Southern Succor Rub Ingredients:

  • 1/4 C Fresh Ground Black Pepper
  • 1/4 C Paprika
  • 1/4 C Turbinado Sugar
  • 2 T Kosher/Sea Salt
  • 2 t Dry Mustard
  • 1 t Cayenne

Smokin' Okie's Pulled Pork Basting & Serving Sauce Ingredients

  • 4 C Apple Juice
  • 1/2 C Worcestershire Sauce
  • 4 T Cider Vinegar
  • 2 T Dry Mustard
  • 4 T Brown Sugar
  • 3 Bay leaf
  • 6 Cloves Garlic
  • 2 t Ground Ginger
  • 1 t Cayenne
  • 1/2 t Ground Cloves

Meat Ingredients:

  • 6 - 8 lb Boston Butt (Bone-in)

Cooking Instructions:

  1. 4 to 12 hours before cooking mix together all rub ingredients in a bowl
  2. Massage the pork well with about half of the rub
  3. Wrap with saran wrap or aluminum foil and place back in the refrigerator for 4 to 12 hours
  4. Remove the pork from the refrigerator and place more rub on the pork
  5. Place in smoker at 225 degrees, fat cap up
  6. Depending on the type of smoker you have, you may want to mop the pork every few hours using the Basting & Serving Sauce (I generally don't since my smoker holds in the moisture very well)
  7. Check the pork at about 190 degrees, if the bone can be pulled out with out force, it should be ready, if not let it go to 195
  8. Let rest for about 30 minutes, and then start pulling with your fingers
  9. Serve with buns, I prefer some good buns from the baking department, and the Smokin' Okie's Pulled Pork Basting & Service Sauce (or a BBQ Sauce)

Smokin Okie's Pulled Pork Basting and Service Sauce Instructions:

  • Mix all ingredients in a non-reactive pan and bring to a boil
  • Reduce and simmer for 15 minutes
  • Serve immediately or let cool and place in refrigerator, should be good for at least a month

 Pictures:

This is absolutely the best recipe for pulled pork that I have ever tried.  I actually did 2 Boston Butts with this recipe that had a total weight of about 19.25 lbs.  Total time in the smoker ended up being right around 23 hours.  The Southern Succor Rub comes from the book Smoke & Spice, which contains a lot of good recipes and everyone should own a copy of this book.  I found the recipe for the Smokin' Okie's Pulled Pork Basting & Serving Sauces inside the Cookshack Forums.  This forum is generally a collection of Cookshack smoker owners sharing recipes and techniques to help each other out.

When doing pulled pork, a lot of people like to lay on a layer of mustard before putting the rub on the pork.  I have not tried this yet, but am thinking about doing it one of these weekends.  The mustard actually does not add flavor to the meat, but just helps to get the rub ingredients to stick better. 

When it comes to mopping the pork during cooking, it really comes down to the type of smoker you have.  Most smokers generally do not hold in the moisture as well as the Cookshack smokers do, so you may want to.  The reason I don't besides not needing it, every time you open the door to the smoker you are letting the heat out, causing an increase in cooking time.

Cooking times vary for all types of smokers and every piece of meat is different, this time it took  me 23 hours to cook.  Generally plan on about 1 1/2 hours to get the pork done.  If serving immediately for a party, I generally plan on the pork to be done about 4 hours before the party to get me a little bit of extra time in case it takes longer than planned.  Once done, I will double wrap in aluminum foil, wrap in a towel, and then place in a cooler till I am ready to start pulling the meat.  I have kept pulled pork and brisket in a cooler for about 4 hours before and it still comes out just like it was when removed from the smoker.

People that are new to this recipe, often ask what is Turbinado Sugar.  It is a raw sugar that has been steam-cleaned and the crystals are coarse and blond in color.  The sugar has a delicate molasses flavor to it.

When storing the left overs, mix the meat  and serving in a freezer bag (I recommend the vacuum seal bags) and freeze.  Then when you are ready to eat more, you can let it thaw out, or if you used a vacuum seal bag, you can boil the bag in some water to get it ready to cook.  When I make pulled pork for parties, I generally cook it a week or two in advance and freeze using this method.  Then when the party comes up, I will thaw out the meat in the refrigerator and place the meat and sauce in a crockpot with more the of the service sauce.  Once warm it is ready.  I actually think that the pulled pork is better when doing this, the flavors come out more and the flavors of the sauce have made their way into the meat.