Everybody deserves great pulled pork, but most of us don’t have smokers. This outrageously good pulled pork is as simple as rub and toss it in the oven for great low and slow goodness.
Introduction
This is the pork butt recipe that we use most frequently. Please enjoy one of our personal favorites.
As usual, I had done a lot of research to create this oven pulled pork recipe. I was so confused after about 25 recipes. There was the aluminum foil covering most recipes; there were onions and various veggies. Just wrong!
There were a few with oven temps of 225° and 250° but also a lot of 350 °recommendations. There were finish temps of 170° on most of the recipes. And pork being cut with knives. IT IS PULLED PORK!!!!! ...... ARGGGGG.
My Rating
Ok, a lower 5 only to leave room for grilled pulled pork as a higher 5. But so good without the fuss, I have repeated this many times.
🐖Pork Butt AKA Boston Butt or Pork Shoulder
Like many cuts of meat, there are multiple names about the same thing. Pork butt, Boston butt, and Pork shoulder are the same in common usage.
Pork shoulder is the thinner area of this cut but is commonly cooked and used the same as the butt. It has a bit less marbling and less fat and is usually not separated from the butt. But usually, the term pork shoulder is used interchangeably with pork butt and Boston butt.
If you are wondering, butt means thick, so that is why the term "butt" is used. Lastly, the picnic ham and picnic shoulder are not the same as this cut.
Bone-in vs. Boneless Pork Butt
Bone-in pork butt will take a bit longer to cook, but not much. Some will argue a taste difference one way or the other. Nope, no difference to me (or most people) in the taste. So use what you have.
But, it does feel so good when you go to shred the pulled pork, and the bone just lifts out. I always smile.
♨️Method
Smokers and grillers will all agree on low and slow. You do not turn up the temp. You need time for the connective tissues and fats to melt into their goodness. 250 degrees is a good target temp for a grill and is so easy in an oven.
In an oven, smoke was not an easy option, but some smoke taste is needed. Enter liquid smoke. I just give it a good rub of liquid smoke. Alternatively, you can make a rub with spices like smoked paprika.
Otherwise, We treat it like it was on the grill, using the same rub and cook to 195 plus.
The house smelled great all day long.
Fat Pad Up or Down?
The big debate for many years, fat pad up or down. So, I will use the competition smokers for my reference.
While a few will still argue strongly one way or the other, most think it does not matter. I agree.
⏰🌡️Time and Temperature
Oven temperature can be anywhere from 225° to 275°. But 250° is what you should usually use. No convectio0n is needed. I feel 300 is too high generally.
How Long to Cook?
It seems always to be at least 2 hours per pound plus a little some times. So 2 hours per pound at 250 degrees is a good starting point on timing.
Others seem to like to say one hour per pound. But then you see them cutting it with a knife. Doesn't work for me.
I usually cook about 4 pounds, and it takes 8-9 hours. Remember that bone-in takes a bit longer. You MUST check the internal temperature. The minimum is 190, but it is low to me. I like mine 200 plus. Do not remove early, or you will be sorry.
The rest before the shred could be as short as 30 minutes, but longer is better. It will stay warm with my method for about 4 hours. Shred just before serving, so this gives you a 3 ½ hour window to hit.
When is Pork Butt Done?
I like to take my pork butt to 195°+ range and prefer 200°-205°.
♨️Reheating and Storage
I like to reheat on a sheet pan, I sprinkle with a little water on my hand (don’t overdo it). Cover tightly with foil and into the oven at 250°-300° until hot.
The time varies by how you shredded it and the amount on the tray. Usually, I take about 45 minutes or so in the oven for me. I know that is not very exact, but you get the idea.
You can then turn the oven down (keep it covered) or transfer to a crockpot on low to keep warm.
Never reheat or store with sauce applied -the acid will destroy the texture.
Storage
Good refrigerated for 3-4 days, but I prefer 2 days since the texture seems to suffer. It will freeze well for 3-4 months.
Many will freeze pulled pork in reheatable sealed bags; Then they will reheat those in boiling water.
📖Pulled Pork Recipes
Pulled Pork on a Gas Grill – Not That Hard Don't be intimidated, it really is not that hard, just follow the photos.
Crock Pot Pulled Pork from Butt the Right Way Yup, I have totally sold out, but done the right way, you can get great pulled pork from a crock pot.
