Gameday Pulled Pork

• Posted on 6 February 2023
• By Skyler Spartan
• 0

This is an easy no-binder/no-trimming method to prepare a pork shoulder butt on the pellet grill inspired by Heath Riles. We're goin to be using a Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 24 in this case. The pork butt is wiped dry, then sprinkled with two Heath Riles sensational BBQ rubs. After smoking for a few hours, the meat is coated in Heath's Tangy Vinegar BBQ Sauce, then wrapped in foil. The wrapped pork butt is put back on the Camp Chef and smoked to perfection. Once rested, the result is juicy, tender pulled pork that’s perfect for the hungry crowd at your next backyard party or gameday tailgate.

This is one of the easiest pork butts we've ever done. We’ve all heard the term, “simpler is better.” and this is amazingly simple BBQ that is low on prep time and high on great taste and excellent texture. This pork butt is prepared without a binder and does not require trimming or injection. You will not need a knife for this recipe, unless you count the one needed to free the pork butt from its packaging!

The Ingredients

If you are looking to smoke a pork butt with only four ingredients, then this is the recipe for you!

• Pork butt. We like to get ours from Blue Silo Beef, a local farm that supplies beef, pork and chicken to the area.  Pork butt is a cut of meat from the hog’s shoulder. This cut includes the shoulder blade or “blade bone” and can go by a few names, including pork shoulder, pork shoulder butt, and Boston butt. For this recipe, I used a 10lb pork shoulder butt because we knew we'd get a quality product that won’t need trimming. The smoked 10lb butt yields about 16 servings of approximately 5 ounces and is a great choice when feeding a crowd.
• Heath Riles BBQ Garlic Jalapeño Rub. This is a spicy all-purpose rub and it’s perfect for building up the first layer of savory, garlicky, peppery flavor on the pork butt. This rub has a kick, but it isn’t so spicy as to turn off those who don’t eat spicy foods. After seasoning the pork butt, you’ll have additional seasoning to use as a popcorn sprinkle or for seasoning chicken, poultry, or beef.
• Heath Riles BBQ Sweet BBQ Rub. This is contest-winning spice blend and it’s a great go-to for anything and everything. It provides the perfect top layer of flavoring on our pulled pork. As with the Garlic Jalapeño Rub, you’ll have some of this spice blend remaining and we’d highly recommend using it in your next Bloody Mary.
• Heath Riles BBQ Tangy Vinegar BBQ Sauce. This Tangy Vinegar BBQ Sauce provides the perfect balance of tang and spice. It’s the last layer of flavor we apply to the pork butt before wrapping and resting.

The Smoker Setup

Here’s the main equipment we used and how we set it up. See the equipment and tools section for everything used to make this easy pulled pork.

Pellet grill/smoker. We used a Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 24 w/ Sidekick Sear for this recipe. Pellet grills can sometimes be confusing as they can be used for grilling or smoking. Grilling involves cooking at a high temperature for a relatively short period of time. In this recipe, we smoke our pulled pork low (at 275º) and slow (approximately 7.5 hours).

We placed our butt on the top rack from our Camp Chef, keeping and bottom rack open for a half-size, deep aluminum pan on to catch drippings while the pork butt is smoking. You don’t have to use this setup, but it will keep your pellet grill clean and provides you with some delicious drippings (aka “liquid gold”).

The Process for Making Easy Pulled Pork

The detailed procedure for this pulled pork on the pellet grill is covered in a video from Heath Riles and the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here’s what the process looks like in general.

• Prep the grill. Prepare the grill with a combination of charcoal pellets and wood pellets. Get it heating to 275º while you prep the pork butt. For this cook, we used a Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 24 with a combination of Jack Daniels charcoal pellets.
• Dry and season. We started with a 10lb pork butt (also known as Boston butt or pork shoulder butt) from the fine folks at Blue Silo Beef. After removing the pork from its packaging, we wiped it completely dry and sprinkled it with two of our favorite rubs from Heath Riles: Garlic Jalapeño and Sweet BBQ.
• Smoke and spritz. The pork butt goes on the grill until it hits an internal temperature of 155-160º. Spritz the pork butt with water once every hour after the first hour.
• Sauce and wrap. After 4.5 hours on the grill, pour on the Tangy Vinegar BBQ Sauce and wrap the butt well in aluminum foil.
• Smoke, then rest. The pork butt goes back on the grill until it hits an internal temperature of 203-204º. For us, that took an additional 3 hours. Once the meat hit 203-204º, we moved the wrapped pork butt into our Bison cooler for a 2-hour rest period.
• Pull and eat! When time was up, we unwrapped the pork butt, removed the bone, and shredded the meat.  That smell is just intoxicating!

The Results

This pork butt was juicy and tender. This is an easy recipe to feed a large crowd or to use in meal prepping. We urge you to try it. We bet it becomes your go-to pulled pork recipe!

Serving Suggestions for Pulled Pork

Serve this pulled pork with more Tangy Vinegar BBQ Sauce, potato salad, and slaw. Some other ideas for serving pulled pork:

• Make pulled pork sandwiches. Toss the pulled pork with Tangy Vinegar BBQ Sauce, top with slaw and serve on a bun.
• Make pulled pork nachos. Rethink an old favorite for an appetizer or meal. Heap pulled pork over a bed of tortilla chips, top with Tangy Vinegar BBQ Sauce, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, jalapeños, and green onions. Make a large batch on a couple of sheet pans for your next tailgate.
• Make pulled pork breakfast burritos. Swap out the bacon or sausage in your usual breakfast burrito recipe for a delicious new way to start the day.

Storing Pulled Pork

Leftovers are usually scarce around our place, but sometimes we wind up with some. If you do, you can store leftover pulled pork in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or vacuum-seal it and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

Equipment and Tools

Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 24 w/ Sidekick Sear, Jack Daniel's Charcoal Pellets, paper towels, Drip EX prep tub, spray bottle, heavy duty aluminum foil, 1 or 2 half size deep aluminum pans, instant-read meat thermometer, Bison Cooler, Hand savers and Mamba Gloves