OT: Pulled pork recipes?

[HuskyNan]

This is our first food-related thread of the off season. We're behind schedule...

So, my husband and sons like pulled pork sandwiches every now and then. I have a recipe that I make in my crock pot, however, I don't eat pulled pork so I don't know if it's good, bad, or somewhere in the middle. Last week, one of my sons went to a friend's house and had pulled pork there. He raved over it, said it was spicy. Apparently my recipe isn't as flavorful as the guys would like so I'm asking folks if they have a good pulled pork recipe, preferably one I can make in the crock pot (love the crock pot!). Anyone?

 

[winlots]

HN: will use this opportunity to say again what a nice job you and the mods have done with this forum. Thank you.

Other than delivering eulogies and visiting friends and family, and sometimes looking for a new pup, the thing I do most of all when down south is eat pulled pork BBQ. And I do have some recipes which I might be able to find; before I launch any search, can you and your men narrow down the scope a bit as their are many types of pulled pork sauces.

These vary not only from state to state. Within NC alone (that's North Carolina in this instance, not National Championships ) there are western and eastern regional differences. I see you specify "spicy." But, again, these are various kinds of spices. Do they want spicy as in "hot stuff," vinegary, mustardy, sweet, etc.....basically, can they provide any guidance as to what seems to tickle their tongues? (There is a great PA recipe for BBQ that I can find readily as it is a family recipe from the Appalachian and Amish/ "PA Dutch" communities, but it is ground beef based....FULL of flavor if interested.)

 

[CaptnWes]

Nan,
Sorry no slow-cooker recipe. I have tried some but the pork always come out fattier than I like.
This recipe sounds strange, with all the black pepper, but most everyone comes back for seconds.
CaptnWes (an ex-Wallingford-ite)
Pulled Pork


1 - 3½ to 4½ lb boneless pork butt or boneless Boston butt (they are the same).

A bone-in roast will work but (for some strange reason) it was not as flavorful.

A butt smaller than 3½ pounds will also work but there will be too much of a crust to meat ratio and that changes the overall flavor.

¼ cup McCormick brand pure ground black pepper (yes, ¼ cup is correct)

¼ cup Penzeys brand smoked paprika (regular paprika will work but doesn’t provide that Bar-B-Q flavor)

¼ cup turbinado sugar (sold as “Sugar in the Raw” brand)

2 tablespoons Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt

2 teaspoons Coleman's brand dry mustard

1 teaspoon Penzeys brand cayenne


1- Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl

2- Pierce pork butt surfaces thoroughly with a fork

3- Rub pork with about half the rub, cover all surfaces thoroughly. (Do this in a large roasting pan as the rub will go everywhere).

4- Place pork in plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.

5- Next morning, take out pork and re-rub with remaining rub.

6- Let sit at room temperature for 2 hours.

7- Adjust the oven rack to the lowest position.

8- Line roasting pan with foil (for easy clean-up), then place a rack in the roasting pan.

9- Pre-heat oven to 250-275º F. See Note below.

10- Roast the pork on rack in the roasting pan, uncovered, until falling apart tender. It will take 7-9 hours until it is done, the internal temperature of the pork, when done, should be between 195 and 200 degrees.

11- Pull pork apart with two forks.

Serve with KC Masterpiece Original barbeque sauce or your favorite barbeque sauce.


Serve with black beans and rice, corn bread and a Cole slaw.


Notes: 4 ½ lb. butt took 8½ hours at 275º F

3 ½ lb. butt took 8 hours at 275º F.

4 ¼ lb. butt took 8 hours at 275º F

2 ½ lb. butt took 7 hours at 250º F


Source: Adapted from www.recipezaar.com Recipe #26257 Mean Chef’s Pulled Pork

Yield: a 4½ lb roast serves six easily

 

[Icebear]

I prefer Carolina Style

 

[vtcwbuff]

I prefer Carolina Style

Ice - That's North Carolina style. IMO the best of the regional BBQ styles. My favorite pulled pork is straight off a split pig that's been roasting in a pig cooker for hours. Dipped in the Carolina style vinegar based sauce - as good as it gets. One of the few things I miss about living in the south.

HN - I don't think you can get a true pulled pork flavor from a crock pot. I put a dry rubbed pork butt on the grill for 6-8 hours at low temps 240-250. You can also cook it in the oven at low temps and put it on the grill for an hour or so to finish. I used to use a dry rub of my own concoction but recently tried a Bobby Flay rub recipe on some baby backs and found I like it more than my own. I haven't tried it on a pork butt yet.

