How to make pulled pork. A classic low and slow.

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read my tutorial.

Pulled pork, along with brisket, ribs and whole hog are the cornerstones of low and slow BBQ. Once you make your own pulled pork sandwich you will never visit another BBQ joint again. During this tutorial I will be using a KomodoKamado ceramic cooker however it can be easily adapted to any cooker that burns charcoal such as a Weber kettle grill, Big Green Egg etc.

True BBQ does not use propane or natural gas so I do not recommend using a gas grill.

Be sure to invite some friends over too. Typically pork shoulders will average 8lbs. If you're going to go through all this trouble you may as well do two or three butts. More than 20lbs of butts cost me less than $40 so its definitely an economical choice. If I'm having a large party its always pulled pork and everyone looks forward to it.

If you enjoy this tutorial please vote for me.

Step 1: Need to make a rub

For great BBQ you need a great rub. Literally thousands can be found on the net so pick one that looks appealing. I found this one years ago. I'm not sure where its from but I did not come up with it so I do not take credit for it. It's a great all purpose rub.

1C sugar
1/4C seasoned salt
1/4C garlic salt
1/4C celery salt
1/4C onion salt
1/2C paprika
3 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tbsp lemon pepper
2 Tsp ground sage
1 Tsp dry mustard
1/2 Tsp ground thyme
1/2 Tsp cayenne

Mix into a bowl and store in a jar with a tight fitting lid. It makes a lot of rub but it will keep for several months

This is a lot of ingredients to buy so if you prefer, you can use store bought BBQ rub but it won't be as good.

Comments

[H2OIT]

I'm starving now!

[john12692]

finally someone else that has a kamado! i have 2 just because they are so awesome (and i think one was a gift or a prize and they didnt want it) btw big green egg is a spin-off of kamado (the founder of kamado went overseas in the military to japan i believe and saw their rice cookers, brought a couple back changed the ceramic formula so they could take higher temps and the design so they would be more convenient (hinging lid instead of having to remove the top half) then he needed money so he sold that design to egg they changed it slightly and started producing the eggs while kamado continued to revise their designs and produce the modern day kamado)

[fetzervalve]

Look again John, it's a KOmodo Kamado - way different than what you have.

[imboox2]

My idea of how it should be done is...make it the way YOU like it. Forget what everybody else says is the best way. I've had it varying ways and they all are good to me. Personally though, I'd do it the way you did. I've gotten rub from different places. Of the first couple we tried I liked Corky's rub, my wife likes their competition, Rendezvous better. Anything we make made with them or other rubs surely won't go to waste, I just have my preference, she has hers. She was born in Tennessee and grew up in Georgia near Atlanta. I'm from Michigan. Our tastes are just different. Our friends north and south vary what they like best, too.

[static]

Good instructable, but there are as many ways o do this as there are people trying it. Doing it a bit different each time until they hit on what works for them. We have a Traeger http://www.traegergrills.com/ grill in the family. Their seasonings work well, so that;s what we use, even if I'm using the Kitchen range oven Yup gas, but I just call it pulled pork not BBQ. Anyway the real purists did a hole in the pasture to roast a whole hog. Yum. :)

[trudeto]

resistance is futile....... We are Borg......

[the pvc bike guy]

Were did you get the Smoker/BBQ grill? it looks great I do smoking and I'd like to see the temp with out opening it all the time.

[redheadgiant]

I think that's the "bone dust rub" from a man by the name of Ted Reader He has literally hundreds of amazing BBQing tips and tricks. He also is a fan of rubs. If you want to try different flavoured rubs, my personal favourites with pork are his "sweet maple" rub and "garlic inferno" rub. Definitely check them out!

[glohstr]

Thank you cruzmisl for the time you took to put this instructable together. I made this according to your instructions and my family thought it was the best thing I ever made on the grill. (I have a 55 gallon drum grill.) The pulled pork was well worth the time it took to cook. Great job!

[cruzmisl]

My pleasure! The fact that you and your family enjoyed it made the effort worthwhile :-)

[fetzervalve]

Awesome, thanks. I have to ask, what kind of grill is that?? ;-)

[jeff-o]

I'd also like to know more about that BBQ of yours. It looks like a beast!

[fungus amungus]

You can see the name there. It's Kamado.

[cruzmisl]

Actually fungus thats a competitor. Mine is a http://www.komodokamado.com/KomodoKamadoNew/

I owned that one before the one I currently own and it wasn't nearly as well built.

[fungus amungus]

Ahhh. Looks like some people are being tricky with names.

[LVLaserTech]

It's much, much more than just being tricky with names. That company used to be a contract manufacturer for Kamado and had absolutely nothing to do with making them until they were taught how to make them, then ripped them off. If this was Engadget, it would be an entry into the Keepin' It Real Fake category.

[tucker46]

LVLaserTech: Simply: You are wrong.