Memphis Barbecue Sauce - A Wonderful Thing
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
You will need a rub of your choice and some Liquid Smoke. If using my rub, mix ½ cup dark brown sugar, 2 tablespoons kosher salt, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, and 1 teaspoon pepper.
Place a 4 pound (give or take a little) bone-in (or boneless) pork butt on a large piece of plastic wrap if wrapping. Rub with about 2 tablespoons of liquid smoke (optional).
Use about one cup of rub and coat the meat. That is a very heavy coat.
If you have time, wrap the meat with plastic wrap. You may need a second piece. Refrigerate for a few hours, but overnight is fine. If you don't have time, just apply the rub and pop it in the oven. This is what I usually do.
When ready to cook, prep a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and a rack. Give it a heavy spray of PAM.
Place meat on rack and place in a 250°oven (not convection). I did not bother to preheat. I went with fat cap down. You can shorten the time some by increasing the temperature of the oven to 300°, but I suggest 250°.
Bake until internal temp of 195° plus (200°-205° is better). About 9 hours for me, usually. This will vary some with the thickness of the meat, bone-in vs. boneless, and the oven. You have some flex time in the next step to get your timing right.
Remove from the oven directly onto a large sheet of heavy-duty foil. Wrap tight with the foil then wrap with several towels. Place wrapped meat in a small cooler if available and rest for 1-2 hours until needed. It can stay warm for up to 4 hours is well wrapped in a cooler.
Shred with forks. It will fall apart.
📖Full Recipe
Oven Pulled Pork from Pork Butt
Ingredients
- 4-5 pounds Pork Butt - aka Pork Shoulder or Boston Butt
- rub of your choice - good quality
- 2 tablespoons Wright's Liquid Smoke - optional but recommended
My Rub
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt - 2 tablespoons if using Morton
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- You will need a rub of your choice. My rub: mix ½ cup dark brown sugar, 3 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt (use 2 tablespoons if Mortons), 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, and 1 teaspoon pepper.
- Place a 4 pound (give or take a little) bone-in (or boneless) pork butt on a large piece of plastic wrap. Rub with about 2 tablespoons of liquid smoke (optional). You can skip the plastic wrap if not applying rub ahead of time.
- Use about one cup of rub and coat the meat. That is a very heavy coat.
- If you have time, wrap the meat with plastic wrap. You may need a second piece. Refrigerate for a few hours, but overnight is fine. If you don't have time, just apply the rub and pop it in the oven. This is what I usually do.
- When ready to cook, prep a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and a rack. Give the rack a heavy spray of PAM.
- Place meat on rack and place in a 250° oven (not convection). I did not bother to preheat. I went with the fat cap down. You can shorten the time some by increasing the temperature of the oven to 300° but I suggest 250°.
- Bake until internal temp of 195° plus (200°-205° is better). About 9-10 hours for me. This will vary some with the thickness of the meat, bone-in vs. boneless and the oven. You have some flex time in the next step to get your timing right.
- Remove from the oven directly onto a large sheet of heavy-duty foil. Wrap tight with the foil then wrap with several towels. Place wrapped meat in a small cooler if available and rest for 1-2 hours until needed. It can stay warm for up to 4 hours is well wrapped in a cooler.
- Just before serving, shred with forks. It will fall apart.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Cooking time can vary, but you can use the wrap time at the end to adjust the shredding time by a few hours.
- If you don't have a rack, you can elevate the meat on balls of rolled up foil. Please do not leave it to cook in the muck. (see the crock pot recipe)
- The liquid smoke is nice, but some object, so skip if you wish. If you use it, quality matters a lot. I use only Wright's.
- My rub is provided for you but use the rub of your choice.
- If you use my rub. The salt is calculated on Diamond Crystal Kosher salt. 1 teaspoon table salt = 1 ¼ teaspoon Morton kosher salt = 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
- I find my rub still is good with half the salt if that is a concern for you.
- 195° is the minimum, but I much prefer 200° to 205°.
- Good refrigerated for 3-4 days but I prefer 2 days since the texture seems to suffer. It will freeze well for 3-4 months.
- Bone-in or boneless does not matter. But bone-in may take a bit longer.
- Fat pad up or down does not matter.
- I frequently just wet with the liquid smoke and apply the rub. And then directly into the oven. It is still great.
- DO NOT cover with anything like foil or a lid in the oven.
- Nutrition is hard to calculate. The fat drains, the rub forms bark and also drains some. So a lot of things are included in the nutrition numbers that may not be there.
