Do you love pulled pork, but don’t have all day to smoke it? Did you know you can get the same salivating results in about half the time? The hot and fast pulled pork method will shave hours off your cook time and give you that same taste you already love!
Hot n’ Fast Pulled Pork Video!
What About the Traditional Low and Slow Method?
Low and slow is still an excellent method to cook pulled pork. In fact, I have a recipe for it here on my blog. Hot and fast pulled pork is for those who either want to experiment with a new method and/or if you are in a bind for time but still want some smoke flavor infused.
The Prep
To get things going, get your grill to 350 degrees over indirect heat. Regarding smoking woods, any of the fruit woods will suffice. Even pecan wood is good with pork. For this recipe, I typically use cherry.
While the grill is heating up, take the pork butt out of the fridge and out of the packaging. The cut is also known as Boston butt or pork shoulder. If your packaging says any of these you’ll be fine. Typically, a pork butt will weigh five to seven pounds.
Apply spicy brown mustard on all sides of the meat. The spicy brown mustard is used both for flavor and as a binder for the seasoning. Speaking of, apply a generous amount of your favorite pork rub all over the meat. The prep is similar to that of my other pulled pork recipe on this blog. That’s it! The prep is super easy.
Hot and Fast Pulled Pork on the Grill
Now that the pork is prepped, it’s time to take it out to the grill. Place directly on the grill and keep it there until internal temp of meat reaches the 160 degree range. This will take a few hours. The best way to measure the temps is to use a digital meat thermometer, such as the Smoke X from Thermoworks. This gives you the option to gauge temps of both the grill and meat from the comfort of your couch.
When to Wrap Pulled Pork
Once temps reach the 160 degree range, it’s time to get ready for the next step. Take a 9×11″ foil pan and pour in enough orange juice and teriyaki sauce to barely cover the bottom of the pan. Roughly, a 1/2 cup of orange juice and 1/8 cup of teriyaki sauce. This mixture, combined with the natural juices from the pork, blend well together. Trust me.
Remove the pulled pork from the grill and place in the foil pan. Wrap the top with a double layer of aluminum foil, pinching around the edges of the pan. Doing this will trap the heat inside better and cook the pork faster. You can still track temp of meat by sticking probe in pork before wrapping. Another method is to poke probe through foil and into the meat, being careful to not get punctured foil into meat. Keep grill at the same 350 degree temp.
When is Pulled Pork Done Cooking?
The hot and fast pulled pork is done when the internal meat temp reaches the 200-203 degree range. Remove from the grill, pull back the foil, and let rest uncovered for 30-45 minutes. The pork still cooks internally for a little while after its removed from then heat. Resting uncovered helps the thick hunk of meat to cool down quicker and retain juices.
Shredding the Pulled Pork
Regarding shredding of the hot and fast pulled pork, I prefer to shred with my hands. Since the meat will still be quite hot, I use two layers of gloves. The base layer is a cheap pair of worker gloves and the top layer is a nitrile glove. This helps keep the hands insulated from the heat. Or you could use some meat claws instead. Either way, it’s satisfying to take something you’ve spent hours cooking and tearing it apart in seconds.
The OJ, teriyaki, and natural juices from the pork will all blend in as you shred the meat. This helps enhance the flavor and makes the pork more tender and moist (that word. Ugh). After trying this method, you may not go low and slow on pulled pork again!
What to Serve with This?
Looking for some BBQ side dishes to go with this? Check these out:
Elotes (Grilled Mexican Street Corn)
Dutch Oven Fries (Five Guys copycat)
Smoked Cream Cheese with Pepper Jelly
Hot and Fast Pulled Pork
The hot and fast pulled pork method will shave hours off your cook time and give you that same taste you know and love!
Ingredients
- 1 pork butt (about seven pounds)
- 1/8 Cup spicy brown mustard
- 1/4 Cup your favorite rub/seasoning
- 1 Tbsp teriyaki sauce
- 1/4 Cup orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat grill to 325 degrees with cherry wood over indirect heat. Spread spicy brown mustard over all sides of pork butt. Apply seasoning on all sides after.
- Place pork on grill for three hours or until internal temp of meat reaches the 160s. Mix orange juice and teriyaki sauce into 9x11" foil pan. Place pork butt in pan and wrap with foil. Put back on grill until internal meat temp reaches 203 degrees.
- Remove from grill, unwrap, and let rest for 30-45 minutes before shredding.
Notes
- While the recipe calls for cherry wood, feel free to use whichever smoking wood you prefer for pork.
- Cooking times may vary due to size of pork butt.
- During first three hours while pork is uncovered, feel free to spritz with 50/50 mix of apple juice and apple cider vinegar.
- Use a reliable digital thermometer to accurately measure temps.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 4 oz.Amount Per Serving: Calories: 210Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gCholesterol: 45mgSodium: 829mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 1gSugar: 20gProtein: 17g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
