Krewe Du Que Pulled Pork
This recipe was provided by Braai Master Aaron Borst.
Try out this pulled pork recipe for your friends and family or the next time you’re feeding a large crowd!
Servings: Around 10 people. Leftovers can be frozen.
Cooking time: 7-9 hours
Ingredients:
Injection:
2 1/2 cups apple juice (high quality refrigerated - "Simply Apple" or similar)
3/4 and 1/8 cup turbinado sugar
1/8 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white vinegar (can substitute with apple cider if preferred)
1/8 cup kosher or sea salt
Meat, etc.:
1 bone-in pork butt (aka Boston Butt), about 9-10 pounds
1/3 - 1/2 cup of any commercial / homemade BBQ Rub (avoid coffee-based rub for this)
2 chunks smoking wood for smoke (I prefer Cherry)
Bread (e.g. Hawaiian rolls, hamburger buns, favorite crusty bread)
2-1/2 to 3 cups of your favorite BBQ Sauce
3/4 cup apple juice
Sandwich toppings of your choice (e.g. onion, pickle - even try a little mayo, trust me)
Other needed or helpful supplies:
1 grill or smoker
2 BBQ Wood Chunks (Cherry, Apple, Pecan, Oak or Hickory recommended)
1 meat/marinade injector
1 meat thermometer
1 leave-in digital oven or grill thermometer
1 disposable foil baking pan
Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil
Oven Mitts
Spray Bottle
Cooking Oil
Plastic Wrap
Directions:
Prepare Injection: (Prepare the day before you plan to cook. See “Dry Brine” under step #2 as an alternative to using an injection. Do not use both). Place injection ingredients into a sauce pan over medium heat. Heat ingredients until well incorporated. (Do not boil) Place into a container (mason jar or similar) and allow to cool before refrigerating. (Do not use injection while warm).
Meat Prep (up to one day in advance): Remove any obvious sinew, bone shards, etc. Not much trimming should be required. Leave fat on bottom of meat (if fat is very thick, trim to approximately 1/4 inch)
Injection approach: Inject meat the night before, or at least 2 hours before cooking. Place meat in a foil baking pan to catch excess injection. Pick 9 evenly spaced points across the pork butt to apply injection. Move the needle around in several directions at each point to deliver as much injection as the meat will hold. Tip: Cover the injection hole as you remove the needle to avoid injection coming back at you! Dispose of excess injection in the pan. Drain excess injection in pan. Dispose of any unused injection. Cover pan in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator until ready to cook.
Dry brine approach: If not injecting, use a “dry brine” to get salt into the meat before cooking. Make sure meat is moist so salt will adhere when applied (you can apply little water to the surface if needed). Simply coat the meat in kosher salt (approx 1/2 tsp per pound, or “eyeball it” if comfortable). Wrap in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator in the pan overnight.
The Cook: Fire up your grill or smoker targeting a stable 275 - 300 temperature. If using a grill, use a two-zone set-up (see online tutorials) and place a small water pan filled with warm water (e.g. bread pan) over the direct heat charcoal section. Remove meat from fridge, drain excess injection / juices (if applicable). Apply a thin layer of cooking oil to meat prior to applying a BBQ rub. Then generously apply BBQ rub to meat. Pat down the dry rub so it’s slightly “pressed” into the meat (don’t “rub” it on). Let meat rest uncovered for ~30 minutes or until the rub looks moist / "tacky". While meat is resting, place 2 wood chunks on coals of the grill/smoker. Fill spray bottle with 1/2 apple juice and 1/2 Apple Cider Vinegar (measurements not in ingredients section).
Place meat fat side down on grill/smoker (cool side of two zone grill set-up). Cover and allow to cook/smoke. After 2 hours, check meat. Use spray bottle to lightly moisten any part of the meat that looks dry (rotate meat if one side is browning faster than the other). Continue cooking, checking and spraying any dry looking meat every half hour until the meat develops a nice Mahogany color over the entire surface that doesn’t scratch off (a.k.a. the “bark” - see picture for example of appearance). If certain sections still look “mushy” or bark scratches off, it needs more time cooking uncovered to create a stable bark surface. Once that is achieved, move to the next step. Combine 1/4 cup BBQ sauce with 1/4 cup apple juice and warm prior to the next step.
Remove meat from grill/smoker and place into foil baking pan. Evenly pour warm BBQ sauce / apple juice combination over meat. Insert grill/oven thermometer probe into thickest portion of meat at the center. Cover tightly with 2 sheets aluminum foil (careful not to pierce the foil with probe) and return to smoker. Continue cooking at 275F for 2 - 3 hours, or until internal temp has hit 203 F. At 203 F, remove from smoker and probe meat through the foil for tenderness. If tender (very little resistance to probing - just slightly tighter than probing a room temp stick of butter), rest meat uncovered for 15-20 min, or until internal temperature has hit approx 190F. If not tender, quickly keep covered in foil and return to smoker. Check for tenderness again after another 30 minutes.
Finishing Steps
After resting meat, coat exterior with 3/4 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce thinned out with remaining 1/4 cup apple juice (1 cup total - I prefer a sweeter Kansas City style sauce for this), strain and reserve juices from pan (skim fat if needed).
Place meat back on smoker for ~15 to 20 minutes to “set the sauce”. After setting sauce, keep meat in foil pan and pull out the bone (should remove easily and cleanly if properly cooked/ tender). Gently pull pork apart while in pan using large forks or hands (with proper protective gloves - Hot!). Remove anything that looks or feels like something you wouldn’t want to eat (remaining bottom layer of fat, bone shards, membrane, etc) Drizzle reserved pan juices over the meat while pulling.
Once pulled, apply favorite BBQ sauce while in pan to taste (I prefer a thinner, tangy style sauce for this step such as Blues Hog Tennessee Red or other "Carolina" Style sauce. Use some sweet Kansas City style if you prefer a sweeter pulled pork).
Make sandwiches and enjoy! (Pair with preferred garnish e.g. onion, jalapeño...I love diced dill pickle and a touch of mayo. Mayo sounds nuts, but it lends a creaminess and marries all the flavors together, give it a try!)