Ultra flavorful and tender, this Pork Shoulder is smoked low and slow, and creates the most amazing, melt in your mouth pulled pork! Perfect for any cookout or BBQ, complete with grill cooking instructions as well.
This Smoked Pork Shoulder recipe is one of those that I love to make for potlucks and bbq’s. We also love easy smoker recipes like my Smoked Chicken Wings and 3-2-1 Smoked Ribs. This is one of my Summer recipes I know you’ll want to keep on hand!
SMOKED PORK SHOULDER
If there’s one summertime food that I’m obsessed with, it’s barbecue! Smoked meats of all kinds, in any flavor. Just gimme that smoke ring!!
My husband is the master smoker in our household, but I like to throw my hat into the ring once in a while… it’s genuinely fun.
Smoked pork shoulder is a great crowd-pleaser, and it makes a TON. Once you shred all that mouthwatering pork, you have enough for sandwiches, potato toppers, mac and cheese toppers, and plenty left over to freeze.
There’s something about that succulent meat combined with the peppery bark-like crust that just makes me SO hungry. And now you don’t have to pay out the nose for a small portion from a bbq restaurant… you can make your own, pitmaster-worthy smoked pork shoulder, at home!
HOW TO MAKE A SMOKED PORK SHOULDER
- Prepare the smoker. Consult your smoker’s manual for how to best get your smoker ready. Fill baking dish or foil pan with water and set on one side of the smoker grate. This keeps the pork nice and moist.
- Rub the pork. Rub pork with olive oil. Combine rub seasonings and rub into pork on all sides.
- Fill spray bottle. Fill with a 1:1 ratio of apple juice and apple cider vinegar and set aside. You’ll be spritzing the pork every hour for the first 4 hours.
- Smoke pork. Add pork shoulder to smoker grate and smoke at 250°F for 4 hours. Each hour, open up the smoker and spritz pork.
- Wrap the pork. Spritz pork one more time, then wrap with foil or peach paper. Return to smoker and smoke at 225°F for approximately 4 more hours.
- Check temp. Pork should have an internal temperature of between 195-205°F.
- Let pork rest. Remove pork from smoker and keep pork wrapped while it rests for 20 minutes or up to 2 hours.
ADDITIONAL COOKING TIPS
If you’ve never smoked a pork shoulder before, don’t let it scare you. 90% of the time spent making it is hands off time, and I’ve detailed step by step instructions down below in the recipe card. Plus, here are a few extra tips.
COOK TO TEMPERATURE, NOT BY TIME
When smoking, you need to use the cook time, as a guideline, not an actual timer. SO many factors can go into a piece of meat taking longer to smoke, such as the meat itself, smoker variations, wind and outside temperature, and more.
The key to smoking is going low and slow and with plenty of patience. Instead of relying on time, you’ll want an internal thermometer. The internal temperature of the meat is what you’ll be using instead of time.
I’ve linked my favorites below, but don’t be thrown off thinking you’ll need to drop a bunch of cash. You can get a quality thermometer for not much more than a large pizza!
WATCH FOR THE STALL
If you have a thermometer that continually monitors the pork’s temperature, you’ll notice there will come a time where the internal temp is just. not. rising! That’s perfectly normal, and nothing to worry about.
It’s called the stall. This is where the temperature stops rising as the collagen in the meat breaks down. It can be frustrating, but all cuts of meat that take hours and hours to cook will have this. Brisket and pork shoulders are notorious for it.
Just keep smoking the pork, it will make it through this plateau, I promise!
TO WRAP, OR NOT TO WRAP
Some smoked pork recipes don’t call for the pork shoulder to be wrapped. I’ve made it both ways, and I prefer the wrapped version. The main reason is to push through the stall quicker.
Without being wrapped, the pork can take longer to finish cooking, as well as potentially losing juices during the longer cooking time. Wrapping the pork locks all that moisture in. This is sometimes referred to in BBQ circles as the “Texas crutch”, since it’s a crutch to get you over the stall hump.
VARIATIONS OF THIS RECIPE
- MUSTARD – I used olive oil to bind the rub to the pork shoulder in this recipe, but I’ve also made this using plain yellow mustard, like I do with my Crockpot Beef BBQ. It works just as well, and adds a little tang to the dish.
- BOURBON – Bourbon and pork are just perfect together! Try adding a little bourbon to the spritzing bottle and/or the baking dish of water.
- BBQ SAUCE – This pork is full of flavor… in fact, you may not need or want bbq sauce! But if you do, use either your favorite bottled variety, or try my Bourbon BBQ Sauce or Dr Pepper BBQ Sauce.
- LOW CARB – if you’re watching your carbs very carefully, you could swap the brown sugar with a sugar substitute, such as Swerve. Also, make sure you’re using apple juice that is 100% juice with no sugar added.
