• Make-Ahead
• Staff Favorite

Ingredients

1. 1/4 cup Garlicky Barbecue Marinade
2. One 8-pound pork butt, skin removed
3. 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Seven-Spice Dry Rub
4. 4 cups hickory or other hardwood chips, soaked in water
5. Cider Mop Spray
6. 1/2 cup pan drippings or water
7. 2 cups Sweet and Sticky Barbecue Sauce
8. Hamburger buns, sliced raw onion and hot sauce, for serving
9. Crunchy Coleslaw with Cayenne and Toasted Caraway Seeds

Directions

1. Rub the Garlicky Barbecue Marinade all over the pork and refrigerate overnight.
2. Bring the meat to room temperature and sprinkle with the Seven-Spice Dry Rub.
3. Light a charcoal fire in a covered grill. Set up the grill for indirect grilling: When the temperature reaches 225°, carefully push the hot coals to one side and place a drip pan filled with 1 cup of water on the opposite side. Alternatively, bring a smoker to 225°. Put the pork shoulder over the drip pan and cover the grill; you'll need to cook the pork for about 8 hours total. Maintain the temperature at 225° by replenishing the charcoal with a fresh batch of burning coals every hour. Every hour, drain 1/2 cup of the wood chips and scatter them over the hot coals. Add more water to the drip pan when half of it is evaporated.
4. After the first 6 hours, spray the pork shoulder with the Cider Mop Spray every 30 minutes and continue to cook for about 2 hours longer, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat registers 195°. Transfer the pork shoulder to a roasting pan and let it rest for 30 minutes.
5. Skim most of the fat from the liquid in the drip pan. Measure out 1/2 cup and transfer to a small saucepan. Add the Sweet and Sticky Barbecue Sauce and bring to a simmer. Scrape any excess fat from the pork shoulder. With 2 forks, remove the meat from the shoulder and pull it into long, thick shreds. Discard the fat and bones. Add the diluted Sweet and Sticky Barbecue Sauce to the roasting pan and simmer very gently, without stirring too much, until heated through. Serve with the buns, sliced onions, hot sauce and the Crunchy Coleslaw with Cayenne and Toasted Caraway Seeds.

Make Ahead

The barbecued pork shoulder can be refrigerated overnight in the roasting pan with a little water. Cover with foil and bake at 325° until heated through, about 1 1/2 hours, before proceeding.