For my daughter’s graduation party, I wanted something that could serve a lot of people over the course of an afternoon and evening with little time and attention needed. A couple large pork shoulders (called pork butts) cooked in a pellet grill seemed like a great solution. Most of the preparation could take place the day before, and other things like pork could be left in the grill until needed without fear of the meat getting dry. However, once I started researching how to make pulled pork, I found that there are a number of different opinions on the “proper” way to make it. Pork butts are usually rather large making trying different techniques difficult in a household of one without wasting food. Therefore, I ended up finding some common themes across several different sources and focusing on those. The results were very good even from a complete novice.
I have make pulled pork a couple more times since the graduation party trying some different things, but not finding any major differences in the end result. The pork freezes well in 1qt vacuum-sealed freezer bags, and can be reheated in the microwave. While I may continue to try different things with the preparation or cooking method (such as in the oven), what is provided here is my current go-to technique.
I call this a technique instead of a recipe as there are too many variables with the grill and size of the protein. The end result is very flexible in that you can use it in sandwiches with or without BBQ sauce (see Tangy BBQ Sauce) and/or Cole slaw (see Mustard Cole Slaw), add it to chili (see Three Bean Chili), toss it with some greens and vegetables for a pulled pork salad, or just eat it plain.
A full written recipe may be found here: https://cook.karylstein.com/g/family/r/pellet-grill-pulled-pork