It may not be the most prized barbecue dish, but pulled pork is probably the most common. It’s the choice meat throughout the Carolinas, where you will find it pulled or chopped and topped with mustard-based, tomato-based, or vinegar-based sauce depending on where you are.

Pulled pork is one of the easiest types of meat to smoke, it’s relatively inexpensive, and it feeds a lot of people, which makes it accessible for the casual barbecuer and the expert alike.

I love it because it’s like a canvas that allows you to put whatever touch you want on it. Want a Cuban-inspired pork? Marinate it in a mojo sauce and season it with an herby rub. Want an asian flair? Marinate it in a soy-sauce based concoction and season it with umami flavors. You’re limited only by your imagination.

My go-to, however, is this recipe which utilizes my new Down With the Swine rub (available to order) and my favorite pop (or soda), Cheerwine.

To Brine or Not to Brine

Unless I really want to infuse a certain flavor into my pork (as mentioned above) I don’t typically brine my pork butts. I haven’t found that it makes a difference in terms of tenderness of the meat. If you really want to, go for it, but you don’t need to.

Bone-in or Boneless?

This is another option that depends on your preference and what you can find at your grocery store. I typically use bone-in pork butt because I’m used to the way it cooks and I love the meat that is found right underneath the bone. If all you can find is boneless, that’s just fine. You can also use a pork shoulder, which isn’t quite as marbled and usually comes with the skin on.

Low and Slow or Hot and Fast?

If you’re a purist, it’s low and slow all the way. Otherwise, hot and fast is just fine.

Because of the marbled intramuscular fat in a pork butt, it’s best cooked low and slow to give everything time to break down. Pulled pork takes well to a lot of different wood, such as fruit woods and hickory. I usually use a mix of oak and pecan and smoke it between 225 and 250. Just know that it takes 1 to 1.5 hours per pound to smoke a pork butt low and slow. That means if you have a 9-pound butt, you’re looking at 9-13 hours.

If you’re in a time crunch, you can go hot and fast at 325 degrees and likely cut the time in half without much noticeable difference. If you do this, you’re probably going to want to brine ahead of time to give it plenty of moisture.

The Smoking Process

While your smoker is getting up to temperature, you want to take the pork butt out of the fridge and apply your rub. It’s good to add a binder, which helps the rub stick to it. This can be olive oil, yellow mustard, or a spray oil like duck fat. For pork butt I usually go with mustard. It doesn’t add any flavor to the finished product, but I like the way it holds the rub and the color it gives to the exterior early in the cook.

After you’ve rubbed your pork butt with mustard (or oil), apply a liberal amount of Down With the Swine. Don’t have it yet? Order now! Some will fall off during the cook, so you don’t need to worry about applying too much. Plus, it adds great color and bark to the exterior.

Once your smoker is up to temp, it’s time to put your pork butt in. Now comes your other decision: fat cap up or down? It’s also purely preference. If I’m smoking in my Big Green Egg, I cook fat cap up because it’s usually hotter up there than it is at grate level. Leave the lid closed for 3 hours and let it collect smoke.

After about 3 hours, it’s time to start spritzing. I love to use Cheerwine for spritzing pork because of the color and flavor it adds, especially when combined with Down With the Swine. Give it a good spritz every 30-40 minutes until it’s time to wrap.

Wrapping is called the “Texas Crutch” and not everybody uses it, but it’s a good way to keep the moisture in the meat during the latter part of the cook. By that time the pork butt isn’t really taking on more smoke anyway.

My foiling process is to transfer the pork butt into a half foil pan once it reaches about 165 degrees internal. However, you are going to want to flip it so the fat cap is down, then pour in a bottle of Cheerwine. You basically just want the liquid to cover the fat cap, not too high up the pork butt, then cover with foil and put back into your smoker. Note: You can also wrap in butcher paper instead of foil, but I like being able to add the Cheerwine into the foil pan.

Let the pork butt keep going until it reaches about 195 degrees. It’s not time to remove it yet, but I like to open up the foil (keep the butt in the foil pan), give it another spritz, and let it smoke and fully develop the bark until the internal temperature is around 203. Basically, if the bone is easy to pull out, it’s done.

Now transfer the whole thing to a cooler or Cambro if you have one, cover with foil again, and let rest for at least an hour. Resting is important when cooking any type of meat like this because it allows the juices to redistribute and get reabsorbed.

After an hour or more, go ahead and shred. It will still be hot, so make sure to use gloves. I prefer to shred with my hands (cotton gloves with disposable nitrile gloves over them) versus using forks or claws to shred. It allows you to really feel the meet and get the right texture. The last thing I do is sprinkle more Down With the Swine rub on the meat, and then it’s time to serve!