Smoked Pork Roast

Smoked pork roast with dry rub for pork chops turns out fantastic. Super fork tender and pulled perfect for sliders, tacos or sliced for dinner. Try this yourself this week in a Traeger for your family or a large crowd for the holidays.

Smoked Pork Roast Recipe

There are many brands out there including Green Mountain and others but this is probably the most common. We have worked with a few different ones and will admit that this one holds the heat quite nicely, even in the snow season. When it comes to smoked pulled pork there’s no slicing involved, if you ask me.

It’s all about waiting until it is so tender that you can pull it apart with 2 dinner forks, period. Another must is using a killer dry rub. If you wanted to add sauce as well at the end that is up to you but not really necessary at all. Seriously, served as sliders for dinner these will be the hit of your next party.

There are a few choices when it comes to the word roast on a pig. If you look at a diagram you will see all the cuts. Loin will work too but are much leaner than this counterpart which you might think would be better but fat = flavor!! SO go for this chunk of a hunk, sortaspeak.

Ingredients

• A pork butt was used, my favorite cut with lots of fat to keep it moist
• Kosher salt is better than smaller granules
• 1 tbsp cumin gives it a kick
• Brown sugar for a bit of sweetness
• Oregano, paprika and basil are nice touches
• Adjust the amount of chili powder to your liking
• 2 tsp black peppercorns

We use some pepperoncinis even when we make this into Mississippi pork roast in the oven as well as a few other things in the pan itself when cooked such as;

• Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 c pineapple juice

Like I said, the seasonings are the most important part. We have a bunch of different dry rub recipes on our site but if you have your own special blend then by all means use that. Just don’t skip it!! This is a list of what was used on this go around here. Heat can be added with red pepper flakes or dry Sriracha if you want.

Tips

A trick to smoking meats is to first make sure that it is preheated before adding it. Another is that it is nice to start by sitting it straight on to the grates, that will give the outside some texture and sear. That means that it will lock in the moisture for the next several hours thereafter.

If you do add a sauce like we did here part way thru you might want to transfer it into a roasting pan or disposable aluminum pans are even better. If you do have a probe that is ideal, saves you from opening the lid more often than you need to. It’s not that it needs a lot more flavor but pack it on I say.

Is all we used whisked together and poured on top for the rest of the time. Gives it a bit more tang and ensures every inch stays super moist. If you didn’t want to add it you could instead fill a spray bottle with broth and spray every hour instead.

Prepare mop sauce by mixing together: your pineapple juice, whole grain yellow mustard, and apple cider vinegar. Set aside. This isn’t necessary but does add to the moisture, baste with broth if not using this every hour. Trim fat off of fat side so thickness is no more than 1⁄4 inch (or leave as is if you prefer).

How to Smoke a Pork Roast

• Mix together dry rub and peppercorns
• Blot outside of meat and rub all over pork butt.
• Set temperature and wait until it reaches a steady heat.
• Insert probes into each side of the cut of meat and plug into the smoker.
• Alternatively, have a meat thermometer probe handy.
• Place pork butt on smoker grill, fat side up.
• Smoke and mop sauce on so it doesn’t dry out, this is key.

How do you know pork roast is done?

The internal temperature of pork butt should read 190° when thoroughly cooked and at the point where you can easily pull apart with forks. 6-7 lbs. will typically take a total of 8-10 hours. Allow to rest, covered, for 30 minutes before pulling or slicing.

We have a digital probe that connects to our phone to tell us whether this or our smoked chuck roast is to temp and/or your pellets are running low too!! Game changer for us.

It will be hard to slice this if that is how you typically serve this cut of pork. When cooking low and slow like this or under high pressure like Instant Pot pork roast, the connective tissues will break down so it will literally just want to fall apart. That is what you want so don’t fight it.

What to do with leftovers

This is a great dish to serve to a crowd. It isn’t too expensive and you could add 2 at a time to your smoker. When done and rested shred inside a pan or two and add on to your buffet table. Then when done you can cover that tightly with foil and store the leftovers in the fridge.

Then toss with more sauce, pull to make 2 ingredient pulled pork the next day. We like those little sweet Hawaiian rolls cut in half with this in the middle. I like a little bit of crunch and cool so I always make a batch of blue cheese coleslaw to serve on top.

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