Pulled Pork with Carolina BBQ Sauce Recipe
Just like Friday night football, sweet tea and fried green tomatoes, pork is it’s own religion in the south…and with good reason. Pork was always a cheaper cut of meat that most families could afford. In a southern kitchen, you will find it in each meal during the day. It can be the ham on your biscuit for breakfast, or the sausage in your gravy to coat your biscuits. It may be a ham steak for lunch, or even a cold ham salad for a quick bite on the go. And dinner can be a pork loin, pork chops or in this case, a pulled pork sandwich.
Now there seems to be no end to the debate of who has the best pulled pork in the south. There are the classics like Memphis style, Southern style, North Carolina style, and South Carolina style. You’ll also hear from those in Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, that feel theirs is the best tasting. It seems most Southern folks claim to have the original, official, and the very best recipes for this sandwiches in the South, if not the world. I kind of think mine reigns supreme. Well, at least in my kitchen.
Now you can do this recipe in the oven, crock pot, or even a pressure cooker if you just can’t wait to sink your teeth into my favorite southern sandwich.
Ingredients:
- 3-5 lbs. pork butt
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 cups dry rub (see below)
- Carolina vinegar barbecue sauce (see below)
- Cole Slaw of your choice (I find a sweet cole slaw is best)
- dry rub
- 1/4 cup cumin
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup paprika
- 3 tablespoons onion powder
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne powder
- 2 tablespoons espresso powder (or instant coffee)
- 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1/4 cup ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Mix together in large bowl. You can store any extra in jar for future use.
- Now today I used my electronic pressure cooker to cook my pork. I heavily coated the dry rub on the pork last night and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. When I got home from work I removed the pork from the refrigerator and let come to room temperature. (about an hour). Next you will sear your pork on all sides and place in pressure cooker. I added 1 cup of water before sealing the lid and letting it come to pressure and cook for 1 hour. (alternately you could sear the meat and place in a crock pot to cook on low for 6-8 hours, or place in a Dutch oven after searing and place in a 225 degree oven and cook for 1 hour uncovered. Remove the pork from the oven, brush with the juices and add water if necessary, cover and return to the oven for approximately 5 hours longer. At this point the pork should be very tender and pull apart easily with a fork. Total roasting time runs between 90 and 100 minutes per pound.)
- Remove from your cooking device and shred with two forks. I bet you can’t get through shredding it all without eating a handful or two.
- Now prepare your sandwich with pork then a heaping helping of sauce and top it with your cole slaw. Oh, have plenty of napkins because this is going to get messy. I hope y’all enjoy.
- Carolina vinegar barbecue sauce
- **WARNING!** This sauce is SPICY! Now for me, there is just no such thing as too spicy, but I know some of you might find the kick in this sauce to be a bit too much. If you like it less spicy just decrease the amount of Cayenne.
- INGREDIENTS:
- 1 1/2 cups prepared yellow mustard
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 3/4 cup pickle juice or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1/4 cup worstershire sauce
- 2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke flavoring
- hot sauce to taste
Directions:
In a heavy non-reactive saucepan, stir together the mustard, brown sugar, pickle juice, and worstershire sauce. Add in chili powder, white pepper, ginger, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, and cook for about 20 minutes. DO NOT BOIL, or you will scorch the sugar.
Mix in the butter, and liquid smoke. Simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes. Taste, and season with hot sauce to taste. It will be very vinegary until it cools. Also, don’t inhale the warm vapors of the sauce, it is very strong. Pour into an airtight container, and refrigerate for overnight to allow flavors to blend.
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