Extreme Smoked Pulled Pork Recipe
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The REC TEC with its PID WiFi controller is one of the most accurate cookers on the planet.. for it's maiden voyage, I decided to cook a boneless pork butt and it was not only beautiful with an amazing smoke ring, but it was smoky, tender and delicious.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 9 to 14 hours (depends on thickness)
- Smoker Temp: 225-250°F
- Meat Finish Temp: 205-207°F
- Recommended Wood: Hickory or REC TEC blend of red oak, white oak and hickory
- Pork butt(s)
- Yellow mustard or oil
- Jeff's original rub
- Jeff's barbecue sauce
- Butter and Rub Mop (recipe below)
- Foil pan
- Heavy duty foil
- Digital thermometer such as the ThermoWorks Smoke or the FireBoard to make sure the meat gets done perfectly.
These are sometimes called Boston butts, usually weight anywhere between 5 and 8 lbs and are sold bone-in and boneless just depending on what you want.
I almost always purchase bone-in and try to find one that's around 7 to 8 lbs but this one was on sale at my local grocer, was boneless, only weighed about 5 lbs and was secured by a net.
After removing the net..
I guess you noticed it's down in a pan.. there's no real scientific reason for that and I won't be putting it in the pan during the cooking session until it reaches about 160°F or higher. It's just simply to keep the rub from being thrown all over the kitchen..I can get a little wild eyed when I start slinging rub on a pork butt!
Now it's ready for seasoning.
Now mind you, I also did not use oil or mustard or any other binder on this. I do recommend doing that most of the time but the original rub will do just fine if you want to apply it directly to the meat, you just have to let it sit there long enough to pull some moisture to the surface before you turn it over or mess with it.
I did the top first and waited until it got that wet look before I turned it over and applied rub to the other sides.
Here is the top rubbed down..
After just a few minutes it starting pulling some moisture to the surface..
And fast forward to all sides done and ready for the smoker.
You can smoke pork butt on any smoker as long as it can maintain a temperature around 225 to 250°F and you can provide some smoke to it while it cooks.
REC TEC, a company well known for their heavy duty pellet grills, sent me their new RT-700, they call it “the Bull” and if you haven't seen it, it is a massive beast and lives up to it's name complete with stainless steel horns on the front that serve as handles for opening the lid.
Unlike most other pellet grills, it is run by a PID which just means that it has a fancy system that uses an algorithm to apply responsive correction to a control, temperature in this case, and this allows it to maintain an exact temperature regardless of whether it's raining, cold outside, etc.
If you like exact temperatures then this is probably the smoker for you.. it will hold a set temperature all day long with little to no deviation.
It also holds 40 lbs of pellets in it's huge hopper and has more stainless than you've probably ever seen in a single smoker..it's a real beauty and it's serious about cooking meat.
One other feature that I”ll throw out there.. the controller is wifi enabled meaning it connects to your wifi signal and you can monitor and control the thing from anywhere.. you heard me correct.. anywhere!
Ok, enough about the smoker– Here's the full review if you want to read it
Let's get to cooking this pork butt on “the Bull”.
No matter what smoker you are using, set it up for cooking at about 240°F with indirect heat.
If your smoker uses a water pan, fill it up.
Once the smoker is ready, place the pork butt directly on the grate.
Some go fat cap up, others go fat cap down. There's school of thought for both. I typically do fat cap down as that leaves the rub (which becomes the crust) undisturbed but you should experiment with both ways and see what works best for you.
Simply maintain the temperature in your smoker and keep the smoke going.
I set the controller on “Extreme Smoke” for about an hour then turned it up to 250°F for the rest of the cook.
I made up some of my butter and rub mop to brush on now and then..
It's basically:
- 1 stick of butter, melted
- 8 ounces of hot water
- 2 heaping tablespoons of Jeff's original rub
Keep it warm and stirred up while you're using it.
I was able to sit it on the top of the hopper and it stayed warm and melted throughout the cooking process.
When the pork butt reaches about 160°F, it's a great idea to place it in a foil pan or you can wrap it in heavy duty foil. This not only allows you to catch the drippings, it will help it to get done faster as well.
I placed my pork butt down in a pan and just placed another pan on top to create a closed environment.
After a few hours of this, I removed the top pan and just let it finish uncovered.
When the pork butt reaches about 205-207°F, it is finished.
