Boston Butt/Pulled Pork

This an easy recipe that is relatively inexpensive and is a crowd-pleaser.

Brine:

8 ounces molasses
9 ounces pickling salt
around 2 quarts of water

Buy an 8-10 pound bone-in pork Boston butt or butt shoulder roast.  Place it in the brine the night before you plan to smoke it (let it soak at least 8 hours).  The butt needs to be fully submerged in the brine so add some water if necessary.  You will need a kitchen scale (around 5-10$ on Amazon) because you want to go off of weigh instead of volume.  Pickling salt dissolves in cold water so I recommend using it.  Also, molasses dissolves in cold water and it won't lump up like white sugar.

Remove the butt from the brine and pat dry and cover with your Pork Dry Rub (see previous post).  Let it warm up to room temperature as your smoker is heating.

Heat the smoker to 225 Fahrenheit.  I recommend a charcoal/wood smoker. I use oak because I have a lot around the house (Stick with fruit and nut bearing trees and you'll be fine).  Make sure the oxygen is limited so the wood doesn't catch on fire; you only want it to smolder.  Any smoker will cook the meat but I like the rich, robust smoke flavor from a combustible heat source, but of course to each their own!

Smoke the butt with the fat cap down and smoke until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 Fahrenheit. Meat won't absorb additional smoke past around 160 Fahrenheit so it is better to wrap it so it stays moist.  Remove the butt from the smoker and wrap it in foil. Place it back on the smoker with the fat cap down and smoke until it reaches an internal temperature of 195-200 Fahrenheit.

Let it sit for 20 minutes to cool off so you can shred the meat.  You should be able to remove a "clean" bone easily.  Enjoy!