This Easy Traeger BBQ smoked pulled pork shoulder (or butt) recipe is cooked low and slow and is melt-in-your-mouth tender. Great for pellet grill smoking beginners and making pulled pork sandwiches. Let’s smoke pork...
3LBpork shouldersubstitute pork butt / boston butt
½cupBBQ seasoninguse any dry rub for pork or bbq rub blend
1tbspbrown sugaroptional
3tbspvinegarapple cider
2cupswaterdivided
Instructions
Season. Ideally 2-24 hours before smoking pulled pork, season pork shoulder with any smoked pulled pork rub you have on hand and brown sugar if desired. In this demo, Traeger pulled pork seasoning was used. Refrigerate until it’s time to preheat the pellet grill to smoke pork shoulder.
Preheat pellet smoker grill to 225 degrees F.
Prepare a metal loaf pan with 1.5 cups of water. This pan will be smoked with the pork. It adds moisture to the air and keeps the smoked pulled pork juicy while it cooks.
Prepare a spray bottle (optional, but suggested) with a mixture of the apple cider vinegar and the remaining ½ cup of water. You’ll want this on hand to spray pork shoulder while it cooks. If you don’t have a spray bottle you can try brushing on the mixture.
Add pork to Traeger. Once preheated, place pork shoulder directly on the pellet grill grates, fat side up. Add the loaf pan with water to the smoker, leaving space between the pan and the pork butt or shoulder.
Smoke pulled pork shoulder until pork reaches an internal temperature of 205 degrees, as measured with a meat thermometer. The collagen breaks down at this temperature, resulting in very tender meat. Spritz the pulled pork (about once an hour or two) with the apple cider vinegar and water mixture while it cooks. The Traeger smoker pulled pork in this Sip Bite Go demonstration had a cook time of about 6 hours.
Rest smoked pulled pork if desired in aluminum foil to keep it warm. Shred it with two forks or shredding tools and serve as is or on sandwich rolls with classic BBQ sauce or Carolina BBQ (made with yellow mustard).
Video
Notes
You don’t need apple cider vinegar to smoke a pork shoulder, but it does add a great amount of flavor. You can substitute apple juice or apple cider if needed.
Trim off any excess fat from the pork shoulder or pork butt if desired before smoking it. Though I usually don’t bother as it easily falls off once smoked.
Using butcher paper for wrapping the pork while it smokes isn’t necessary, in my opinion. Because there is plenty of moisture from the water and vinegar being infused as the pork cooks.
Why do you smoke pulled pork fat side up? This is so it insulates the pork as it cooks and adds flavor.