[fetzervalve]

Looks like someone needs a history lesson.
Very briefly; when Richard Johnson (the maker of the "Kamado" brand) left Indonesia in the middle of the night, and left a bunch of people out of work, Dennis Linkletter, owner of a flooring business in Indo heard about it. He looked into things found all the shortcommings of the Kamado brand (there were many) He made a completely new cooker with none of the flaws of the Kamado. He named his company, and his original design cooker the KOmodo Kamado. Dennis has patents pending for several of the elements of the KK.
If you are interested in what the Kamado company is up to these days you can find details here. http://tinyurl.com/ph7n7

[dasp]

The KOmodo Kamado was NEVER a contractor for the Kamado company. I owed 2 Kamados. My first one was made of cement and ground lava rock. It cracked and fell apart. After much BS from the Kamado company I finally received a replacement made of cement. I sold it and purchased a KOmado Kamado which is made much better and a HUGE IMPROVEMENT.

[KomodoKamadoCom]

I am the builder/owner of Komodo Kamado and have NEVER done ANY business with Richard Johnson builder of Kamado. I hired some his abandoned employees 6 years ago, I believe only one of them still work with me. All of the unique features of my Komodos now have full patent status. Dennis Linkletter "Kamado" is the Japanese name for an earthenware cooking vessel. There are many Kamados sold i.e. Imperial Kamado and Primo Kamado to name two.

[Phoghat]

" True BBQ does not use propane or natural gas so I do not recommend using a gas grill. Remember Hank Hill says: "Taste the meat, not the heat".

[professorred]

but he sells propane.... now my brain hurts.

[vandal1138]

looks like an evil steam powered robot coming to destroy your house and leave tasty treats

[adamvan2000]

Cylon-BBQ's of the world, unite! :OP ~adamvan2000

[cruzmisl]

HAHA, thats funny.

[professorred]

Now I am scared and hungry.

[kurt.devlin]

What equipment do you have from BBQ Guru? Is it just monitoring temp or is it flu control too? I looked at their site and some of their stuff is more expensive than my grill/smoker (CharGriller Duo with Side Fire Box).

[cruzmisl]

I have the DigiQII. Its essentially a fan that blows when the temperature is low. Once it's stabilized the fan will "puff" air onto the cooker yielding rock steady temperatures. It has many other features though. You have to limit the amount of airflow though so the cooker is almost entirely closed tight. My top damper is open maybe 1/4 turn.

[JVC-Force]

NICE!

[allanthal]

You folks must be from up north. Let me offer a few tips learnt by and passed down my family in more than 300 years of barbecue cooking in Georgia. First, wrap the butt in foil for the last six or seven hours of cooking. When the butt has cooled, break into muscle groups. Take a sharp knife and scrape the membrane off individual muscle groups. The putt the de-membraned muscle groups into a big pan and pull it by using a fork in each hand. Put the two forks into a muscle group and then pull your hands apart. Do this with each small piece until it gets to the size and consistency uyou desire.

[Phoghat]

Y'all got a good down home sauce recipe?

[SinAmos]

It's on. I just need the cooker.;(

[kerns]

Make your own - lots of instructions all over the web, but take a look here http://www.naffziger.net/blog/2008/07/05/the-alton-brown-flower-pot-smoker/ for one writeup. Simple, and can be done for small money!

[Archergal52]

Wow, that's interesting and reasonably do-able. I guess you have to use an electric burner for a flower pot cooker though, yes? Doesn't the grease fall down on it? Do you get grease fires?

[kerns]

Yep, for the flower pot smoker you really want an electric burner. Though you *could* use coals (maybe on top of trimmed-to-fit fire bricks) you'd have to continually open the cooker and lift out the grate to add fuel. That'd wreck the "low and slow" process.
I have a Big Green Egg kamado-style cooker and itt's fantastic for low and slow cooking. But BGE's are built to allow for messing with charcoal or hardwood fuel during a long cook. .

[doc_howell]

195F sounds awful high. 160F actually sounds like a good landing temp, and I believe it's a safe temp. Why so high?

[cruzmisl]

Bringing the temp up to 160f is certainly "safe" to eat. Its not high enough to break down the connective tissue and fat which is what makes the resulting meat "melt in your mouth". I am a medium rare steak lover and I too was astounded when I first brought a hunk of beast to this temperature. Trust me, its exactly where it needs to be. At 160f you won't be able to pull it.

[doc_howell]

Haa...yes. Where's my brain?

[happyman]

Love it. I did my first pulled pork a few weeks ago. I also read that if you take it to between 200 and 205 degrees it will dissolve all connective tissue and make it sweeter and tastier.

[branonls]

Taking a pork butt much past 200 can leave the meat very mushy. You still want it to have a firm texture that melts in your mouth. There are things in the pork butt that will never dissolve no matter how long you cook it.