Reheating
I like to reheat on a sheet pan, I sprinkle with a little water on my hand (don’t overdo it). Cover tightly with foil and into the oven at 250°-300° until hot. The time varies by how you shredded it and the amount on the tray. Usually, I take about 45 minutes or so in the oven for me. I know that is not very exact but you get the idea. You can then turn the oven down (keep it covered) or transfer to a crockpot on low to keep warm. Never reheat or store with sauce applied -the acid will destroy the texture.To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's note: Originally Published November 2, 2013. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
EKrc
I roasted an 8 lb pork shoulder roast fat side down for 12 hours and it only reached 181. It got “stuck” there for awhile so I took it out. Next time I will let it go longer l after it realized it would start rising again if I left it to cook longer.
But to reach 200-210 at a low cooking temp you need to cook it waaayyy longer than 9-10 hours. More like 20 hours for the size roast I had.
Walter
Hi Dan first time to this site. I was wondering would you inject the butt before you cooked it. By the way your instructions is by far the best I've seen on the net
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Walter,
Welcome to the blog.
You can inject if you wish. If you are injecting things with sodium, use a rub with no or little salt.
I don't usually think of injection since I have no desire to change the flavor of the meat.
Enjoy you pulled pork.
Dan
FrankW
DrDan, thank you. I too stumbled across this site and it will now remain book marked into the future. I am a home cook who does a Pork Butt once a year and, usually the Momofuko Bo Ssam style with at best mixed results. This year the plan was to make this a key center piece. While reviewing my notes I decided I had to rectify some of the issues I had in the past, plus as simple as the recipe I had was, it never was quite right so I started my search. I discovered lots of conflicting info but kept coming back to your post and loved that you provided the "why" I always look for. What I employed this year was 1) Fat cap up or down doesnt matter, I used up. 2) double tinfoil on sheet pan with cooling rack and parchment. 3) Low and slow, I used 260F temp and did a 6 lb Butt over 9 hours (exquisite). 4) Wrapped in tinfoil and a towel at the end and let rest for 2 hours (I was working on other prep). 5) Gloves on fat cap slid off, bone tapped out easily and the meat shredded itself ( it was a pound less after I was done because I couldnt stop taste testing). This was perfection. I completed the fat cap in a preheated 500F oven after dry rubbing some brown sugar and salt, it took 7 minutes to get the crackling just right, right when the sugar and salt start to melt and the cap starts to blister and they merge at that point done and removed from the oven before burning. For the record I did a dry rub of white sugar and salt in a big baggie and stuck it in the fridge over a day or so, rotating when ever I went into the fridge.
I'd post pictures/video if I could it was so good and the best experience using your guidance.
DrDan you have a new patient. Thank You.
Jan
I was wondering I always brine my pork butt do I need to cut back on the salt in your rub because of the salt on the brine?
I so much to try your recipe and the barbeque sauce you where talking about.
Thank you for time.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Jan,
If brined, I would eliminate all the salt in the rub. It is always easy to add salt later but impossible to remove it if a dish is too salty.
Dan
Chris
I've been cooking pork butt for many years, but always look for different options that people have tried. I cooked a 7.7 lb Boston butt yesterday, expecting it to take all day & night. Two things I did differently this time. I used my oven at 250°, instead of my BGE, AND I had to bake a pie midway through the cook time, so oven was at 400° for 20 minutes. Result was total cook time of around 7 hours. I expected to have to leave it in til about 9:30pm, but it was at 195° around 5pm! Let it rest an hour, pulled it, and it was ready! Yay! I did fat side down and no rack this time. It was fine, but I will use the rack next time. Lots of great bark all the same!
Charlene
Hey Chris, I have a 5.5lb pork butt that’s in the oven right now at 250f but I started later in the morning and I am afraid it would not be ready by dinner time around 7pm. I’m looking to cut down the time by doing what you did. How many hours after the pork’s been cooking at 250 do you then begin to turn the oven up to 400? Thanks!
Jan
I didn't use any salt like you said sense I brined my pork . The only thing I can say is that is was the best bbq I have ever made. Smelling it all day made me do hungry that when it was finely done and we could eat it , I ate it so fast I ended up with stomach problem, not because of your recipe . I have problems if I eat to fast.
Let's get back to your recipe it was great. I followed it to a tea including the bbq sauce. I'm North Carolina so you know how we are about our Q
Thanks for the great recipes
Love the pictures not your puppies
All dogs are puppies to me
I lost my s year ago to lung cancer, something we where not expecting. We miss him very much. He was a great company