1 tbs cumin
1 tbs smoked paprika
1 tbs granulated garlic
1 tbs granulated onion
1 tbs chili powder - I use ancho
1 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs kosher salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp white pepper - which I never have

I rub it into the pork, wrap in foil and refrig for at least 4 hours. I would do the same thing for a pork butt.

If your guys prefer a tomato based sauce I suggest a store bought like Sweet Baby Ray's or Bulls Eye original.

 

[Fightin Choke]

This is our first food-related thread of the off season. We're behind schedule...

So, my husband and sons like pulled pork sandwiches every now and then. I have a recipe that I make in my crock pot, however, I don't eat pulled pork so I don't know if it's good, bad, or somewhere in the middle.

Last week, one of my sons went to a friend's house and had pulled pork there. He raved over it, said it was spicy. Apparently my recipe isn't as flavorful as the guys would like so I'm asking folks if they have a good pulled pork recipe, preferably one I can make in the crock pot (love the crock pot!). Anyone?

I actually haven't tried this recipe yet, but I'm an avid chef and this magazine is my favorite cooking magazine (Fine Cooking). Even better, it's published in Newtown, CT! The recipe uses a crock pot and as the comments following the recipe suggest, I would add some chipotle pepper powder (1-2 tsp) or smoked paprika (1-2 tbsp) for more of a barbeque flavor. If your husband and sons want more kick, you can add some cayenne pepper (but the chipotle pepper is hot already, but most smoked paprika is not). Costco usually carries smoked paprika for a great price.

 

[HuskyNan]

Other than delivering eulogies and visiting friends and family, and sometimes looking for a new pup, the thing I do most of all when down south is eat pulled pork BBQ. And I do have some recipes which I might be able to find; before I launch any search, can you and your men narrow down the scope a bit as their are many types of pulled pork sauces.

I asked the guys what they mean by "spicy" and got three blank stares and two teenaged shrugs. My 18 year old did volunteer the term "barbeque-y"

 

[HuskyNan]

Notes: 4 ½ lb. butt took 8½ hours at 275º F

3 ½ lb. butt took 8 hours at 275º F.

4 ¼ lb. butt took 8 hours at 275º F

2 ½ lb. butt took 7 hours at 250º F

This is a great winter recipe. I'll try it then.

 

[winlots]

I asked the guys what they mean by "spicy" and got three blank stares and two teenaged shrugs. My 18 year old did volunteer the term "barbeque-y"

Chuckles here on that.....and I understand. Well, how are they on their colors if not their flavors. One huge basic is reddish or not. My own favorite (right up there alongside the PA mountain ground beef) is the style that is often found in the eastern portions of NC and SC......basically vinegar and hot pepper flakes at the core, with ample slaw on top of the meat....and plenty of extra sauce to add at the table. To my way of tasting, this IS a spicy sauce in terms of heat....and very nice flavor. (There are local variations which get into molasses ,etc) Not crock pot though. If interested, quickest avenue prob the net, searching "eastern Carolina BBQ" or similar. Good luck with this.

 

[triaddukefan]

Now this is my kinda thread

 

[DaddyChoc]

I did my first on a few months back... slow cooked for maybe 5hrs and pulled, thrown in the oven for an hour smothered in BBQ sauce. it was great but a lil too much meat for a small family.

 

[Icebear]

BTW, Nan, you must have missed the hotdog and hamburger thread.

http://the-boneyard.com/threads/ot-what-do-you-like-on-your-hamburgers-and-hot-dogs.41178/

 

[HuskerDo]

I won't exactly recommend this, because it's not at all convenient, but I do it once a year, and nothing else comes close. I slow cook a pork shoulder over wood for about 14 hours. It makes enough for several meals, plus a leftover that freeze very well. Here's how:
Buy a pork shoulder, the bigger and fattier the better. The one in my freezer now is 8 pounds. You need the fat to keep the outside of the shoulder from getting done too quickly, leaving the inside undercooked. The night before you plan to do it, pat the shoulder down with salt, pepper, and paprika, and ginger. Also, sometime before you start, find either wood chips, or preferably chunks. Pedagogy varies on what kind--I use a mixture of hickory and mesquite. But be aware--mesquite creates a great taste, but burns hot and keeping the heat down is the key to creating a good barbequed anything.
At around 7am, start the process. I use a large Weber. I put coals in the bottom of the grill and start them. At the same time, put your wood chips or chunks in water. That way they'll smolder rather than burn, and smoke is the basis of a barbecue. When the coals are hot, put the wood on. When you see smoke starting to come up, put the lid on, with a vent partially open.

