Thirteen Hour 8.5lb Pork Butt

I've been obsessing over perfecting pulled pork and trying out different rubs. This one was inspired by a post I saw awhile back featuring a "gunpowder" rub. I bought the first one I saw on Amazon, (no offense to) Jess Pryles Hardcore Carnivore BLACK Beef Seasoning. The activated charcoal intrigued me. I didn't hesitate to put it on the pork butt because A.) I've seen others use this stuff on pork and B.) it says on the label that it can be applied to any red meat. Anyway, I applied a liberal amount while preheating my BGE for indirect 225-250°F (I made sure it never crept up above 300° during my whole cook) with drip pan under the grate full of an apple cider vinegar, red pepper flake, salt, pepper mixture.


Originally, I intended to Texas Crutch at 160°F internal but I started this butt at 9:15PM and ended up having to add a new load of charcoal at around 2:30AM, so once I had it back on the grate and back up to temp., I decided to just let it ride.
This is what it looked like after nine hours:

At around 8:00AM, it stalled at 190°F internal for about an hour and a half. Finally, at close to 9:45AM, it hit 198°F so I pulled and wrapped in butcher paper. I then wrapped that up in a beach towel and shoved it into my Yeti, and zipped it up to rest for two whole hours.

When two hours was up, I unwrapped it.

I used a latex glove over one of my garden gloves to shred it by hand and was not displeased! This might be my best work to date. It's extremely moist and there isn't an ounce of inedible meat. Also, there doesn't seem to be any fat left on it. I'm impressed by the intense flavor and am now a big fan of the activated charcoal (gunpowder) rub. Not sure if I will Texas Crutch again anytime soon. LET IT RIDE.