Smoking a Pork Shoulder for Sliced BBQ
Don’t you mean pulled pork? No, I don’t.
Brisket is glorious. Hotlinks a treasure. And pulled pork is welcome on my plate any day, if you don’t have some dry-rubbed spare ribs on hand. But If there is a problem with the juicy, smoky, delicious world of barbecued meats it is that the choices can feel limited—four epic dishes. Is there anything more to choose from?
Well, yes, there are other dishes out there! BBQ lamb, for instance, or even goat! There are shredded chicken thighs and there is sliced pork butt. No not, pulled—and I didn’t just make this up! Sliced pork is the pig of choice for no less an iconic BBQ joint that Arthur Bryant’s in KC. And there are loads of reasons you should try it for your next ‘Q.
Get the tools for this cook here:
Sliced smoked pork shoulder
There are two main differences between sliced and pulled smoked pork shoulder: 1) tying and 2)temperature. Sliced BBQ pork is, in essence, a pork roast that you cook in the smoker. In order to be able to slice it, the pork butt must be deboned, and the raggedy, floppy result of that deboning is then tied to create a uniform, tightly packed piece of meat. This eliminates thin edges that will overcook and dry out while cooking and also makes a better package for slicing.
As for temperature, we’re going to aim lower than usual. For pulled pork, ThermoWorks recommends a pull-temperature of about 203°F (95°C). This temperature gives most of the collagen in the pork time to dissolve into delicious gelatin, breaking down the structure of the meat and eliminating any toughness along the way. Pulled pork famously falls apart. However, we will only cook smoke-roasted BBQ pork to 175°F (79°C). This is still hot enough for much of the collagen and connective tissues to break down, but not all of them, allowing some structure to remain that will hold the meat nicely together for slicing.
(For more on pork butt and its history and name, see our article on pork but in almost half the time, which goes into some detail on the subject.)
Slicing is a BBQ pork time-saver
This method of cooking pork butt is both delicious and a fun change of pace, but it can also save you a lot of time when you are in a hurry. We all know that cooking a big cut of meat on a smoker at 250°F (121°C), or even lower, takes a long time. Those last few degrees or internal doneness, especially, take what seems like forever. By shaving 28°F (16°C) off the back end of the cook, you can literally save yourself hours. Our cook took about 6½ hours total.
Sliced BBQ pork vs. pulled pork: is it good?
And how does sliced smoked pork stack up against the classic BBQ pulled pork? I can virtually guarantee you will not be disappointed! The texture is yielding and tender without being overly soft, and the way it works as either a hot or cold sandwich filler is a plus. Eat it as is, use it in a Cuban sandwich, or try a cold BBQ pork sandwich with homemade chili sauce.
Traditional pulled pork is always an adventure—waiting to see how the bark develops, how the muscle fibers soften, what the smoke is like. But if you want to mix things up a little, sliced smoked pork is one way to shake up your BBQ routine! With a lower critical temperature, verified by a Thermapen®, you save time and ensure you have meat that will be tender and done correctly every time. So slice up some pork butt and enjoy!
BBQ Sliced Pork Shoulder Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pork butt Boston butt, pork shoulder, deboned
- 3 Tbsp mustard
- 6 Tbsp BBQ rub
- ½–1 cup BBQ injection use your favorite
- ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ oz hot sauce
Instructions
- Heat your smoker to 250°F (121°C).
- Tie the butt at roughly 1” intervals to create a tight, uniform roast.
- Rub the roast all over with mustard. This acts as a binder for the rub and has little impact on the final flavor.
- Coat the roast in BBQ rub.
- Inject the pork butt with your favorite bbq injection.
- Combine vinegar and hot sauce in a spray bottle or a bowl for later application.
- Probe the roast with your Smoke's probe, or use RFX MEAT to track the temperature wirelessly on your phone.
- Set up your Smoke 2-channel Alarm Thermometer or your RFX MEAT with a high alarm at 175°F (79°C) for the meat probe. For the air probe, set the high alarm to 275°F (135°C) and the low alarm to 225°F (107°C).
- If you want a little freedom of movement while you cook, set up the Smoke Gateway and monitor the temps while you, say, attend a fruit tree grafting class.(*)
- Smoke-roast the pork butt for 2 hours.
- Spritz or brush the roast with the vinegar/hot sauce mixture, then apply another coat of rub.
- Continue to smoke.
- When your meat alarm sounds, check the temp with your Thermapen ONE to verify. If you see any internal temperatures below 175°F (79°C), continue to cook until it is done.
- When done, let the meat rest for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Or eat it cold by wrapping it loosely in foil and refrigerating it overnight to make for super easy slicing. After slicing, just reheat the slices in any juices that collect in the foil mixed with a little water. Mmmmmmmm…
- Serve on white bread with your favorite BBQ sauce, some good pickles, and white onion.
*This actually happened to me. I got the pork started a little too late in the day and had to leave for a class on grafting apple trees when the internal temp was only 163°F (73°C). So I hooked up the Gateway, set my alarms and texted a member of our outstanding customer care team when the meat came to temp. Result: Perfect pork!
This sounds GREAT! Pulled Pork gets old…often texture leftover can be mushy and rarely want to eat much after babysitting all day. Plus Im from KC and growing up never saw pulled pork but always bbq pork sandwiches…Cant wait to try! Thanks!!!
Hayduke,
I hope you like it as much as I did! it’s a great way to change it up. Maybe yours will be as good as Arthur Bryant’s?!?
I’ve been doing sliced Pork butt on Green Mountain smoker for years… love it ! Usually serve with mashed taters an gravy along with grilled veggies. Yum !