MAKING SMOKED PORK SHOULDER AHEAD OF TIME
As this pork takes a while to smoke, you kind of ARE making it ahead of time! But if you’re just going to be far too busy the day of, you can smoke your pork the day before.
Smoke as directed, let rest as directed, then shred. Let pork cool completely, then add to foil pans and cover tightly with foil. Refrigerate overnight.
To reheat, add foil pans to your smoker (at 225 F degrees), or an oven set to 225 F degrees, and let them gently reheat about 40-45 minutes, until hot.
STORAGE
Leftovers should be refrigerated in an airtight container and consumed within 4 days.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR THIS RECIPE
- Tongs – these tongs are durable and I love the longer one for grilling/smoking.
- Traeger Pro Series 34 – this is my exact smoker, and it’s amazing for so many things!
- Peach Paper – perfect for wrapping the pork up.
- Apple wood pellets – the same pellets I use.
- Internal Meat Thermometer – the key to great grilling/smoking is to use a meat thermometer! This one is inexpensive, accurate, and so quick! If you prefer a thermometer that stays in the meat and can alert you when the meat has reached a set temperature, try this ThermoPro!
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We like to serve this Smoked Pork Shoulder with:
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 8 lb bone-in pork shoulder these may also be labeled as pork butt
- olive oil
- water
DRY RUB
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 Tbsp black pepper coarsely ground
- 2 Tbsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp paprika
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp dried minced onions
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
SPRITZ
- 1/4 cup apple juice
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Instructions
PREPARE THE SMOKER
- Fill hopper of smoker with wood pellets, I usually use applewood, but pecan or cherry would work as well.
- Start smoker on the smoke setting for 5-10 minutes. Increase heat to 250 F degrees.
- Fill an 8x8" baking dish, or other baking dish with water and set aside to add later. I like to use a foil dish for this, since I won't care if it gets messed up.
PREPARE THE PORK SHOULDER
- Place all your seasonings (brown sugar, pepper, salt, paprika garlic, minced onion and cayenne) in a small bowl and stir with a fork to combine.
- Place your pork shoulder on a baking sheet and rub the entire shoulder down with olive oil. Sprinkle the seasonings over it and rub the seasonings into it (every inch of the shoulder should be covered). There's no better tool for this than your hands, so if you're squeamish about touching raw meat, use a pair of disposable gloves.
SMOKE THE PORK
- Add baking dish filled with water to smoker, on the grate on one side of the smoker.
- Fill a small spray bottle with the apple juice and apple cider vinegar and set aside. Every hour you're going to open up the smoker and completely spritz the pork shoulder.
- Place pork shoulder on the grate and close the lid. Keep the smoker temperature around 250-275 F degrees while smoking during these first several hours. Smoke for approximately 4 hours, spritzing with the spray bottle every hour.
- Check the internal temperature of the pork shoulder using a meat thermometer. By this time, the pork should be at LEAST 145 F degrees.
- Completely spritz the pork shoulder one more time and carefully wrap it in aluminum foil or peach paper.
- Place pork back into smoker and lower temperature to 225 F degrees. Smoke pork about another 4 hours, but do not spritz during this stage of cooking.
- Check the internal temperature of the pork shoulder using a meat thermometer. You're looking for your pork shoulder to be about 200 F degrees. 195-205 F degrees is a good range for making amazing pulled pork!
- Remove pork from smoker and let rest for at least 20 minutes, but up to 2 hours. Keep the pork wrapped up tight, and I like to add mine to either clean, empty cooler, or my oven (turned off).
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Chef Tips
- This recipe was made using a Traeger Wood Pellet Smoker. Other smoker types will work, but will vary in terms of the set up process. Consult your smoker's manual for how to prepare your brand of smoker.
- I do not have a charcoal smoker or grill and cannot offer solid advice on using those.
GAS GRILL INSTRUCTIONS
- Fill an aluminum foil pouch with soaked wood chips, seal and poke a few holes in it to allow the smoke to come out. Start grill on HIGH, lighting half of the burners of the grill.
- Place pouch of wood chips directly over the heat until you see smoke coming through the holes of the foil pouch. Do not light the other burners. The pork will go over the burners that aren't lit.
- Proceed with rubbing the pork, then keep grill around 250 F degrees and cook for 4 hours. Wrap and lower heat to about 225 F degrees and cook another 4 hours.
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Elise says
Fat side up or down?
The Chunky Chef says
I like to do fat side up, so the fat essentially bastes the meat as it cooks 🙂
Tricia says
I had to high-five my husband on this one, he does all of the outside grilling and smoking. He does not like pulled pork, but even he said this was fantastic. We did add hickory chips though.
Shun says
Excellent recipe! Just wanted to add that similar to searing steaks, wrapping the pork does not “lock in” juices. That’s a good myth. Protein contracts the higher temperature it reaches, squeezing juices out and making it unable to come back in. This is why when you boil anything it doesn’t stay juicy. Even if you sous vide something like chicken breast past 165 you will find it dry.
teresa says
Wow wow wow! We spent all day smoking this and it was definitely worth the wait! Your technique worked out perfectly for us, thank you for posting this! I’m already looking forward to making this again!
