Smoked Pork Butt with Honey Barbecue Sauce

This honey barbecue sauce is tangy, smokey and finger-licking good. It’s perfect whether you are shredding a smoked pork butt for a sandwich or enjoying it with some chicken. Got leftovers? Find leftover pulled pork recipes here.

My family loves pulled pork and we have tried it so many ways. Whether it is crispy pulled pork in the oven or slow cooker beer braised pork carnitas we happily eat it all.

And of course, we have leftovers – that’s the best part! We make pulled pork sandwiches, of course, but also loaded tater tots and pulled pork pizza!

But my kids especially love eating smoked pulled pork.

Smoked Pulled Pork Ingredients

• Pork roast: You can also use a a pork shoulder or Boston butt (which is from the high part of the pig’s shoulder, above the shoulder blade and not the actual butt of the pig). You can also use the picnic shoulder, or picnic ham, is a shoulder cut with the shank attached. This cut is cheaper than the other cuts because it requires less work butchering it, and it contains more bone. You can go bone-in or boneless, but remember this adjusts the cooking time. But the cooking process is the same.
• Seasonings: Sometimes we keep it simple with just kosher salt and pepper. I like using kosher salt as it is less salty and the flakey nature of the salt melts easier, creating a nice crust on the exterior. Sometimes we season it up with paprika, garlic powder and onion powder.
• Brown sugar: A little brown sugar with barbecue pork is so delicious. With the size of the roast, this is not a lot of sugar.
• Onions and water: You place the roast in a roasting pan with onions and water. As it smokes, the water adds steam and moisture. You can also use apple juice instead of water. This also becomes the basting liquid you use for the roast, so use apple juice if you want more flavor.

Honey Whiskey Barbecue Sauce Ingredients

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• Extra virgin olive oil: I primarily cook with extra virgin olive oil. Since you are only sautéing onions, you could use any neutral oil instead.
• Onion: Use brown, white or yellow onions.
• Garlic: I prefer to use fresh garlic. You can use shallots, too instead of garlic and onions.
• Liquid smoke: This is a fabulous way to add smokiness to your foods and is perfect for homemade barbecue sauce. You can also use a little mesquite powder. I found it at a spice shop and very little really adds some amazing smokiness.
• Whiskey: You can use any whiskey you like to drink or you can use bourbon or cognac. For a non-alcoholic substitute use apple juice.
• Cider vinegar: The tang of this sauce comes from my favorite apple cider vinegar.
• Pantry staples: Tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, honey and Dijon mustard.
• Seasonings: Paprika, red chile powder and salt.

Step-by-step directions

1. Prep the roast. About 12-24 hours prior to grilling, cut the fat cap on your pork roast in a cross hatch pattern. Avoid cutting into the meat. Mix together brown sugar and salt in a bowl. Apply the rub all over the pork roast, including into the crevices of the cross hatched fat cap.
2. Marinate. Double wrap the roast in plastic wrap and place it on a baking sheet or place in a large resealable plastic bag. Refrigerate for 12-24 hours. Remove roast from refrigerator approximately 1 hour prior to grilling.
3. Prep roast for grilling. Slice the onion into ¼-inch round rings and place on the bottom of a roasting pan. Add enough water to cover onions. You can also use apple juice, which we have also done. Place the rack on top of the onions. Rub black pepper all over roast then place on top of roasting pan, with fat cup facing up.
4. Prep the grill. If using a charcoal grill, fill coal chimney full with natural mesquite lump charcoal and add to one side of the grill. Mix in half a chimney full of lit, hot briquettes with the non-lit briquettes. Add 3-4 chunks of hickory wood for smokey flavor.

4. Smoke the roast. Bring grill temperature up to 275ºF with the coals placed to the side. Place roast opposite of hot coals for indirect cooking. Cover grill and cook 5-6 hours or until internal temperature reaches 190ºF, adding hot coals as needed.
5. Baste. Every hour, baste roast with pan drippings. This is very important so set your timer so you don’t forget.
6. Let the roast rest. Once roast reaches 190ºF internal temperature, remove the grill, wrap in heavy duty foil and allow to rest for 1 hour.
7. Make the bbq sauce. Sauté the onions in olive oil until softened. Stir in garlic and cook for an additional minute. Reduce heat to low then add remaining ingredients. Simmer sauce for 20 minutes then serve warm or chill for later use.

