns more of a clearish blue color. This means the fire rod has fully heated up to burn the pellets more cleanly.
    smoke coming from a pit boss vertical smoker
  • Next, set the temperature to preheat the pellet grill to 250°F.
  • Fill an aluminum pan with water pan if you want to add extra moisture, and place it on the far left side of the Pit Boss pellet grill. Place a disposable bucket liner in the grease bucket as well if you want to limit cleanup later.

Smoking

  • Remove the pork from the refrigerator, add any additional rub that may have come off, and once the Pit Boss is at 250°F, place the pork butt on the grate with the fat side DOWN and the thickest part facing to the hotter RIGHT side.
    a pork butt smoking on a pit boss next to a tray of water
  • Place your thermometer inside the pork making sure to not touch the bone.
    a pork butt smoking on a pit boss pellet grill
  • Set a timer to 3 hours and close the lid to the Pit Boss. Every hour you can optionally spray or baste the exterior of the meat with apple juice or cola to help form the bark and keep the meat moist.
    Apple Juice or Cola in a Spray Bottle
    spraying cola on a pit boss smoked pork butt to keep moist
  • Your meat will take on average 1.5 hours total to cook per pound. You can refill more wood pellets as needed, however, with a full hopper you should not need to add much more.

Texas Crutch

  • When the internal temperature of the pork butt hits about 150-155°F, remove it from the Pit Boss and triple wrap it in aluminum foil. Replace the thermometer and place back in the pellet grill.
    a wrapped pork butt on a pit boss pellet grill
  • Once the internal temperature hits 197-203°F, remove the pork from the foil and place it unwrapped back in the Pit Boss to firm the bark back up for another 30-40 minutes. You can increase the temperature up to 275°F at this time if you wish.
    placing a pork butt back in a pit boss after unwrapping
  • Remove the pork butt from the Pit Boss and place it in an aluminum pan. Let it rest fo 20-30 minutes.
    an instant thermomtere showing 202 degrees on a finished pork butt

Pull and Serve

  • Pull your pork using a pair or forks or Bear Claws. Discard any large pieces of fat and the bone.
    shredding pulled pork with bear claws
  • After you finish pulling and mixing, taste the pulled pork and add salt to taste, mixing as you add it in. You can also add some apple cider vinegar to taste to add some acidity.
    Salt to taste, Apple cider vinegar to taste
    a tray of pit boss smoked pulled pork
  • Serve with buns and a vinegar based BBQ sauce on the side to top with like Blues Hog Tennessee Red.
    Blues Hog Tennessee Red BBQ Sauce - OR - any vinegar based BBQ sauce for pulled pork
    a pit boss pulled pork sandwich

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 8ozCalories: 277kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 34gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 114mgSodium: 386mgPotassium: 680mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 952IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 43mgIron: 3mg
Keyword barbecue, bbq, BBQ Rub, Boston Butt, budget, Grilling, hickory, How to, pellet grill, pellet grills, pellet smoked, pellet smoker, Pit Boss, Pit Boss Boston Butt, Pit Boss Pork Butt, Pit Boss Pork Shoulder, Pit Boss Pulled Pork, pork, Pork Butt, Pork Shoulder, Pulled Pork, smoked pork, Smoking, Wood pellets, wood smoke
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