Today I'm sharing my secrets, my 10 commandments, about pulled pork. I'll reveal everything there is to know about how to prepare this delicious meal so that you can cook the best pulled pork of your life!
Without further ado, here are my secrets that cover the entire process, from cutting to resting time:
1. The cut
To make pulled pork, I recommend using pork shoulder. It is one of the fattiest parts of the pork and contains a lot of collagen and marbling. You can use picnic shoulder, pork butt or Boston butt. Picnic shoulder will give you 50% cooked meat yield compared to raw meat, while pork butt and Boston butt will give you a better yield, at 55%.
In fact, you can even use a pork loin to make pulled pork. Yes, all cuts of meat will shred: pork loin, pork tenderloin, pork chops…! You just have to cook your cut of meat long enough and remember that the more fat it has, the easier it will be to cook without drying it out. So, to avoid having dry pulled pork, remember that the fattier the cut of meat, the more successful you will be! (To go back to my previous point, pork shoulder stays juicy when it cooks, compared to, for example, pork loin which dries out, for which the shoulder is always the best option!)
2. The injection
Injecting the meat is not required, but it helps to keep more moisture in the cut of meat and to “boost” the flavor of the pork. You can inject apple juice, cider, or beer into your cut of meat, but if you want to push the limits of injection, I suggest using a pork injection mix like Butcher BBQ, Kosmos Q, or What the Pork?. With a mix like one of these, you can lock in more juices, sweetness, and flavors into your cut of meat and ensure that it is nice and juicy when you pull it apart.
To inject your piece of meat, you must use a marinade injector that allows the mixture to be well dispersed in the meat. If you are looking for an injector that is beautiful, good and inexpensive, the BBQ Québec Marinade Injector does the job. If you are looking for a "real" injector, the best is the BBQ Québec Injecterminator . It is dishwasher safe and with its 3 syringes, it can perfectly inject all pieces of meat!
3. Temperature
If you are new to the world of BBQ, I recommend cooking your piece of meat at a low temperature, 225°F, because it will be easier for you to monitor the cooking.
If you're used to handling your fancy machine, in my opinion, the ideal temperature for cooking a pork shoulder is 275°F because at this temperature, it doesn't cook too slowly or too quickly, and it also allows you to be in control throughout the cooking process. In fact, you can start your cooking at 275°F, then lower the temperature to 225°F after wrapping the pork in foil or butcher's foil (more on this step later) to prevent it from burning, caramelizing, and charring.
4. Cooking time
To know when your piece of meat is ready, in fact the temperature of the BBQ is not really important and the cooking time is even less so. The only thing that is essential is that you have the right temperature in your piece of meat! All you need is a good thermometer to tell you the internal temperature of the meat. In the case of a pork shoulder, an internal temperature of 205 to 210 °F is ideal.
As for the thermometers themselves, I recommend the iGrill2 from Weber which is one of our best sellers at BBQ Québec. It will allow you to remotely monitor the internal temperature of the meat and that of the BBQ. The BBQ Québec Thermometer and the Thermomax are also excellent tools to have.
5. The BBQ
Pulled pork can be cooked on any BBQ: a gas BBQ, charcoal BBQ, pellet BBQ… To achieve this, however, I recommend using the Presto BBQ from BBQ Québec , because it creates a 100% indirect heat zone in the BBQ. So all you have to do is keep all the burners lit at half or minimum, place the Presto BBQ on the grill and let the magic happen, no matter what type of BBQ you have.
6. The “rubs”
There are so many great rubs out there that it can be hard to choose which one to work with. To name a few, Théo BBQ rubs, What the Pork?, Sugar Daddy Bacon, SJB Barbecue, Pat BBQ, LL Prohibition, Butcher BBQ, Kosmos Q, and Steven Raichlen's rubs (especially the Kansas City dry rub , which has a great smoky flavor) are all the bomb.
One of my favorites for pork shoulder is Le Rub de Gras Dur . It's an incredible product for pork and chicken; a big winner! My favorite dry rub, however, is Sweet Kansas from BBQ Québec , because it makes a memorable crust. It's an unbeatable dry rub with its big chunks of sugar!
If you're feeling more creative, you can also make incredible mixes by combining, for example, BBQ Québec's Sweet Kansas dry marinade with Butcher BBQ's Maple Rub.
7. Sauces
There are many good sauces on the market, but it is important to know that they are only added once the pork is shredded! Indeed, do not pack your pork shoulder with sauce or brown sugar before cooking it because it will only burn it.
Personally, when it's time for me to wrap my piece of meat in aluminum foil or butcher paper, I prefer to simply add water, beer, a liquid, or even fat, such as butter or duck fat (one of the secrets to the best pulled pork I've ever eaten!) to my meat instead of adding sauce.
However, once your meat is done cooking, I suggest you pair it with BBQ Québec's Nashville sauce , which was specially designed for pulled meats (pork, chicken and beef). Made with, among other things, apple cider vinegar, the result is phenomenal with pork! Otherwise, I also recommend Pat BBQ's Original BBQ sauce or Pat BBQ's Spicy BBQ sauce , both of which are incredible with pulled pork! SJB Barbecue's SJB Competition sauce and BBQ Québec's Bourbon Maple sauce are also excellent choices.
8. Packaging
If you want fiery results, I highly recommend wrapping your meat in butcher paper or aluminum foil. As they say in racing, "if you don't wrap, you don't win." Wrapping actually "steams" the meat, making it more tender and retaining more moisture and juices.
Speaking of wrapping, if you love BBQ, you'll definitely love our butcher paper because it was specifically designed for BBQ use. When wrapped in butcher paper, the meat retains its "bark" (its "spice crust") while with aluminum foil the "bark" softens. If, on the other hand, you don't wrap your meat at all and let it cook slowly but surely, the big difference will be that the crust will be very, very crispy. (If you overcook your meat, a little tip I can give you is to wrap it in aluminum foil and add a little water to soften it. That should help.)
9. Rest
Before cooking, do not let the meat rest because the goal is to expose it to the smoke as long as possible when it cooks. Besides, there is no point in letting it rest after cooking either. Open the paper and shred the meat directly. (The claws, like those of the BBQ Québec Shredder , are the best tools you can use to shred any meat!)
If, on the other hand, you prefer to wait until it is less hot for fear of burning yourself, you can always let the meat rest for 30 minutes to cool down.
10. The Biggest Secrets About Pulled Pork
I've already revealed some secrets to you before this in the text, but I have more!
-
World champion BBQer Travis Clark once told me that his biggest secret is maple syrup! He pours an astronomical amount of maple syrup on his pork after he shreds it and does the same thing when he wraps it in foil or butcher paper when cooking it. He also adds a lot of butter so that the syrup doesn't burn, which allows the meat to slowly caramelize and confit.
-
Before smoking cuts of meat that are injected and "rubbed," the greatest BBQ world champions keep their meat in a freezer or cooler filled with ice. Why? To slowly get the outside of their cuts of meat colder and colder, very close to freezing, so that the meats absorb smoke (nitrogen oxide) for a longer period of time. So, to have a pork shoulder that is well smoked, crispy on the outside and has absorbed smoke the right way, keep it in the refrigerator for as long as possible or even in the freezer for a few moments.
-
BBQing is fun, but the boring part is always shredding the meat. Forks aren't always ideal, so I really recommend, once again, using the BBQ Québec Shredder to break your meat into pieces. You'll see, it's much faster and easier with that!
Happy BBQing and… may the BBQ force be with you!
