Boston Butt Pulled Pork

Some recipes don’t lend themselves to small cuts. A really good Slow Roast is for sharing. The more guests, the bigger the piece, the better the end result. There is something so much fun about a lovely piece of meat cooking on the BBQ, as we wait and anticipate with friends and family. So, Coleslaw ready, condiments ready, buns ready, and a very cold bottle open. I can already taste my Pulled Pork Sandwich.

Ingredients - serves 8-12 
2.5kg - 3kg boston butt – boneless and skinless, but keep the fat
8 hickory wood chunks – I like hickory, but choose your own wood

1tbsp brown sugar
1tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½tsp ground cumin
1 clove garlic (crushed) or ½tsp garlic powder
330ml Cider

Method

Set the barbecue for indirect cooking to 135˚. You will be cooking for between 4-6 hours.

In a clean bowl, mix all of the rub ingredients together. Put the pork in a large roasting dish, suitable for your barbecue. A purpose made ‘dutch oven’ is perfect for this, but a tin roasting dish is also suitable. Rub the pork all over with the dry ingredients.

Add the wood chunks to the charcoal on the barbecue. The wood will smoke and infuse the pork for about an hour. Pour the cider into the pan with the pork and put the meat onto the barbecue. Pull the lid over the barbecue and leave it to cook for an hour. Baste the pork once during this time.

After an hour, baste the pork with the liquid from the pan. If your pan has a lid, cover it. If not, cover the meat dish with foil. On this occasion, we want a tight fitting cover, so maybe two sheets of foil. Return the meat to the barbecue and cook for another 4 hours.

The key here, is that the pork must reach 95˚ at core temperature. It might be done in 3 hours, it might take 6 hours. Use your probe to check the temperature after 3 hours and then check every 30 minutes after that.

When you are happy that your boston butt is cooked, remove the pan from the barbecue to a stable base. The pan will be full of juices. I recommend that you leave them all in the pan, but if you want to remove some of the liquid fat, you can. Pull the pork apart using two forks. It should have a shredded appearance. Mix the meat with the juices in the pan, and you’re good to go.

Serve the pork in a brioche burger bun with a good helping of Tubby Tom’s BBQ Sauce and a huge dollop of Coleslaw.