While this is taking place, make a basting sauce, or "mop." I use three cans of beer, about an equal amount of cider vinegar, paprika, chile powder, and brown sugar. When you've gotten the heat on the grill fairly low, put the pork shoulder one. Remember: THE KEY IS KEEPING THE HEAT LOW. It is the smoke that cooks the pork.

After you put the pork on, mop the other side and turn it, putting the lid back on. You turn and mop about every half hour in the beginning, and then when you're sure the heat isn't too high, about every hour in the end. Yes, it's an all day process, but you don't have to stand over the grill every minute, and it's worth it. You turn, baste, adjust the heat by opening or closing the vent, add coal or wood if necessary, take the lid off if the fire and smoke seem to be dying, and drink lots of beer. In the end, it looks like a work of art. I usually take it off around midnight.

All you have to do is to keep the goal in mind: you are bathing it in smoke, not cooking it by the coals.
When it's off, you can let it cool overnight with a cloth over it. Then you tear off the fat and begin puling the pork apart--that's why it's called "pulled" as opposed to "chopped." If you haven't quite cooked it through (that happens), it's not cheating to stick it in the oven for an hour. And when you do, you'll be able to smell the 12-14 hours of smoke.

From there, you simmer it in a bbq sauce. I could tell you how I make mine, but it doesn't matter much. The flavor comes from the long smoking process. I know it sounds challenging, but oh my, is it worth it

 

[vtcwbuff]

I did my first on a few months back... slow cooked for maybe 5hrs and pulled, thrown in the oven for an hour smothered in BBQ sauce. it was great but a lil too much meat for a small family.

DaddyC - There is never too much pulled pork.

 

[TRest]

I've got a butt on the weber kettle right now. In the winter, I will do a half-size (3-4 lb) in the slow cooker. Put whatever rub you like on it, then either sear it quickly on all sides under a broiler or in a cast iron pan to get a little bark on it. Into the crock pot on a bed of sliced onions, 1/2 cup of beer or apple juice or even water. 6-8 hours on low, with an hour left take it out, shred it and discard as much fat as possible. Back in for last hour with a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce mixed in. Dinosaur BBQ Slathering Sauce is a great "spicy" one.

 

[pinotbear]

I asked the guys what they mean by "spicy" and got three blank stares and two teenaged shrugs. My 18 year old did volunteer the term "barbeque-y"

I'd guess that means more "vinegar" than "mustard" as a base.

 

[Kibitzer]

As the old sayin' goes, "What I make best for dinner is reservations."

I would not attempt to compete with, let alone to improve upon, some of the fine recipes for pulled pork already in this thread. My "recipe" is to go to Wilson's in Fairfield and do take-out with their fantastic pulled pork plus "Carolina cole slaw" and three-bean sides.

When the discussion turns to barbecue (no Q) chicken, I'll proudly share our "John Wayne BBQ," a killer recipe, aptly named.

 

[OkaForPrez]

No matter what you do for the sauce, I recommend you slow cook in rootbeer.

 

[Icebear]

Kib, don't you know The Duke don't do chicken.

 

[pinotbear]

No matter what you do for the sauce, I recommend you slow cook in rootbeer.

..whilst I stew slowly in Witbier..

 

[CBus13]

Hey Nan! Not sure if this would help but whenever my family eat pulled pork sandwiches we make this Texas Coleslaw and put it on the sandwiches which gives it a kick!

Ingredients-
1 1/4 cups mayo
1 tablespoon and 3/4 teaspoon lime juice
1 tablespoon and 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/4 teaspons cayenne pepper
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 1/4 medium heads green cabbage, rinsed and very tinly sliced
1 1/4 large carrot shredded
2 1/2 green onions, sliced
2 1/2 radishes, sliced.

Then in a large bowl, whisk together the mayo, lime juice, cumin, salt and pepper. Add cabbage, carrot, green onions and radishes and stir until well-combined. Chill at least an hour before serving!

Hope that helps! I think it's delicious!

 

[UConner]

There are a zillion recipes for the rub or the sauce, but the key is getting the pork butt so that it falls off the bone. Here is the trick. Pick your rub, put it on indirect heat on the grill, either gas or charcoal. Cook until the internal temp is 180-190F. Completely cover tightly in Al foil, then put it in a paper grocery bag and put it in the oven with no heat for an hour. The self steaming melts the fat and cartilage, and then as you cut it you literally can pull the bone out.

Believe me that is the trick to easy home pulled pork.

After that any sauce you like will do.