While you can certainly go
whole hog for most people and most occasions, you just don't need that much meat. The best cut to use for pulled pork is the whole pork shoulder. Weighing in at around 16 pounds, the shoulder produces a lot of meat. Fortunately, you can get this one piece in one of two cuts, the Boston Butt and the Picnic. The most commonly used piece for barbecue competitions is the Boston Butt. This pork roast has ample fat content and has a good uniform shape (basically a square block).
Prepare your pork roast by trimming off any loose pieces of meat or fat, without radically changing its shape. Pulled pork tends to be pretty forgiving and since the meat will be shredded at the end any bone, fat or gristle will be removed then.
Give the meat a rinse in cold water and then pat dry (as dry as you can).
