‘Tis the Season

(scroll to the end for recipe)

National BBQ Day was the other day. One of those ambiguous days that you see on insta or FB that reminds you to post a fun picture to “commemorate the day.” That being said, it’s starting to be that time of year when we are regularly up at dawn putting something on our smoker, and yesterday was one of our first days of the season to fire it up. That’s actually not true given we use our smoker all year (including in snow), but there is something very different once summer starts to come around. As such, here is my celebration, a little late, of BBQ. In this case, technically, it’s a celebration of our smoker of choice, the Traeger. If you don’t have one, feel free to connect with me and I’ll be happy to sell you on it.

BBQ is one of those food groups that isn’t plentiful up here in the Mile High, so my husband and I have had to improvise and figure it out ourselves to recreate the delicious smoked meats we love to indulge on. Enter, the Traeger. We received one as a housewarming gift when we bought our house a few years ago, and it is easily one of our most favorite things. It makes cooking so easy, and makes the most amazing, show-stopping meals. We smoke literally everything minus fajitas and steaks. We have tried, and while they are delicious, I just prefer those dishes without the smokiness – personal preference. When exploring recipes, especially with a new cut of meat, I always turn to those specifically from Traeger. There are so many to choose from, just look for the high ratings, flavor profile, and effort level (low please!) you are looking for. 

That’s how I found my favorite recipe for Pulled Pork. It’s one of our favorite things to make for several reasons which include: it’s CHEAP, easy, delicious, and the leftovers can be transformed into many different dishes so you aren’t eating the “same thing” for a week. This is key for my family as my husband doesn’t love to eat the same thing multiple meals in a row – aka. Leftovers. You do need to plan for this recipe as total time averages around 10 hours, but I promise it’s worth it.

Life Mantra: Low Effort, High Impact

From a cooking standpoint, smoking meat is easy. While the timing varies, the key is temperature. When you look up recipes, the timelines vary based on weight, altitude, outside temperature, etc, but they are all centered around the temperature of the meat you are cooking. I cannot stress enough – this is key. The new smokers have the gauges set to wifi, so you can check the meat temperature AND adjust the smoking temperature from your phone. This is a FABULOUS feature on the newer editions, and I would definitely pay extra for it. While ours doesn’t have it, it would make things even easier to not have to go outside every so often (sometimes in the rain, snow, etc) to check on meat temp. First world problems, I know. But it ALSO would be nice, if you’re smoking a brisket for example which requires almost 24 hours, to not to have to get out of bed in the middle of the night to check on it. Just saying. I would also consider investing in a thermometer probe that connects to your machine. Most new smokers come with one or two of these, but if they don’t, buy one. For an incremental, minimal cost it will make your life (and your food) much better.

Tips

These are my key TIPS when making pulled pork:

1. As long as it is a BBQ style spice mix, the type of rub you use to season the meat doesn’t really matter here. Only that it is applied liberally on all sides. Even if you transform this dish to Green Chili Pork (my personal favorite), BBQ seasoning is perfect.
2. This recipe only requires one “extra” step outside of putting the meat in the smoker. When the time comes to wrap the pork, use extra long, durable foil, and make it Reynolds. Brand matters when it comes to foil, trust me on this. You do not want flimsy foil when you need to support almost 10 lbs of meat and liquid. Prepare the foil ahead of time – I recommend using a sheet pan to first lay out 2 LONG layers of foil lengthwise, then 2 additional layers of foil horizontal. It should look like a plus sign. Gently press into the sheet pan so there is a well where the pork and juice can sit without leaking.
3. Let’s talk about the STALL. What I have discovered is that certain cuts of meat (particularly at high altitude) experience what is called a cooking stall. Pork shoulder has reliably been one of those meats for us. What it means is that it stalls at a certain temperature for a LONG time. Typically right as you are waiting for a next step or to pull the meat off. For us, we have noticed that this cut typically stalls around 196 degrees which is just short of the recommended finished cooking temperature. While there are many ways to push through the stall (thank you Aaron Franklin for your Brisket Masterclass), the easiest for me is to crank up the heat a little to try and push through. For us, we go up to 350 and watch closely to ensure the pork doesn’t overcook. We have also lost patience (many times) in this process and pulled the meat at 200 (instead of 204) and it is still perfect once it finishes it’s rest period.
4. When it comes time to shred your pork, I recommend preparing a station. This makes cleanup and your shred quality much better. When you pull the pork, I recommend letting it rest in the same sheet pan you prepared the foil in. This ensures no juice will leak onto your counter surface. After resting for an hour, gather a large cutting board, and a large bowl or serving platter, and 2 forks. When you open the packet, I start by lightly scraping off any excess fat with the flat side of a fork. This slides right off. Then I remove the bone and let it lay in the packet. Working in small chunks, I just fork off sections of the pork onto my cutting board and shred small pieces at a time. I don’t love extra fat (personal preference), so as I shred, I put excess fat pieces back into the foil packet and only perfect components into my serving dish. This ensures manageable shred quantities, perfect bites, and keeps scraps and trash contained within the foil packet. For a cooked 9 lb pork shoulder, this process typically takes me 30 min.
5. For serving, if we have made this for a party, I love to serve it up family style on a big platter for people to help themselves! Serve it with an assortment of BBQ sauces, pickles, variety of sliced cheeses, buns, etc. to make it fun, delicious and EASY. While Headcountry’s Original BBQ Sauce will always be our traditional favorite, last year, we grabbed a bottle of Lillie’s Gold barbeque sauce on a whim and now it’s a must serve whenever we make this. I love the vinegary tang of it.

Now for the Recipe!

Easy Peasy Smoked Pulled Pork

Ingredients:

• 1 (6-9 lb) bone-in pork shoulder
• 2 cups apple cider
• Preferred BBQ Spice Rub

Instructions:

1. Set smoker temp to 250 and preheat, lid closed, for 15 min.
2. While smoker preheats, trim excess fat from pork butt and season LIBERALLY on all sides. Let sit for 20 min. This is when I recommend placing the temperature probe in as well. Make sure it is not touching the bone and is going through the center of the meat (not down from the top)
3. Place the pork butt fat side up directly on the grill and cook for 3 to 5 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 160.
4. While the pork cooks, prepare the foil packet. See the key info above, but stack 4 strips of foil onto a baking sheet ensuring they are long enough to wrap around the pork butt. Press along the sides inside the baking sheet to create a large well.
5. Unplug the temperature probe (if using) from the trager, and move the pork butt onto the foil in the center of the well. Gently pour the apple cider over the top of the pork butt, then gently wrap the foil around the pork (bring each side together and roll down the edges) being careful not to let the apple cider leak out and be mindful of the probe.
6. Place the foil wrapped pork back on the grill (still fat side up) and cook 3 to 4 hours longer or until the internal temperature reaches 204.
7. Remove from the smoker and allow it to rest in the foil packet for 45 min to an hour. 
8. Shred and Enjoy! See Tips above for my shredding method. The original recipe calls to add back the strained cooking liquid to the meat. I have never done this, but I’m sure it’s delicious.