BBQ pulled pork on the Big Green Egg

Published 26 May 2026 · Last updated 30 September 2026 · By Ben Austen

Pulled pork in a pile on a steel tray, with the shoulder bone and some dark bark to one side
June: pulled the next morning.
  • Prep5 min
  • Cook13 hr
  • Serves12
  • DifficultyMedium
  • Temperature110°C (230°F) indirect, deflector in. Off at 93°C (199°F).

You can’t rush BBQ pulled pork. This 3.3 kg bone-in shoulder from Graham Turner took just under 13 hours on my Big Green Egg, at 110°C (230°F) indirect over three small chunks of oak, with no wrap, before it reached 93°C (199°F) in the middle. Then it spent the night in foil and tea towels in a cold oven, and in the morning it pulled apart easily.

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Ingredients

  • About 3.3 kg bone-in pork shoulder
  • SPG rub: black pepper, salt and garlic granules at 2 : 1 : 0.5 by volume, a lot of it
  • To finish: salt and a splash of cider vinegar
3.3 kg bone-in pork shoulder from Graham Turner Family Butchers, trimmed and seasoned with SPG rub (salt, pepper, garlic granules) before going on the BGE Large kamado for the 14 June 2026 cook two.

Equipment

  • A barbecue that holds 110°C (230°F) indirect with the lid down for 13 hours. I use my Big Green Egg Large with the ConvEGGtor (ceramic deflector) and a drip tray on top of it.
  • A leave-in probe thermometer.
  • Lump charcoal and three small chunks of oak.
  • Foil, clean tea towels, and an oven you can leave switched off overnight.

Method

  1. Rub it all over
  2. Set the barbecue up indirect at 110°C (230°F)
  3. Put it on fat cap up, with a probe in
  4. Leave it alone until it reads 93°C (199°F)
  5. Wrap it and rest it overnight
  6. Pull it, then season
The morning unwrap at around 07:55 BST — the bone-in pork shoulder pulled from the overnight faux-cambro, fat cap rendered through, residual heat around 50°C, ready to shred cleanly across the whole joint.

Key takeaways

  • Start early. Mine went on at 10am and came off at quarter to eleven at night. You can’t do a shoulder this size in five hours.
  • It will sit still for hours in the middle. Mine went from 75°C (167°F) to 80°C (176°F) in about four hours, and was stuck on 78°C (172°F) for over an hour of that. I left it alone.
  • No wrap and no spritz. It goes on, the lid stays shut, and it comes off when it’s done.
  • Finish it with salt and vinegar. When I pulled it the next morning it needed a bit more salt and a splash of vinegar over it.

The cook, in full

I did this with a 3.3 kg bone-in shoulder from Graham Turner Family Butchers. The recipe is written for that size.

The rub is my SPG at 2 : 1 : 0.5 by volume, black pepper, salt and garlic granules. I use a lot of it. It’s a big piece of meat and you can’t really over-season it, so be liberal and get it on every side.

I set the Egg up indirect at 110°C (230°F), with the ConvEGGtor (ceramic deflector) in and a drip tray on top of it. For smoked pulled pork I use three small chunks of oak on lump charcoal.

The shoulder goes on straight from the fridge, fat cap up. Mine was 8°C (46°F) in the middle when it went on at 10am. I put a leave-in probe in the deepest part of the meat, not touching the bone.

In the first 45 minutes the Egg drifted up to about 125°C (257°F), so I shut the top vent almost all the way to bring it down. After that I went out for the afternoon and left it.

A pork shoulder coated in a pepper rub on the grate of a Big Green Egg, with a probe wire and a foil drip tray below
June: on the Egg with the probe in.

When I got back just after 4pm it was at 75°C (167°F). Then it barely moved. It was still at 78°C (172°F) at half seven, and it got to 80°C (176°F) just after 8pm. From there it sped up again: 89°C (192°F) by half nine and 92°C (198°F) just after 10pm.

I checked the charcoal while it was sitting there and there was plenty left, so I didn’t add any.

The pork shoulder on the grate of the Egg, dark on the outside, with a foil drip tray under it
June: just after 7pm, still sitting at 78°C (172°F).

I took it off at 22:46 at 93°C (199°F). The probe went in smooth as butter. It was too late to pull it that night, so I double-wrapped it in foil, wrapped that in clean tea towels, and put it in the oven, switched off, until the morning.

A foil-wrapped pork shoulder on a steel tray with a checked tea towel over it
June: foil and tea towels, then into the switched-off oven.

At 7:30 the next morning it was still slightly warm, and it pulled apart easily. The fat cap almost exploded as I pulled it, and the fat went all the way through the meat.

The whole cooked pork shoulder unwrapped on foil, with a dark peppery bark and the bone showing at the top
June: unwrapped the next morning.

It needed a little more salt, and a splash of vinegar over it. I use cider vinegar. I’d do both before serving.

What to serve with pulled pork

I usually put pulled pork out as part of a big barbecue platter, with things like sausages, frankfurters, chicken thighs, roasted veg and a couple of salads. A 3.3 kg shoulder would feed about 12 people, maybe more.

What I learned

Give it the time. The first time I did pulled pork, in May, I used a smaller supermarket shoulder that came in three pieces, at the same 110°C (230°F). After about nine hours none of it was done, and only one piece pulled properly the next morning. The rest got chopped up for sandwiches. In June I put it on first thing and let it go as long as it needed.

Variations

Any barbecue that holds 110°C (230°F) indirect with the lid down for 13 hours will do this. I’ve only done it on the Egg.

Related

FAQ

What’s the best way to make BBQ pulled pork?

I rub a bone-in shoulder with a lot of SPG and cook it at 110°C (230°F) indirect on my Big Green Egg over three small chunks of oak, with no wrap, until it reads 93°C (199°F). Then I wrap it in foil and tea towels, leave it in a switched-off oven overnight, and pull it in the morning with a bit more salt and some vinegar.

How long to smoke pulled pork?

My 3.3 kg bone-in shoulder took 12 hours 46 minutes at 110°C (230°F), then rested for about 9 hours overnight. Go by the probe, not the clock.

Can you smoke pulled pork in 5 hours?

Not at 110°C (230°F). You definitely can’t do a shoulder this size in five hours. Mine took nearly 13.

What temperature is pulled pork done?

The pulled pork temperature I go by is 93°C (199°F) in the middle, and only when the probe slides in easily. Mine did both at the same time.

What liquid should you use for pulled pork?

I don’t use any. No spritz, and no wrap during the cook. The only liquid is the splash of vinegar at the end.

Can I cook pulled pork on a barbecue?

Yes. You need a barbecue that holds a low temperature, indirect, with the lid down for most of a day. I did mine at 110°C (230°F) on my Big Green Egg.

Disclosure and provenance

I cooked this on my own Big Green Egg Large, paid for the shoulder from Graham Turner Family Butchers, and bought the ThermoPro probe myself. Smoke and Lump has no commercial relationship with Graham Turner and earns nothing from this recipe.

Sourced from the 14–15 June 2026 cook log — a 3.3 kg bone-in shoulder on the Big Green Egg Large, plus one line from the 21 May cook.