Oklahoma Barbecued Chopped Pork

By DreiFromBK

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon white pepper
• 1 bone-in pork shoulder roast (6 to 8 pounds) (see note)
• 4 cups wood chips (see note), soaked for 15 minutes

Details

Servings 8
Adapted from cookscountry.com

Preparation

Step 1

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Many recipes for Oklahoma-style barbecued pork called for gargantuan pork shoulders weighing in at around 16 pounds. We opted for the more modest pork butt in our recipe. To prevent the need to refuel every two hours, we used an untraditional method to build the fire. We dumped unlit coals onto wood chips on one side of the grill, added more wood, then placed lit coals on top.

If you can’t find bone-in pork shoulder, use a 4- to 5-pound boneless roast and begin checking for doneness after 1 hour in step 3. We like hickory wood chips best for this recipe; avoid mesquite. If you’re lucky enough to have pan juices at the end of step 3, you can defat them and add them back to the chopped pork.

Combine brown sugar, paprika, 1 tablespoon salt, 2 tablespoons black pepper, and white pepper in small bowl. Pat pork dry with paper towels and rub spice mixture all over pork. (Pork can be covered in plastic wrap and refrigerated for 24 hours.)

Tightly seal 2 cups wood chips in foil packet and cut vent holes in top of packet. Repeat with remaining chips. Open bottom vent on grill halfway. Place foil packet on 1 side of grill and cover with about 50 unlit coals. Place second foil packet on unlit coals. Light about 75 coals; when they are covered with fine gray ash, carefully pile on top of second foil packet. Set cooking grate in place and heat, covered, with lid vent open halfway, for 5 minutes. (For gas grill, add ½ cup ice cubes to 1 foil packet. Place both packets directly on primary burner. Heat all burners on high, covered, for 15 minutes. Turn primary burner to medium-high and shut other burner[s] off. During grilling, adjust primary burner as needed to maintain grill temperature between 275 and 300 degrees.) Scrape and oil cooking grate. Arrange pork on cool side of grill and barbecue, covered, until pork is lightly charred and smoky, about 4 hours.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Transfer smoked pork to roasting pan and cover pan tightly with foil. Bake until pork is tender and pulls away from bone, 2 to 3 hours. Remove from oven and let rest, covered, for 30 minutes.

Uncover pork and place on cutting board. When meat is cool enough to handle, pull into large chunks. Roughly chop pork and transfer to large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. (Pork can be refrigerated in -airtight container for 3 days.) Serve with Oklahoma Barbecue Sauce and Relish.

This recipe is best on a charcoal grill, but if gas is your only option, here's how to make it work.

Add 1⁄2 cup of ice cubes to one of the foil packets of wood chips to slow down the smoke. To get the smoke started, place these packets over the primary burner when the grill is heating.

To ensure four hours of low heat and constant smoke without refueling, we developed the following method.

Gently smoke the pork on the cool side of the grill, covered and undisturbed, for four hours. Meanwhile, make the sauce and relish.