Take the meat into the house, remove it from the pan and lay it on a cutting board with foil tented over it slightly for about an hour. It's way too hot to pull at this point and the resting helps the juices to redistribute throughout the meat so more of it stays in the meat.
This is a great time to pour the juices into a jar and place it into the fridge. You may need this later.
If you don't have a grease separator, you can simply scoop off and discard the congealed fat once it's cold and you're left with the tasty stuff that can be added back into the pulled pork later to juice it up.
After an hour or two, you can begin pulling the meat into pieces. If you cooked it long enough, it will be easy to do. I often use a couple of forks and it just sort of falls apart.
I am pretty picky about pulled pork and remove any clumps of fat, gristle, etc. from the actual meat.
Here's an initial piece that came off and it was begging to be devoured.. beautiful pink smoke ring, eh?
All pulled apart and ready for eating!
Pulled pork usually yields about 50-60% of it's original weight. So an 8 lb pork butt will give you about 4-5 lbs of usable pulled pork.
If you want to reheat it, add a good sprinkle of my original rub all over, about ¼ to ½ cup is what I do and about ½ cup or more of the de-fatted juices. If you did not save the juices, a stick of melted butter works well. Reheat in a foil pan covered with foil at 275°F for about 30 minutes or until it reaches a good eating temperature.
Be sure to serve some of my barbecue sauce (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled sauce) on the side warmed up for dipping. It's also great if you are making sandwiches.
REC'n TEC'n Extreme Smoked Pulled Pork
Ingredients
- Pork butt (s)
- Yellow mustard or oil
- Jeff's original rub
- Jeff's barbecue sauce
- Butter and Rub Mop (recipe below)
- Foil pan
- Heavy duty foil
- Digital thermometer such as the ThemoWorks Smoke or the FireBoard to make sure the meat gets done perfectly.
Instructions
- Rub the pork butt with thin coat of yellow mustard. You can omit this step but it helps the rub to stick better.
- Apply Jeff's original rub onto all sides of the roast.
- Set the meat aside while you get the smoker ready to cook.
- Set up your smoker for cooking at about 225-250°F using indirect heat.
- If your smoker uses a water pan, fill it up.
- Place the meat directly on the smoker grate and close the lid. If you are using a pellet grill/smoker, I recommend starting out in the special "Smoke" setting for about 1 hour then adjust to 225-250°F
- When the meat reaches 160°F, it's a great idea to place it into a foil pan to catch the drippings and to help it to cook faster.
- Use a thermometer such as the ThermoWorks Smoke to monitor the internal temperature of the roast.
- When the meat reaches 205-207 °F it is done and perfectly tender.
- Allow it to rest under a tent of foil for about an hour before proceeding.
- Pull the meat into pieces using a couple of forks and discard any fat and gristle that you find.
- Serve with Jeff's barbecue sauce on the side.
What do you mean by Butter and rub mop, no recipe below like it says in the ingredients list, thanks.
Jim, it’s under step 3:
..I made up some of my butter and rub mop to brush on now and then
It’s basically:
1 stick of butter, melted
8 ounces of hot water
2 heaping tablespoons of Jeff’s original rub
Keep it warm and stirred up while you’re using it.
A little over 5 years ago I purchased the formulas for your rubs and sauce I can’t even count the number of times I’ve made your original rub and Texas rub. But not being big on sauce always wanted the meat and rub to shine through, if i ever ended up with a dryer piece of pork or chicken i would throw some Stumps on it. I never made up a batch of your sauce till the other day to try with Boston Butt. OMG that stuff is amazing I think my wife would shoot it into her veins if she could she made up a CI DO of beans a couple days ago and used the last of your BBQ sauce and they were to die for SO GOOD! Can I freeze the sauce as we are only 2 so when I make a Butt we freeze a lot of it to have in the frozen tundra part of the year.
I would like to have sauce to put on other stuff also, but not as much a full recipe of it.
Sam, it’s perfectly fine to freeze the barbecue sauce for long term storage. I recommend letting it cool all the way to room temperature first. Then, portion it out into small, freezer-safe containers that will hold enough sauce for about one meal. This way, you can thaw as much as you need, but leave the rest of it in the freezer. It’s usually not good to re-freeze things that have been previously frozen.
This recipe is a hit. I have used this three times now and everyone goes crazy over it every time. The only thing I do different is I use a different rub and bbq sauce. I will continue to use this one.
