First smoked pulled pork -tips please

[DrPips]

hi all, going to do my first smoked pulled pork tomorrow. I’ve done it before in the oven low and slow but this will be my first go at smoking on the grill.

I’d love to hear your guys advice on the best way. In the oven I wrapped it from the start with a basic sugar salt paprika rub. Obviously I wouldn’t wrap on the smoker.

It’s a 5lb piece of meat and I have no time constraints. I’m cooking in advance of our camping trip on Wednesday. Should I trim any of the fat? The butcher scored it for me already.

Thanks,
Dom

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Any time I've done pulled pork, I just threw it on with out touching the meat with a knife... But Bear has a nice step by step

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/boston-butt-pulled-pork-step-by-step.140055/

I've already converted to Bearcarverism.

https://www.smoking-meat.com/august-21-2014-how-to-make-smoked-pulled-pork

Also this. But basically 225 until it hits 205. It'll take a while. I did an 8.3 and it took nearly 14 hours. I wish I had my Amazen Pellet Tray for doing it. Promptly after doing it, I went and got an amazen pellet tray!

But people with more knowledge will surely respond with better advice! I just start getting into smoking foods properly because I retired my junk brinkmann and got a MES.

 

[Smiller15]

I probably would recommend trimming some of the fat down to around 1/4 of an inch. There's still plenty of fat in the pork to give it nice flavor and trimming the excess on the bottom prevents you from getting pure fat pieces when you go to cut the meat.

Prepare to take about 2 hours per pound for the smoked pork. Apply the rub a few hours before and wrap it overnight in the refrigerator. It's a very forgiving type of meat so you should be able to get pretty good results out of it.

 

[WaterRat]

I would trim it (looks like the skin too not just fat?). The way I look at is the fat is going to go somewhere: either trimmed off and into the trash, or it's going to melt and go all over the inside of my smoker. I'll choose option #1. You don't need to trim it all the way off just cut it down, yours is looking very thick in some spots.

 

[DrPips]

Thanks for that. You say trimming the excess on the bottom, does that mean I should smoke it fat side down?

 

[Smiller15]

I usually always do fat side up, but I've read on here that the end result usually makes no difference at all.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Definitely do it fat side down so when you go to remove it, its not the meat sticking.

 

[Smiller15]

Definitely do it fat side down so when you go to remove it, its not the meat sticking.

Would that make a difference if the grates were oiled prior to smoking?

 

[DrPips]

And if I take the skin off I can make pork scratchings well!!

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Would that make a difference if the grates were oiled prior to smoking?

It does. I forgot which side was which when I did my first pork butt on my MES and had it fat side up. Some of the bark adhered and strips of meat got stuck. Fortunately me and my dog were only to glad to pull them off the grate for testing!

 

[Smoke23]

I don’t think it really matters fat side up or down. I do it fat side down do act as a kinda heat deflector. But again, a butt is so forgiving I don’t think it matters much. More of a personal preference I guess.

 

[eberleb]

Anyone have a minimum time it needs to rest once it hits 200?