Smoked Pulled Pork Shoulder Recipe

Chef's Note: The cooking process will take 10-12 hours, so it's best to start the smoke early in the morning.

Servings: 4
Prep time: 45 minutes
Total time: 14 hours

Ingredients

for the shoulder:
1 (6 ½ to 11 pound|3 to 5 kilogram) bone-in Berkshire pork shoulder, skin off
1 cup yellow American mustard
¼ cup coarse ground pepper
¼ cup sea salt flakes
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 cups|500 milliliters spray bottle filled with cloudy apple juice

for the fire:
11 pounds|5 kilos of all natural wood charcoal
fire starters
split ironbark
split fruit wood (apple or cherry is best)

Directions

1. Remove the pork shoulder from the fridge and bring to room temperature for approximately 45 minutes.
2. Start the fire while the pork is tempering. You can use an offset smoker, a green egg style smoker, or a bullet smoker. Use fire starters and charcoal to create a bed of coals. Once the smoker's temperature hits 115°C, add a couple pieces of ironbark to begin the smoke.
3. Thoroughly coat the pork shoulder in American mustard. Liberally sprinkle pepper, salt flakes, and garlic powder over the shoulder until mustard is completely covered.
4. Place the shoulder in the smoker. Maintain the temperature at or within 5 degrees of 115°C. It's very important not to allow temperature fluctuation. Avoid the temptation to remove the lid or open the smoker. Constant, even temperature is essential throughout the smoking process. Add the fruit wood and ironbark as necessary to keep an even temperature and constant smoke.
5. After 4 hours, quickly remove lid and spray the shoulder with apple juice every hour on the hour.
6. After 10 hours, check the internal temperature of the shoulder with a probe thermometer. It should hit 85°C sometime between 10-12 hours.
7. Once the temperature reaches 85°C, remove the shoulder and wrap in foil. Set aside and let sit for 2 hours.
8. Unwrap shoulder and pull apart until shredded. Serve with BBQ sauce, pickles, white bread, and accompaniments.Get recipes like this and more in the Munchies Recipes newsletter. Sign up here.