Pulled Pork

Well, I went back to work this week and that means a few things in our house. Summer is for all intents and purposes over, school is about to start and the amount of time we have to cook is about to be drastically reduced. This one may be the easiest and fastest of them all to prepare. Mix spices, rub pork, refridgerate overnight & cook. I love barbecue, but no one has decided to drop off their smoker in my driveway and let me use it for a few years. So this is a pretty good substitute when it comes to lip-smacking good pulled pork. We like it in a sandwich, but it is certainly good enough to consume all by itself. Kids show up in our building on Tuesday, so here's to 4 more days of summer. Enjoy.

Ingredients

1 Pork Shoulder(Boston Butt) or Sirloin Roast (5 to 8 lbs)

2 TBSP brown sugar

2 TBSP white sugar

1 TBSP kosher salt

1 TBSP black pepper

1 TBSP chili powder

1 TBSP garlic powder

1 TBSP cumin

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Click here for a PRINTABLE RECIPE.

A few notes on the meat. A Pork Shoulder is often times labeled as a "Boston Butt" or "Shoulder Butt". You could also use a sirloin roast if you can't find a shoulder. More than likely, it will also be "bone-in". Meaning the shoulder blade will be inside the meat. No problem. You will easily be able to pull it out during the pulling process after it has cooked. You can buy whatever size you'd like, and they can be up to 15 lbs! If you can't find one small enough, take it to the meat counter and have the butcher cut it into smaller pieces for you. Cook and what you need and freeze what you don't. DO NOT attempt to remove any of the fat cap before cooking! Much of it will render down in to the pork and make it ridiculously tasty.

This is WAY better if you make the rub, apply it to the pork and then refrigerate it overnight in the crockpot.

Mix all of the spices together in a bowl to make the rub.

Remove 1 heaping TBSP of the rub and set aside for later.

Sprinkle the rub on all sides of the pork.

Now it's time to get messy and use your hands to rub it into the meat. Channel your inner massage reflexologist. With the moisture from the pork, it will make a paste on the outside of the pork butt.

Refrigerate Overnight

Cook for 8-10 hours on LOW the next day.

Hopefully you should see something like this. Don't pour off the liquid before you pull the pork and let it reabsorb all of the juices that it can. You should be able to take a pair of tongs and pull the shoulder blade right out. If it doesn't just fall out, you need to cook it longer.

Use 2 forks to pull the pork it pieces of your liking. Again, DON'T pour off the liquid until the meat has a chance to soak up as much of that goodness as possible.

Once you have pulled the pork and let it reabsorb the juice, you can pour off any excess liquid you don't want. Then add the heaping TBSP of rub you set out and stir it in. You did remember to set out the extra rub? Right?

At this point it is ready to serve. I like it as is. Toast a nice roll and pile it on. In our house we put the BBQ sauce and mustard on the table for people to use at their own discretion, but here are some sauce variations if you are interested.

Saucy Pulled Pork: Add 1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce and stir

Carolina: Add 1/4 of both apple cider vinegar and mustard and stir

Spicy: Add 2 TBSP hot sauce to either above or straight to pork 

Pulled Pork Sandwich with Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes and Sweet Corn