Easy Traeger Smoked Pulled Pork
Learn exactly how to smoke pulled pork on a Traeger 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 Traeger, but it can also easily be adapted for ANY pellet grill such as a Pit Boss or Camp Chef.
Servings 12 people
Calories 500kcal
Cost $30
Equipment
- Traeger Pellet Grill
- Wood pellets for Traeger, 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
- ½ tablespoon Cayenne
- 1 tablespoon Onion powder
- 1 tablespoon Garlic powder
- 2 tablespoon Ground black pepper
Additional Ingredients
- Apple Juice or Cola in a Spray Bottle optional to spray during the cook
- Salt to taste to add at the end after pulling
- Apple Cider vinegar to taste to add at the end after pulling
- Blues Hog Tennessee Red BBQ Sauce Or any vinegar based BBQ sauce for pulled pork
Instructions
Prepare the Pork Butt for the Traeger
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Wrap your boston butt in plastic wrap and place it back in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
Start the Traeger Pellet Grill
- Start up the Traeger pellet grill, add your chosen pellets to the hopper, and set the temperature to 225°F.
- If you are using a newer model Traeger such as the Ironwood or Timberline series, you can also select the "Super Smoke" setting but you will have to set the temperature to 220°F as this is the maximum temp for this setting to work.
- Remove the top rack if you are not using it and cover the drip tray in aluminum foil for easier cleanup later.
- Fill an aluminum pan with water pan if you want to add extra moisture, and place it on the far left side of the Traeger grill. Place a disposable bucket liner in the grease bucket as well if you want.
Start Smoking the Pork on the Traeger
- Remove the pork from the refrigerator, add any additional rub that may have come off, and once the Traeger is up to 225°F, place the pork butt on the grate with the fat side DOWN and the thickest part facing to the hotter RIGHT side.
- Place your thermometer inside the pork making sure to not touch the bone.
- Set a timer to 3 hours and close the door to the Traeger. Every hour you can optionally spray the exterior of the meat with apple juice or cola to help form the bark and keep the meat moist.
- Your meat will take on average 1.5 hours total to cook per pound. You can empty and 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 Traeger and triple wrap it in aluminum foil. Replace the thermometer and place back in the pellet grill. You can turn OFF the "Super Smoke" feature at this point if you are using it.
- Once the internal temperature hits 192°F, remove the pork from the foil and place it unwrapped back in the Traeger to firm the bark back up. You can increase the temperature up to 275°F at this time if you wish.
- Once the internal temperature hits 197°-203°F, remove the pork butt from the Traeger and place it in an aluminum pan. Let it rest fo 20-30 minutes.
Pull and Serve the Traeger Smoked Pulled Pork
- Pull your pork using a pair or forks or Bear Claws. Discard any large pieces of fat and the bone.
- 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.
- Serve with buns and a vinegar based BBQ sauce on the side to top with like Blues Hog Tennessee Red.
Notes
Video courtesy of The Midlife Ride
Nutrition
Calories: 500kcal