How to Make Pulled Pork

Pulled pork is part one of the Holy Trinity of American barbecue (the other two members are smoked brisket, and barbecued ribs). Its birthplace is the Carolinas, where pork shoulders are slow roasted over smoky hickory or oak embers until they’re so tender you can pull them apart with your fingers—which is precisely what you do. Wood smoke is the soul of pulled pork; its beneficent presence is recognizable by the smoke ring, a reddish layer just below the surface of the meat. This smoke ring is the signature of a master pit boss. Follow the technique here and you’ll achieve it, too.