Pulled Pork Sandwiches Recipe
The Best Pulled Pork
Pulled pork is one of those classic BBQ meals which offers amazing flavor and will put a smile on everyone's faces as they feast on the results of your hard work. In this smoked pulled pork recipe from Jabin at Postal Barbecue, we will show you have to make delicious pulled pork using our Slow 'N Sear® Kettle Grill, Drip 'N Griddle Pan - Deluxe and SnS-100 Instant Read Thermometer.
Pulled Pork Sandwich Ingredients
- 1 Pork Butt (ours started around 11 lbs and ended at 9 lbs after being trimmed)
- Kosher Salt
- Rocky’s Rub
- Prepared Coleslaw
- BBQ Sauce (Sweet Baby Rays “Original” with added apple cider vinegar to taste)
- Sliced Dill Pickles
Homemade BBQ Rub for Pulled Pork
- 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup paprika
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 1/4 cup garlic powder
- 2 tbsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp ginger powder
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- 2 tsp rosemary powder
Coleslaw Dressing for Pulled Pork Sandwiches
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp white sugar
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika (or to taste)
How to Prep Pork Butt
Trim Pork Butt
To prepare your pork butt for smoking, there isn’t usually much that needs to be done. To start, you will want to look over your pork butt and trim off any unwanted exterior fat.
Brine Pork Butt
Once it has been trimmed up, it is recommended to dry brine your pork because it is such a large cut of meat. To do this, apply kosher salt to the outside of the pork butt and place it back into the fridge for overnight or even up to 48 hours in advance to cooking.
Pork Butt Seasoning
Once the pork butt has been dry brined, remove it from the fridge and apply a thin layer of olive oil as a binder to the outside. Next, apply a generous layer of our Rocky’s Rub or homemade rub of your choice. After your pork butt has been seasoned let it hang out for a few minutes while you set up the Slow ’N Sear® Kettle. Click here to see how to set it up for low and slow cooking.
How to Cook Pulled Pork
Grill Temperature of Pork Butt
With our grill temperature locked into between 225ºF-250ºF, place the prepared pork butt onto the grill opposite the coals and put in a leave-in remote thermometer to begin monitoring the internal temperature of the pork butt as it cooks.
How to Get Bark on Pork Butt
Next, close the lid and begin smoking your pork butt. After 4 hours, open the grill and check the progress, but not just of your pork. It won’t be near ready! But you will want to start monitoring the exterior for bark formation. As the bark starts to form you will notice that the meat will start to sweat a little bit, at this point you can slowly increase your grill temperatures up to 275º to help form a nice bark. It is important that the bark forms well and doesn’t scratch off - you want it fully adhered to the meat.
Pork Butt Internal Temperature
After around 7 hours, the bark on our pork butt was fully set and we had an internal temperature of around 160ºF. With the bark set, tightly wrap your pork butt with a double layer of aluminum foil and place it back on the grill. At this point you will continue cooking until you have an internal temperature between 200ºF-205ºF (or probe tender). Once your pork butt is probe tender, remove it from the grill and place it in a cooler, wrapped in a towel to rest for 2 hours.
Assemble Pulled Pork Sandwich
After 2 hours of resting, remove the pork butt from the cooler and pull it all apart. This will be really easy to do (especially if you're using our Marvelous Meat Claws), and the flavor results will be incredible! Once it’s pulled, build your pulled pork sandwiches the way you like and enjoy your hard work.
