Perfect Smoked Pulled Pork on the Pitts & Spitts: Seasoning To SERVING
Is the Smoke Cage Worth the Hype?
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Introduction
Smoked Pulled Pork With Real Wood on a Pellet Grill
What's up BBQ fans! Pulled pork is the first long smoke I tell everyone to do on a new smoker, and today it's my first pork butt on the Pitts & Spitts Maverick 2000. I also wanted to see if the smoke cage is worth the hype.
Why pulled pork first? It's very forgiving. Ribs can go from moist to dry in a heartbeat. With a pork butt, the worst thing that happens is you overcook it and it gets a little mushy. Let's get into it.
Pellets and Pork Matter
Someone commented recently that pellets don't matter. I've tested nine different brands, and there's 100% a difference in the quality of smoke they put out. Your pellets are your fuel and your flavor, so don't skimp. I run Bear Mountain Oak. I tried them on my own dime, liked them, and reached out about working together almost four years ago. I haven't looked back.
Same goes for the pork. This was a 9-lb heritage pork butt. With higher-quality pork (Berkshire, Kurobuta, heritage), you pull out almost nothing you don't want to eat. People buy prime and dry-aged steaks but forget that pork and chicken come in different qualities too.
The Prep
Trimmed one loose piece of fat and crosshatched the fat cap
Gave it a heavy coat of Grill Mates Memphis Pit BBQ Rub, my favorite for 15 to 20 years, pushing extra seasoning into the cuts in the fat cap
Let it sit 20 to 25 minutes on the counter until it turned a deep mahogany
The crosshatch matters: as the fat cap expands during the cook, that seasoning works its way into the meat. Let your rub sit at least 15 minutes (overnight is even better) so the salt can pull up moisture and the seasoning sticks. Put it straight on the pit and you'll often get a flaky bark.
Pro tip: the colder the meat, the better. I'll often park a butt in the bottom of my beer fridge for an hour before it goes on. Meat takes on smoke until it hits about 160 to 165°F, so the longer it stays cold, the deeper the smoke gets in.
The Setup
The smoke cage burns real wood chunks alongside the pellets. Here's how I got it going:
Two fire starters in the cage (one works, but two means no flameouts)
Big oak chunks stacked so they fall into each other as they burn down
Let it burn about 5 minutes before starting the pit
Started the Maverick with the lid open, as Pitts & Spitts recommends, and set it to 285°F
Why 285°F? I run the Pitts & Spitts original programming instead of the model-specific one. It puts out more smoke but runs about 20 to 30° cooler than the set point, so the pit actually sat around 250 to 260°F.
With the smoke cage in, the right side runs hotter, which is normal. I slid the heat deflector over to the edge of the firebox to even it out and set the butt on the second shelf, just left of center. There's room for about six butts on that shelf.
I probed it with my Typhur Sync Gold Dual (use code: RUMANDCOOK to save 10%), angling in to hit the center and stay off the bone, and set an alert for 204°F so I could track it from my watch.
The Cook
For the first 4 hours, I added a couple of oak chunks to the cage every 45 minutes
At 6.5 hours, it hit 163°F. I'd normally push to 175 to 180°F for extra smoke, but I had a date night with my wife, so I wrapped it tight in plain foil at 165°F
Just under 8 hours, it was done at 206 to 208°F
The big probe gets you close, but the final call is feel. I probed all over with my Typhur InstaProbe (use code: RUMANDCOOK to save 10%) until it felt like warm peanut butter everywhere, with no resistance. There's no magic finishing temperature. It's all about feel.
I rested it 30 minutes (you can get away with 15 if you're rushed). If you have time, an overnight rest in a 150 to 170°F oven is phenomenal. For a 170°F oven, let it sit on the counter for an hour first.
The Results
Let me tell you, it fell apart just picking it up. The bone slid out clean, and it shredded with no pressure at all. The color was great, and even with wood for just the first 4 hours, the smoke penetration was really good. I could easily have gotten more smoke in by feeding the cage longer.
Pro tip: wear cotton gloves under your nitrile gloves when you shred hot pork. They insulate your hands for a while. Shred in a container too, so you catch the rendered fat and mix it back in.
The only miss: I tore up the bottom a little pulling it off the grate because I didn't get all the way underneath it.
Final Thoughts
If you've got a new smoker, start here. Pulled pork is forgiving. On the Pitts & Spitts, the smoke cage is legit. Four hours of real oak on top of the pellets gave me great smoke flavor, and I'm super happy with it.
Next time, I'll feed the cage longer and ride it to 175 to 180°F before wrapping. Tomorrow, this becomes a big pulled pork sandwich with vinegar sauce. The dogs will get their share too.
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Thanks For Watching
Whether you’re a seasoned pitmaster or a novice, these tips will enhance your cooking skills and leave your family and friends raving about your delicious, smoky creations. Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more step-by-step videos, and let’s together become the barbecue heroes we were meant to be!
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