How to make the Best Pulled Pork
February 18, 2021
How do you make pulled pork in the smoker? My favorite way of is really a two stage process. You start with the pork loin in the smoker and then finish in the crock pot. The cool thing is that you don’t have to do both of these stages on the same day. Ready to learn how? Well… here is what you need:
- A Big Ole Pork Loin
- A Great Dry Pork Rub (try this one)
- Aluminum Foil
- Wood for the Smoker (I used a combo of Hickory and Orange wood… but Apple works great as well)
- Famous Dave’s Sweet and Zesty BBQ Sauce (linky)*
- Hamburger Buns
We call this the 50/50 method… as in 50% of the time the meat is in the smoker, it will be covered in foil
STAGE ONE: SMOKING
1) Start by prepping your pork loin with your dry rub. Sprinkle that rub all over the pork loin patting gently. Do not go easy on the spices… cover the meat completely on all sides. Let rest at room temp for 30 minutes.
Seasoned Pork Loin ready for the smoker
2) Ready your smoker. We used a blend of wood that was 1/4 Hickory to 3/4 Orange wood. It is defiantly a great blend for smoking pork loin.
1/4 Hickory + 3/4 Orange
3) Place Pork loin on middle rack of your smoker and smoke at 220 for three hours. Low and slow is key.
Pork Loin at the three hour mark.
4) Remove, cover with foil, then return to smoker for an additional three hours at 220 (six hours total). Internal pork loin temp when removed should be 165F degrees.
Wrap your meat and return to the smoker
5) After removing from smoker, Let rest in the foil for 30 minutes
6) Using two forks, pull the pork apart so it is shredded like in the photo below. (that’s why it’s called pulled pork)
Test the piggy goodness by sampling some now. It’s awesome, amirite? Serving right now with BBQ Sauce is defiantly preferable but if you want some for serving later you can store in freezer bags. Let the meat cool and place in bags removing as much air as possible before sealing them up. Place in freezer until game day.
Pulled pork smoked to perfection
STAGE TWO: CROCK POT
Well it’s game day and it’s time to eat!
1) Remove frozen pulled pork from bags and place in crock pot.
2) Add an entire stick of butter and cover. Set your slow cooker on High and you should be ready to eat in about 2-3 hours. Set on low and it will be about 5-6 hours (depending on your crock pot of course) For best results stir every 1.5 hours or so.
3) Serve on buns and Smother with BBQ Sauce.
4) For additional awesome, I definitely recommend adding butter pickles, and/or topping with Cole Slaw.
Pulled Pork is ready!
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