Smoked Fennel, Rosemary and Lemon Pulled Pork

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A Mediterranean take on low-and-slow pulled pork: a bone-in pork shoulder rubbed with crushed fennel seed, rosemary, garlic and lemon zest, then smoked over olive or oak wood at 250°F until it probes tender at 203°F. Eight mostly hands-off hours give you a dark, fragrant bark and juicy shreds you can pile into pita with yogurt and tomatoes, or serve over lemony potatoes. Nothing to make from scratch, no mopping every ten minutes — just fire, wood and patience.

Ingredients

• 6 lb bone-in pork shoulder (Boston butt)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
• 1 tbsp dried rosemary, crumbled
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp coarse black pepper
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 lemons, juiced (zest one first for the rub)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Pat the pork shoulder dry and rub it all over with the olive oil. Mix the kosher salt, crushed fennel seeds, rosemary, garlic powder, black pepper, red pepper flakes and lemon zest in a small bowl, then press the mixture over every surface, including the underside and the seams. Let it sit at room temperature while the smoker comes up to heat, about 45 minutes.
2. Set up your smoker for indirect cooking at 250°F using olive wood or oak chunks (2 to 3 fist-sized chunks, added to hot coals or the wood tray). Aim for thin blue smoke, not thick white smoke; fill the water pan if your smoker has one.
3. Place the pork fat side up directly on the grate and smoke undisturbed for 3 hours. Meanwhile, stir the apple cider vinegar with the juice of 1 lemon and 1/2 cup water in a spray bottle or jar.
4. After hour 3, spritz or brush the pork with the vinegar mixture every 45 minutes, adding a fresh wood chunk if the smoke has died out. Keep going until the bark is dark mahogany and firm and an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part reads 165°F, about 5 hours total.
5. Lay out two long sheets of heavy-duty foil, set the pork in the middle, pour over 1/2 cup of the remaining spritz liquid and wrap tightly. Return to the smoker and cook until the thermometer reads 203°F and a probe slides into the meat with no resistance, 2 1/2 to 3 hours more.
6. Leave the pork wrapped and rest it in a cooler or a turned-off oven for at least 45 minutes (up to 2 hours). Do not skip this — it is what keeps the meat juicy.
7. Open the foil over a tray, pull out the blade bone (it should slide free), and shred the meat with two forks. Toss with the collected juices, the juice of the remaining lemon and the parsley, then taste and add salt if needed.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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