Pulled Pork on a Gas Grill - Not That Hard

How to cook pulled pork on a gas grill? Not all of us have smokers. There are a lot of gas grills out there. Shouldn't we have pulled pork too. I say yes. Pulled pork for all... and with a little planning it is not that hard. Just plan enough time.

When I first tied this several years ago and it came out OK but really was somewhat under cooked. I only had 8 hours and it wasn't enough. So lesson learned. I did a test cooking the day before this cooking with ribs and balanced the grill temp to about 250. Having experimented with the ribs, I was ready to go the next morning.
So what do you need?
1) Pork. I ended up with a 4 1/2 pound Boston butt also know as a pork shoulder.
2) A gas grill with a lot of gas. I have natural gas so I'm good to go. If you are on a tank, start with a full one.
3) A rub. Whatever rub "yanks your chain" as they say. The rub should have some sugar, salt and various spices. Some cooks will rub it on the day before and refrigerate (I did since I had this planned) but others rub on an hour before the cooking and I believe this is good also.
4) Some method of smoking. I have a smoking box built in the my new grill. On my old grill, I used a cast iron smoking box. You could use an aluminum foil pack of wood chips.
5) A way to watch the temperature of the grill surface. I used an oven thermometer this time but I just got my new iGrill setup for my iPad and it is crying for a try out and a review. I hope I get to it soon.
6) Time... lots of time. I took 11 hours on the grill then a 2 hour rest before we ate.

Rate:

 Yep, I could live on pulled pork.

Notes:
I started the grill at about 7 AM and left for the hospital for 2 hours of rounds. While the grill was 250 when I left, it was 210 when I got home. It took another hour to get a steady 250 to 255. I tossed in another couple of cups of chips for more smoke. Then I didn't touch it for another 6 hours. Not even a temp check. So at 9 hours I had a grill steady at 255 and a pork shoulder that was at 170 plus minus in several locations. Another 2 hours (11 hours total) and I had 190 to 195. I wrapped it in double foil and placed in a small cooler for 2 hours.
Rub Notes:
As I said above, use the rub of your choice. I used a variation of Meathead's Memphis Dust from Amazing Ribs this time.  Look around and you will find thousand of variations all of which will work. There are many commercial rubs also.

Here is a simple rub from my 8:3:1:1 rub post and I included it in the recipe

• 8 T (1/2 cup) Brown sugar
• 3 T Kosher salt
• 1T chili powder
• 1 t black pepper
• 1 t onion powder
• 1 t garlic powder

Camera notes: 
Halfway though, my old reliable Sony F717 suddenly stopped sensing red, not good. I finished some pictures with a compact camera. They are OK but really not great and somewhat lacking. Sorry about that. The Sony is working again but today I have moved up to a Canon SLR. A new learning curve is ahead but the shopping had been fun. Hopefully you will notice the difference that will start to appear in a couple of posts.

Start with about a cup of  the rub of your choice. I used a variation from an Amazing Ribs rub but 8:3:1:1 would be great. See above for choices.

Jump in with your hands and apply the rib. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight if you can.

Soak some wood chips. These are hickory. Try to get at least one hour but overnight is OK. The moist chips should smoke longer.

Set up your gas grill for indirect cooking. This means the meat is not over direct heat. You will see a pan under the pork to catch any drippings. This is on the indirect heat side. The other side has a pan of water over the direct heat. Adjust the burners to get a steady 250 degrees.

Add the meat to the indirect side. I went with fat side up. Start your smoke. Here I added chips to my smoke box. You can you also apply smoke with a separate smoke box or an aluminum foil pouch with slits.

Cook at approximately 250 degrees until 190 minimum in all locations. 195 to 200 is fine. It took me 11 hours.

 Remove from the grill and wrap tightly in double sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil.

 Place in a cooler for 2 hours.

 Hand shred with a couple of forks. The bone should come out clean.

 Ain't it petty...

Pulled Pork on a Gas Grill - Not That Hard

by DrDan at 101 Cooking for Two July-15-2012

How to cook pulled pork on a gas grill? Not all of us have smokers. There are a lot of gas grill out there. Shouldn't we have pulled pork too. I say yes. Pulled pork for all... and with a little planning it is not that hard.

Ingredients

4-5 pounds Pork Shoulder about 1 cup rub of your choice or 8:3:1:1 3-4 cups wood chips type of your choice
    8:3:1:1 Rub

1/2 cup Brown sugar

3 T Kosher salt

1T chili powder

1 t black pepper

1 t onion powder

1 t garlic powder

Instructions

1) Start with about a cup of the rub of your choice. Jump in with your hands and apply the rib. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight if you can.2) Soak some wood chips. I used hickory. Try to get at least one hour but overnight is OK. The moist chips should smoke longer.3) Set up your gas grill for indirect cooking. This means the meat is not over direct heat. Place a pan under the grill grate on the indirect heat side. On the other side place a pan of water over the direct heat. Adjust the burners to get a steady 250 degrees.4) Add the meat to the indirect side. I went with fat side up. Start your smoke. I added chips to my built in smoke box. You can you also apply smoke with a separate smoke box or an aluminum foil pouch with slits.5) Cook at approximately 250 degrees until 190 minimum in all locations. 195 to 200 is better. It took me 11 hours.6) Remove from the grill and wrap tightly in double sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil. Place in a cooler for 2 hours.7) Hand shred with a couple of forks. The bone should come out clean.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 11 hour Total time: 13 hour Yield: 8 serving

Updated

June 30 2013

Dan Mikesell