The weather in Charlotte has been simply fantastic and so of course cook-outs are on everyone’s mind. And what better way to feed a crowd than with some smoked Carolina pulled pork BBQ? We got ourselves some pork butt, rubbed a nice rub on it, let it rest in the fridge overnight, and smoked it on the egg all day long. It was scrumptious! Even better: it was very easy!
Here’s how to make pulled pork BBQ on the Big Green Egg: Start by cutting any large fat sections off of the pork butt. Oil the butt with 2 tablespoons of canola or vegetable oil. Then generously sprinkle your favorite pork rub onto the meat and give it a loving rub (I’m gonna insert a shameless promotional plug right here: Blackhawk Hardware has an aisle full of grilling spices and sauces that include local and not your standard rubs). Let the rub works its magic and tenderize and flavorize your butt (ha) by letting the meat rest in the fridge for 30 minutes to 12 hours. I just love that time frame since you can either rub the pork the night before smoking it or right before you get the grill going. Flexibility at its best!
When you’re ready, set the Big Green Egg up for indirect heat and place a drip pan on the plate setter under the grid. Light a fire and preheat the Big Green Egg to 275F. Take the meat from the refrigerator and place it directly on the Big Green Egg grid. Close the lid and smoke the pork butt until its internal temperature reaches 160F (about 6 to 8 hours for 7 to 8 pounds of meat). Pictured are two butts around 8 pounds each.
Once at 160F, wrap the meat in heavy duty aluminum foil and add 0.5 cups of apple juice to the pouch. We used the larger size aluminum foil, laid that out next to the Big Green Egg and used grilling gloves to move the pork butt. Close the lid so that the Egg doesn’t get too hot while you bag up the butt. Here it is before we closed the aluminum foil pouch:
Smoke the foil wrapped pork butt on the Big Green Egg for another two to three hours until the internal temperature reaches 190F. Then take it off the Egg and let it rest for 30 minutes. Lift the meat from the aluminum pouch into a big container. Using BBQ claws or forks, pull the meat apart to get pulled pork BBQ. Mix in a cup of your favorite BBQ sauce and serve it with more on the side for dipping. We love it for BBQ platters and of course sandwiches but I also remove a few portions before adding sauce to use for carnitas and tacos.
Best Way to Reheat Pulled Pork BBQ
While pulled pork BBQ from the Big Green Egg tastes the absolute best eaten fresh off the grill, sometimes you have no choice but to reheat it. We’ve found that it tastes best if you steam it over some apple juice to avoid it drying out too much.
Recipe adapted from biggreenegg.com