Pedro,
Sounds great! Do you use brown or cream gravy for that?
Usually brown gravy. Normally smoke 3-4 10 lb’ers an slice for Wed eve Church suppers.
Pedro,
Good to know!
Not necessarily so. I often take the 7 bone out and tie it but not so I get slices. There are plenty of large tubes that can be sliced and of course you have the money muscle that are there even if you don’t bone and tie. But certainly bone and tie will yield more slices, but even if you pull some of the shoulder you’ll still have plenty to slice if you pull/separate by hand.
I used this great recipe as a ‘suggestion’ and did it like this:
1) Soaked pork in 2Qts of water mixed with 1/3C of Kosher salt (1 Day)
2) Rinsed pork, deboned, tied up, and rubbed with McCormicks Applewood Rub, a 1/4tsp of Cumin, and some salt (drat forgot to use the mustard!)
3) Wrapped in plastic wrap and back in fridge (1 Day)
4) Put on Rotisserie, on gas grill, and dropped a Chunk of hickory between the flavorizer bars
5) Set temp at 250, and checked it 5 hours later when it was 178F (Thanks to Mk4 Thermapen)
6) Rested 30 minutes under foil, sliced, and received the “Best Pork you have ever done!” award from family members. (Grin!)
Bill,
Sounds great!
Don’t do pork shoulders like this but been doing pork loin this way for years. Love it!
I followed these directions and smoke it on Recteq 590. After 9 hours I was getting 150 internal temp. Couldn’t wait to reach 175. Took it out and it was really good and soft. But I wonder why after 9 hours I got only 150 internal temp. What I was doing wrong?
It is possible that your pork started its stall while the innermost part was at that low temperature. It would stay there for a long, long time if that were the case. Initial temp can have an effect, too. I’m not sure of anything else, but you might want to call our customer care team and ask for one of our culinary experts who can better diagnose the problem live over the phone. They’re great and very helpful.
Hey Martin, Dave from Western Canada here. Thanks for the coaching on the pork shoulder. We seasoned it with our own favourites – Blackened Saskatchewan from Traeger and Back Eddie’s which is a northern Canada origins combo – and put it on the Traeger monitored by the Smoke with WiFi. Put it on at 250 F, got the Smoke working on the Wifi, and then went out and played golf. Checked on it once on the golf course – it was 167 F and then finished the round. Left the golf course when the meat was at 173 F, and then 20 min later it was just a little over 175. Dropped the Traeger temp to 205 and left it there for a while. Cooked some asparagus on the Traeger and my wife had made an outstanding Orzo in the oven. Rested the meat for 30 min during the asparagus cook. Bottom line the pork was incredible. And what enormous value. The 6.5 lb roast was purchased at the Calgary Costco for about $21. You can’t beat this value. Thanks for this post on the blog – very helpful. I read the learning section faithfully and I think this is the best cooking blog on food that is out there. Great combination of food science, flavour and technology. Keep up the great work.
so if it stall at 150 and u want the mark of 175 cant u use foil and wrap it up for the next 175 deg. then
If you’re stalling at 150°F, yes, you could wrap to get up to temp, but the slower process gives it time to dissolve the collagen. That dissolution is a product of time as well as temperature.
Delicious recipe and friends and family loved it!!! I would absolutely make this again and I love the detailed steps and pictures. What size of meat did you use in this recipe? I smoked a 6lb pork shoulder but after 11hrs, it only reached 165 degrees. We pulled it off the smoker as it was getting late, but it turned out amazing!
I don’t remember now what size that one was, but I suspect it was on the order of 4-5 lb.
I love this recipe
Hi do you have a printable version of this recipe? I really want to try it!
I changed the format of the recipe so there is now a print button on it! Look at the recipe card box and you’ll find a print button where there was none before.
I bought a boneless 7 lb pork shoulder do I need to soak this before seasoning and what about the fat cap just score it or trim it down a little. Thanks
No, you don’t need to soak it, and the fatcap is a personal choice. I think scoring it and keeping it is a great idea!
Sadly I don’t have a smoker (family doesn’t care for the taste) I know, Get a new family.!!
So I’ve been using a 22qt electric roaster for about 10 years.
(We all prefer sliced to pulled.)
BUT, If that’s not bad enough…..
Myself, one of my daughters, and granddaughters are Nightshade intolerant.!!!
I’ve gotten pretty good at converting BBQ recipes to;
No Nightshades and so I usually serve Sweet Baby Rays BBQ and Honey Mustard Sauce on the side.
Finally to my Question ❓❓❓
Would you be interested in taking on the challenge of tweaking this recipe to eliminate all Nightshades. ❓❓❓❓
Oh, no problem! The only nightshades here might occur in the BBQ rub, possibly the injection, and the hot sauce. To get them out of the rub, get a good quality SPOGOS (salt, popper, onion, garlic, spices) that has no paprika. If you look for a white-colored rub, you’ll be on the right track. But if you can’t find one, mix equal parts by volume kosher salt and 16-mesh black pepper, then add about 1/16th part ground cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder. That’s a rough starting point—look in any good BBQ book for a rub recipe and omit the nightshades from it for something more exact.
The same goes for the injection—find a good one in a reputable book (Cool Smoke by Tuffy Stone comes to mind) and omit nightshades. Or try something like this: 2 C apple juice, 1 C water, 3/4 C apple cider vinegar, salt until it tastes “salted” but not briney. Mix to combine and dissolve the salt.
Then there is the hot sauce in the spritz. You can just omit it! If you want something that still has some flavor and bite to it, you might consider juicing some ginger and mixing that juice with your vinegar.
I hope that helps!