Chopped BBQ Recipe: Tips for Making Chopped BBQ

Chopped barbecue consists of a large cut of meat—typically pork—cooked until tender in a smoker, grill, slow cooker, or Dutch oven, then chopped into bite-sized pieces. A staple of North Carolina–style barbecue sandwiches and platters, pitmasters typically serve the slow-cooked meat as-is or tossed in a tangy, vinegary barbecue sauce. Classic pork BBQ side dishes like coleslaw, potato buns, cornbread, and potato salad make perfect accompaniments for this flavorful, tender meat dish.

Whether you’re a grilling master or novice, follow these tips to make the best version of this pork barbecue recipe.

1. 1. Pick the right cut of meat. Fresh pork shoulder roast or Boston butt (with a bright red color and lots of marbling) are the best cuts of pork for chopped barbecue. Steer clear of tough cuts that appear dull or grey.
2. 2. Keep the temperature consistent. Monitor the grill or smoker’s temperature throughout the cooking process. Significant dips in temperature could result in unevenly cooked meat with a dry or burnt surface and a cold or undercooked center.
3. 3. Use a meat thermometer. The amount of time required to cook your chopped barbecue meat will depend on the size of your pork roast and the grill. Use a high-quality meat thermometer inserted into the pork as your guide, rather than the clock. Typically, at the recommended 225-degree Fahrenheit temperature, the pork will take an estimated two hours per pound to cook to an internal temperature of just beneath 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. 4. Incorporate different seasonings and sauces. Adjust the chopped barbecue spice blend to include your favorite seasonings and herbs. Incorporate spicier additions to your pork shoulder dry rub, like red pepper flakes, chili powder, and ground peppers for an added kick (or rub the meat with hot sauce for extra heat). Cover the pork with Worcestershire sauce or yellow mustard before sprinkling on the seasonings for added moisture and tang. Using a spray bottle, spritz the pork intermittently with bourbon, apple juice, or apple cider vinegar during cooking to add moisture. Alternatively, brush the meat with your favorite BBQ sauce or vinegar towards the end of cooking for Carolina-style tanginess.

Pulled pork and chopped barbecue are both flavorful, tender, low-and-slow barbecue preparations made with fatty cuts of pork like Boston butt. However, there are some notable differences between these two preparations: the texture of the meat and the type of sauce that cooks use to dress the protein.

Most cooks will prepare a pulled pork recipe using barbecue sauce to dress the shredded meat. Conversely, it’s common to serve chopped barbecue as-is, though some prefer to dress it in barbecue sauce.

Chopped barbecue and pulled pork have equally tender textures, but the former gets chopped roughly into bite-sized chunks, and the latter gets shredded into long, thin, tender fibers.