Pulled Pork starts with pork shoulder smokedPork shoulder smoked.. You have to have serious issues if you don't like this stuff. Using one of the most inexpensive cuts of Sir Swine, you can have an epic bbq experience.
OK, enough with the queer over the top language. Let's get started. As I said pulled pork starts with the pork shoulder smoked. You can use a whole shoulder, #403 or #404 on the National Association of Meat Purveyors (NAMP) guide, or, since these are pretty large cuts (12# or so) or go with a half piece. The half cuts are called the Picnic (#405 NAMP), cut lower on the front leg of the piggy, or the Boston Butt (#406 Namp) I prefer the Boston Butt. You really don't need to remember these numbers just remember two things: #1 Ask your butcher, or look for a bone-in picnic or butt as this will be way juicier and more flavorful. #2 Make sure that your shoulder is skinned. Pork skin can be a beautiful thing- think pork rinds or chicharrones- but this method of cooking pork needs to have the skin removed so you can expose the meat to enough bbq rub. Once you have your meat, it's very simple. Coat the meat with plenty of rub- I mean go wild. Like the
Beef Brisket
this is a large hunk of meat with plenty of internal area. You can't add too much rub. Now you need to smoke this hunk of pig love over indirect heat- whether you are using a Weber kettle or the very versatile and effective Weber 2820 Smokey Mountain Cooker/Smoker Apple is a bit too mild for this piece of pork but works great on spareribs. How long? I have seen recipes calling for 8-10 hours. This depends on the actual piece or shoulder as some can be more or less tender depending on the animal and how it has been treated during slaughter, but I have never cooked a bbq pork shoulder smoked less than 12-14 hours, and 18 is my norm for a 200 degree smoke. You'd like to smoke it until it falls apart when you stare at it.OK, maybe that's too much, but you get my drift. Now for pulled pork, you pull it. Use heavy rubber gloves- I bought some of those chemical-use gloves and they work great. Or, you can use tongs. If you don't want to go the bbq route, this method of cooking pork shoulder yields dynamite carnitas. Simply pull the meat and crisp it up a bit more in the frying pan. Serve it with corn tortillas and pico de gallo. Que rico!But whatever way you go, pork shoulder is the easiest and most forgiving way to make authentic bbq and truly a great way of cooking pork!  Custom Search Return from the pork shoulder smoked page to the BBQ Recipes for Foodies home page
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aka the Weber bullet. Low direct heat using hardwood- my preference for pork is hickory, but oak and pecan work great as well, will give you pork nirvana. 