Even easier if you dont have a fat separator.. pour the juices into a ziplock bag. The good stuff settles.. cut a small corner of the ziplock and drain the goodies into a cup! All done.
Great recipie!
Best damned smoker web site and rubs. I’ve been following Jeff for years and have referred multiple friends (and even some enemies) to his web site
Just used this recipe on my new Camp Chef Woodwind SG and the pork but turned out great! It was so delicious. Love the recipes.
Do you brine your pork butt before smoking?
I have tried brining pork butts and while it doesn’t hurt anything, I don’t feel that it is necessary because of how much fat and natural flavor it has on it’s own. Coat it good with a flavorful rub, cook it until it falls apart (about 205°F internal temperature), pull or slice it, then you can add drippings, melted butter, more rub, salt/pepper, etc. or whatever you like just before you serve it.
Did I miss the review of the Rec Tec Bull? I know that you commented in the recipe but I was curious about your in depth thoughts about it.
Byron, I recommend that smoker all the time as it is definitely in my list of favorite smokers but I haven’t published the actual review yet. Thank you for the reminder– I need to get that done soon.
I actually have the bull and love. I enjoy your website and have used quite a few of your recipes. I definitely respect your opinions on all things barbecue.
We’ve had our Rec Tec 680 just over a year now & couldn’t be happier with the way it performs. Rarely use a water pan.
Several years ago while visiting a friend in Colorado who had just purchased a Traeger from Costco we watched extreme temp swings(+/-)100 degrees during a 1st time “burn-in”. This was the same experience I had several years previous when I had purchased a Traeger Lil Tex. My friend returned the Traeger and after doing research on the net decided to get a Rec Tec Bull. Could not believe my eyes watching the temp gauge hold a dead set temp so unlike the Traeger.
From that visit I decided to buy their new Rec Tec Stampede model. I have used it 3 or 4 times now with butts and briskets and same as the Bull…have set it at 220 and it holds almost perfect. A few times during the 12 hour smoke maybe 1 or 2 degrees up or down. Cannot believe what a great unit the Rec Tec is. Someone has finally figured out how to smoke accurately. Thanks
I have heard some people say you need to wrap the foil tightly so you don’t steam the beautiful bark you have created. I love the idea and ease of just throwing it in a tray, but do you notice it steaming/softening the bark much?
Can’t wait to read your review on the rec tec. I am newer to smoking and have a mes. My only concern is the lack of smoke flavor I’ve heard with pellet smokers. You mentioned your pork butt in the rec tec had a smoky flavor. I use the cold smoke kit on the mes for everything I smoke in it with chips the whole time. is the smoke flavor enough without the additional pellet tube in the rec tec?
Tom, The smoky flavor is milder on pellet smokers due to how efficiently they burn but I have found that I can increase the smoke flavor without using a smoke tube or tray by starting everything on the special smoke setting for about an hour before putting it on the normal cooking settings. On the REC TEC Bull that I have, that would be the “Extreme Smoke” setting. On the Traeger it’s called “Smoke” and on Camp Chef it’s called “Lo Smoke”. I think all pellet smokers have this setting in some form or another and it just slows everything down and lets the smoke roll. I’m several products behind on my reviews so hopefully I can get those done soon. Of course, using a smoke tube or tray doesn’t hurt anything if you already have one.
I love your recipe’s and always make sure I have a supply of your rub and sauce. (I make it per your recipe’s). I have a Recteq 590, and don’t see an “Extreme Smoke” setting. Searching for that term on Recteq’s web site produces a list of all their models. How do I put my Recteq on Extreme Smoke setting?
I’m not sure how long you’ve had the 590.. I think it used to just be a setting called “LO” where it maintains about 180°F (82°C) and produces the most smoke possible.
Did you use the Rec Tec temp probe for the butt? Curious how accurate it was compared to your other digital thermometer?
I have a Rec Tec, and have been very happy with it. I’ve cooked many of your recipes on it, including butts with your rub/sauce. Great stuff!!
I have a Rec Tec 670. absolutely love it. My question is, did you use a water pan for this smoke? i have tried it with and without. I haven’t notice much of a difference using a water pan other than losing cooking space.
I haven’t really noticed a need for a water pan in my pellet smokers including the Rec-Tec. I don’t think it hurts anything if you have the available space, but like you say, smoker grate real estate is valuable.