Smoked Pork Butt - A Classic Barbeque Dry Rub Recipe

If you are looking to do something different but at the same time traditional a smoke pork butt with barbeque dry rub is a great way to deliver smoked meat with great flavor cheaply and easily. All you need to pull this recipe off is some basic ingredients for the barbeque dry rub, charcoal and wood chips, a smoke, and about a 9 to 9 pound pork butt. Contrary to what people think, a pork butt is not the hind quarters of the pig. It is in fact the shoulder where the leg "butts" up against the shoulder blade. The meat here is extremely flavorful and works very well in smoker.

Steps To Making The Perfect Barbeque Dry Rub

The first thing you need to do is prepare the barbeque dry rub on the meat. While this barbeque rub recipe is not super complicated, it must be followed exactly to get the best results. Take 2 tablespoons of kosher or coarse salt, 2 teaspoons of ground black pepper, 2 teaspoons of paprika, 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves, 1 teaspoon granulated garlic, and a half a teaspoon of ground cumin and mix them in a nice size mixing bowl. After these are mixed thoroughly take the barbeque dry rub and rub the butt down thoroughly. Then place it in a pan and let it sit in the fridge overnight. This will greatly enhance the flavor of the pork and is an important step.

Once you are satisfied that the meat has absorbed as much flavor as possible, prepare your smoker. If you have never down this before it is again not a difficult process, but one that will take some time. Be sure that you get a smoker that has a thermometer on it. You want to get your smoker up to around 225 degrees minimum. For me the best spot is right around 240 degrees. Once the smoker has reached that temperature, place the butt I the smoker far side up and smoke until it is nice and tender. By placing it fat side up you let the fat juices work over and through the meat. You may need to turn it and mop it every two hours or so. Typical cooking time is 70 minutes per pound, or anywhere from 8-10 hours. You will know when the pork butt is ready because it will be fork tender. Check for tenderness and temperature in the meat area under or above the bone.

Once you have pulled it out, let it sit for about 30 minutes then with two forks pull the meat. Mix with barbeque sauce to taste and you are done.