Boston Butt
Ingredient List
- 8 pounds Gloucestershire Old Spot Bone-In Pork Butt
- 1 tablespoon Yellow mustard
Dry Rub
- 1/8 cup Brown sugar
- 1/4 cup White sugar
- 1/4 cup Paprika
- 3 tablespoons Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon Garlic powder granules
- 1/2 tablespoon Chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon Black pepper
Spritz
- 3/4 cups Apple juice
- 1/4 cup Apple cider vinegar
Cooking Directions
24 Hours before smoking
- Trim excess fat, removing the fat cap completly or reducing to 1/4 inch.
- Rub a thin even coating of yellow mustard over the entire surface of the pork.
- Combine dry rub ingredients and sprinkle a thick, even coating on pork butt on all sides.
- Tightly wrap four layers of plastic wrap around the pork and store for 24 hours in refrigeration.
Day of Smoking
- Remove pork from refrigerator and bring to room temperature by removing plastic wrap and resting on tray on a counter. Bring meat temperature up to room temperature by allowing to rest for an hour.
- Preheat the smoker to 250 degrees fahrenheit
- Add pork butt to smoker grate and smoke at 250°F until it hits an internal temperature of 165°F in the thickest part of the shoulder (Often adjacent to the bone).
Typical cook time approximately 4-6 hours.
NOTE: If your smoker has a water pan make sure to check water levels every 1.5 hours or as directed by manufacturer.
Spritzing
Each hour after the first 3 hours, open up the smoker and spritz pork butt. Make sure your spray bottle is set to spray in a light, even mist and not a direct blast of the liquid.
NOTE: You just want to moisten the pork, not soak it.
- When the pork reaches 165°F degrees in the thickest part, remove it from the smoker, lay it in the center of 2 pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil, spritz heavily one more time with the spray bottle, and then wrap the foil tightly around the pork. You could also put the pork butt in an aluminum pan and cover with aluminum foil.
- Return the wrapped pork butt to the smoker and smoke at 250°F for approximately 4 more hours. The smoked pork butt is done when the internal temperature is between 200°F-205°F.
- Remove pork from smoker and keep pork wrapped while it rests for a minimum of 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.
- Unwrap the foil and pour the juices into a gravy separator or bowl until you can see the fat separated from the jus.
- Place the pork butt into a pan and shred into thin strands with your fingers, a pair of forks, tongs, or any other shredding utensil you prefer.
- Pour the reserved jus into the pan and toss with the shredded pork.