Smoked Pork Butt on a Stick

Smoking-Meat.com is supported by its readers. We may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you if you buy through a link on this page.

I love eating food from a stick.. popsicles, kabobs, corndogs, you name it, that's just my kind of thing. Smoked pork butt on a stick is right down my alley and I think you'll like it as well. This also serves as a great appetizer to keep folks occupied and happy while the main course is on the smoker.

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 2 hours
Smoker temperature: 240°F
Meat Finish temperature: 180°F
Recommended wood: Pecan, any fruit wood

• 1 pork butt or several pounds of pork steaks
• Skewers, wooden about 12 inches long
• Jeff's original rub
• Jeff's barbecue sauce

For this recipe I purchased a whole boneless pork butt but after having sliced it up myself, I highly recommend that you just buy a package or two of pork steaks to make it a lot easier. I do not mind slicing them up, but I am all about convenience.

If you do decide to use a pork butt, I recommend some freezer time for the butt to stiffen it up a little bit. You don't want it frozen but just at that point where it's solid enough to cut good slices.

A meat slicer would also work well for this if you have one or have access to one.

Remove as much of the fat on the outside as you can, you don't need the fat cap for these. Use a sharp knife and you don't have to spend a lot of time with it. Just remove what you can and move along.

Cut the pork butt into ¼ inch slices then into strips that are about 2 inches wide. If you are using pork steaks, you can probably get 2 to 3 strips from each steak.

Layer the strips of meat into a bowl and sprinkle my original rub  onto each layer. The rub will draw some of the moisture out of the meat and it will become a thick marinade that will flavor the strips of pork very deeply.

Once all of the meat is layered into the bowl, sprinkle some extra original rub  on top and cover the bowl.

Place the bowl in the fridge overnight to marinate.

Here's what it looked like in about an  hour:

Note, you can also use a zip top bag if that is more convenient. Place all of the meat into the bag and then pour enough rub into the bag to coat the meat really well. ½ cup is probably enough but you will have to make sure that all of the meat is coated well.

Massage the closed bag to combine the meat and the rub then place in the fridge overnight.

Do not rinse the meat when it is finished marinating.

Use long wooden skewers that are about 12-inches long if possible

Push the skewer through the meat making sure to keep it inside the meat if possible. If it seems to be hard to push through, try twisting the skewer as you push.

As the sticks are loaded, place them into a pan with a rack, Weber grill pan or just a basic cooling rack with room between each one so the smoke and heat can have ample access.

All four racks loaded with goodness. I could have crowded them and gotten more on each rack but I chose to give them a little more space for smoke and heat.

Setup your smoker for cooking at about 225-240°F for about 2 hours and apply smoke for at least 1 hour. I used peach wood but any fruit wood will work great. You can also use whatever smoking wood you have available if you are limited and it will still be very good.

If your smoker has a water pan, fill it ¾ full with water to create a nice humid environment inside the smoker to reduce drying.

As with most of the recipes on this website, this is a great recipe for almost any smoker or grill as long as you can maintain an ample smoking temperature and provide some smoke.

Over the last year or two I have become extremely partial to pellet grills as they are just so versatile, easy to use and it's really nice knowing that you are cooking over real wood!

I particularly enjoy using the Camp Chef Woodwind as it has some extra features that many of the others at the same price point do not have such as easy ash cleanout, hopper cleanout chute, and the optional sear box which can reach temperatures as high as 900°F when you really need to put a sear on something.

Place the skewers directly on oiled smoker racks or you can use the Bradley racks if you have them.

Once the meat reaches about 170°F, coat both sides with my barbecue sauce . It is ok to crank up the heat at this point if your smoker has this ability. I used a propane smoker for this session and turned the control knob to high to help caramelize the sauce and to get a little charring on the outside.

You could also transfer them to a hot grill for this operation. If using this option, let the meat reach 180°F in the smoker before removing them to the grill and adding sauce and high heat.

Note: If you plan to use the grill to finish the meat, you will want to soak the skewers in water for a few hours before loading them with meat. This will help to prevent them from catching fire in the high heat. You should also keep a spray bottle of water close by the grill to extinguish any unexpected flare ups.

Note: If you have a Camp Chef Woodwind and you are using the attached searbox, you can leave the wooden stick ends hanging off the edge of the sear grate for this searing/caramelizing part of the cook.

The time that these take to finish will vary depending upon several factors:

• Meat thickness
• How cold the meat is when it goes into the smoker
• How often the smoker lid or door is opened.
• Smoker temperature
• Your smoker's ability to recover from heat loss
• Ambient temperature

Use an instant-read thermometer such as the thermapen to check the temperature of the meat. I would expect these to take about 2 hours to reach 180°F at 225-240°F.