Ted says
I just finished shredding the pork shoulder and in fridge for get together tomorrow. I followed to the T. I did this on a charcoal Grill Master smoker. I left the first round on until about 160 degrees only so I’d have a good bark. The smoke ring was beautiful. It is so tender and I’m sure it will be a hit tomorrow. Thanks for an awesome recipe!
Drew says
This recipe created – hands down – the best bark and flavor I have gotten out of a pork butt yet! Awesome recipe! We did not wrap it because we had all sorts of time and I didn’t want to risk messing up the bark, thank you for posting it!
Dale Markling says
This was my first time smoking a pork shoulder. Our friends all raved about the pork shoulder. It turned out delicious. Will definitely use this recipe for the next one and there will be another one.
Thanks
Mark Long says
I made this today and it was absolutely wonderful! I used a 5.5# pork shoulder on a Pit Boss. I made just as described, and rubbed the entire roast with all of the rub mix. I served over corn cakes am with cole slaw, cotija cheese, and salsa verde.
Bruce Armstrong says
Going to use your recipe for cooking a 10 pound pork shoulder tomorrow. Should be absolutely fabulously great.
Lydia O says
I have a 3.45lb pork shoulder roast. How long for smoking the first part and then smoking the second time after wrapping with foil? Since your recipe is for 8 lb I would think it wouldn’t need as long.
The Chunky Chef says
Without testing, I can’t say for sure, but your best bet would be to follow the internal temperature guidelines in the recipe (at least 145°F after the first part of smoking, and 195-205°F when finished).
Becky O. says
This is probably a very dumb question, but AFTER the pork is wrapped and returned to the smoker, are you actually SMOKING the meat at this point? I’m wondering if instead, I could wrap it in foil and finish it in my oven at a low temp? My smoker is a vertical electric one, and it’s finicky when it comes to maintaining the proper temperature. Finishing it in the oven would be simpler, but I also don’t want to forego any good smoke flavor. Thoughts?
The Chunky Chef says
Not a dumb question at all! A good portion of the smoke flavor is imparted during the first 4 hours of smoking, so if you’re concerned about being able to maintain temperature, I think you’d be okay transferring it the oven at that point 🙂
Kyle says
This looks amazing. If I do the slow cooker method, is the water plain or could you use the brine mixture to cook it in?
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Kyle, this recipe doesn’t have a slow cooker method, were you thinking of another pork recipe?
Norm Maw says
It looks like a good chance of success with this one.
Donald Wilson says
When you do your pork butt do you leave it out to get room temperature or do you take it right from the refrigerator to the smoker. I’ve seen it done both ways it just was not mentioned in the recipe. Thank you
The Chunky Chef says
You can do it either way 🙂 Normally I just let it sit out while I prep the dry rub, get the smoker started, etc.
Cobia says
Great job with your detailed tutoring on one of your favorite recipes! I used smoked paprika, added a bunch of dried Hatch green chili flakes (because I’m making pork green chili) and probably 3X garlic because my wife is secretly a vampire. Your presentation, details and overall comfort for folks doing what might seem to them a daunting task is remarkable. But honestly…. you had me at the “Chunky Chef” title. I mean… how can this be anything less than checking it out? Thanks Amanda!
Cobia says
Oh, sorry about neglecting specifics. Electric smoker at 7200 ft. elevation. 9# B/I pork shoulder, set at 250 F. Put smoker out in the middle of the driveway with 65 F. outside temp and 10 mph winds. Smoked as per your recommendations on top rack for 10 hours until internal temp hit 195. Dracula and grandkids loved it!!! Pork green chili in stockpot for community pot luck in 2 days is next on my schedule.
Chris says
9 pound shoulder been on since 4:30 am took it off at 2pm still covered in foil should have started it at midnight but we will see very excited
Bob K. says
Made this 4 times in an electric wood chip smoker. Comes out excellent each time. Don’t have the exact seasonings but use something similar. (Like granulated onion in places of the onion flakes)
Kevin says
Just wonderful! Wife said it was her favorite thing I’ve made so far. ‘Nuff said. And I’m no master smoker either. Made this with a 5.5lb’er on a Recteq Bullseye with hickory pellets. Took about 6 hours, 3 wrapped. Amazing. The only thing I changed was using smoked paprika instead of regular. Thanks for this recipe!
Dandy Don says
Did my first ever smoking of a pork butt a couple of weeks ago. Absolutely incredible. Tender and flavorful. Crust was heavenly. Got everything laid out tonight for an early start tomorrow on my 2nd one. Thanks for the great recipe as I am NOT a chef!
Russ says
Excellent recipe and wows every time. Next time I will try it with the mustard variation.