Expert tips and recipe FAQs

We smoked our pork butt and other meats in our kamado grill. We bought a Big Steel Keg and have used it for everything. It works great for smoked brisket sandwiches or even grilled porterhouse steaks.

When it comes to low and slow cooking projects, we invested in another tool which we found priceless. For a big 10-pound pork shoulder roast, it took about 6-hours to cook, plus an hour of rest.

When we needed to keep the heat consistent all this time our CyberQ bbq temperature controller, WIFI meat thermometer for the grill, was a life saver. This baby runs a little fan to control the heat in your grill. It also sends you texts/emails so you can control it via wifi, too. Priceless.

Looking for another unique barbecue sauce? Try the orange bbq sauce I include in my orange pulled pork recipe.

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Smoked Pork Butt with Honey Whiskey Barbecue Sauce

Laura Bashar | Family Spice

This honey barbecue sauce is tangy, smokey and finger-licking good. It's perfect whether you are shredding a smoked pork butt for a sandwich or enjoying it with some chicken.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 hours hrs

Additional Time 13 hours hrs

Total Time 1 day d 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 8

Calories 8974 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Smoked Pulled Pork Ingredients

• 1 8-10 lb pork shoulder roast
• ½ cup kosher salt
• ½ cup brown sugar packed
• 2 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 medium onion

Honey Whiskey Barbecue Sauce Ingredients

• 2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup onion diced
• 3 garlic cloves crushed
• 15 oz tomato sauce canned
• ¾ cup honey
• ½ cup Worcestershire sauce
• ⅓ cup whiskey
• ¼ cup cider vinegar
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon red chile powder

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

 

• About 12-24 hours prior to grilling, cut the fat cap on your pork roast in a cross hatch pattern. Avoid cutting into the meat.
• Mix together brown sugar and salt in a bowl. Apply the rub all over the pork roast, including into the crevices of the cross hatched fat cap.
• Double wrap the roast in plastic wrap, place it on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.
• Remove roast from refrigerator approximately 1 hour prior to grilling.
• Slice the onion into ¼-inch round rings and place on the bottom of a roasting pan. Add enough water to cover onions, the place grate on top of the onions.
• Rub black pepper all over roast then place on top of roasting pan, with fat cup facing up.
• If using a charcoal grill, fill chimney full with natural mesquite lump charcoal and add to one side of the grill.
• Mix in half a chimney full of lit, hot briquettes with the non-lit briquettes. Add 3-4 chunks of hickory wood for smokey flavor.
• Bring grill temperature up to 275ºF with the coals placed to the side.
• Place roast opposite of hot coals for indirect cooking. Cover grill and cook 5-6 hours or until internal temperature reaches 190ºF, adding hot coals as needed.
• Every hour, baste roast with pan drippings.
• Once roast reaches 190ºF internal temperature, remove the grill, wrap in heavy duty foil and allow to rest for 1 hour.
• While the roast rests, make the honey whiskey barbecue sauce. In a saucepan over medium heat add olive oil and sauté onions until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for an additional minute.
• Reduce heat to low then add remaining ingredients.Simmer sauce for 20 minutes then serve warm or chill for later use.

Notes

TO STORE: Store any leftover pork in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Store your cooled homemade barbecue sauce in a mason jar or resealable container. It will keep like this in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftover smoked pork. Transfer to a resealable bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 8974kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 705gFat: 648gSaturated Fat: 238gPolyunsaturated Fat: 349gCholesterol: 2722mgSodium: 7454mgFiber: 1gSugar: 28g

Keyword honey whiskey barbecue sauce, smoked pork butt, smoked pork shoulder, smoked pulled pork, whiskey barbecue sauce

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Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.

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