If they seem to be drying out and/or if you are not able to use a water pan in your smoker, the skewers of meat could be placed into a large roasting pan and covered in foil to finish once they get about 1 hour of good smoke.

Let folks start grabbing these as soon as they are finished and while they are really hot and delicious. Be sure to provide some of my barbecue sauce on the side for those who like to dip. I found that I did not need sauce after the fact as there was plenty caramelized onto the meat.

Printable Recipe

Print Recipe Rate this Recipe

No ratings yet

Smoked Pork Butt on a Stick

I love eating food from a stick.. popsicles, kabobs, corndogs, you name it, that’s just my kind of thing. Smoked pork butt on a stick is right down my alley and I think you’ll like it as well.

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time2 hours hrs

Total Time2 hours hrs 25 minutes mins

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 pork butt or several pounds of pork steaks
• ▢ Skewers (wooden about 12 inches long)
• ▢ Jeff's original rub
• ▢ Jeff's barbecue sauce

Instructions

Step 1: What to Buy

• For this recipe I purchased a whole boneless pork butt but after having sliced it up myself, I highly recommend that you just buy a package or two of pork steaks to make it a lot easier. I do not mind slicing it up, but I am all about convenience.
• If you do decide to use a pork butt, I recommend some freezer time for the butt to stiffen it up a little bit. You don't want it frozen but just at that point where it's solid enough to cut good slices.
• A meat slice would also work well for this if you have one or have access to one.

Step 2: Prepare the Meat

• Remove as much of the fat on the outside as you can, you don't need the fat cap for these. Use a sharp knife and you don't have to spend a lot of time with it. Just remove what you can and move along.
• Cut the pork butt into ¼ inch slices then into strips that are about 2 inches wide. If you are using pork steaks, you can probably get 2 to 3 strips from each steak.

Step 3: Marinate

• Layer the strips of meat into a bowl and sprinkle my original rub onto each layer. The rub will draw some of the moisture out of the meat and it will become a thick marinade that will flavor the strips of pork very deeply.
• Once all of the meat is layered into the bowl, sprinkle some extra original rub on top and cover the bowl.
• Place the bowl in the fridge overnight to marinate.
• Note, you can also use a zip top bag if that is more convenient. Place all of the meat into the bag and then pour enough rub into the bag to coat the meat really well. ½ cup is probably enough but you will have to make sure that all of the meat is coated well.
• Massage the closed bag to combine the meat and the rub then place in the fridge overnight.

Step 4: Put it on a Stick

• Do not rinse the meat when it is finished marinating.
• Use long wooden skewers that are about 12-inches long if possible
• Push the skewer through the meat making sure to keep it inside the meat if possible. If it seems to be hard to push through, try twisting the skewer as you push.
• As the sticks are loaded, place them into a pan with a rack with room between each one so the smoke and heat can have ample access.

Step 5: Smoke it

• Setup your smoker for cooking at about 225-240°F for about 2 hours and apply smoke for at least 1 hour.
• If your smoker has a water pan, fill it ¾ full with water to create a nice humid environment inside the smoker to reduce drying.
• Place the skewers directly on oiled smoker racks or you can use the Bradley racks if you have them.
• Once the meat reaches about 170°F, coat both sides with my barbecue sauce. It is ok to crank up the heat at this point if your smoker has this ability. I used a propane smoker for this session and turned the control knob to high to help caramelize the sauce and to get a little charring on the outside.
• You could also transfer them to a hot grill for this operation. If using this option, let the meat reach 180°F in the smoker before removing them to the grill and adding sauce and high heat.
• If you plan to use the grill to finish the meat, you will want to soak the skewers in water for a few hours before loading them with meat. This will help to prevent them from catching fire in the high heat. You should also keep a spray bottle of water close by the grill to extinguish any unexpected flare ups.
• If they seem to be drying out and/or if you are not able to use a water pan in your smoker, the skewers of meat could be placed into a large roasting pan and covered in foil to finish once they get about 1 hour of good smoke.

Step 6: Serve

• Let folks start grabbing these as soon as theyjjjj are finished and while they are really hot and delicious. Be sure to provide some sauce on the side for those who like to dip. I found that I did not need sauce after the fact as there was plenty caramelized onto the meat.

Pin Recipe Share on Facebook Share by Email

Get Jeff’s Products!

Jeff’s Golden Driller Sauce

$7.99

Shop Now

Jeff’s Original BBQ Sauce

$7.99

Shop Now

Jeff’s Original Rub

$7.99

Shop Now

Jeff’s Texas-style Rub

$7.99

Shop Now