Pulled Pork with Hot Pepper Vinegar Sauce

The pic to the left shows what you get when you take a pork shoulder roast, rub a spice rub into the roast, and slowly BBQ it for 5 hours. Look at those amazing crispy bits - those are my favourite! But when you start to 'pull' it apart (hence the name) you end up with a hunk of amazing flavourful and tender meat.

We have long been fans of pulled pork even though it is difficult to find here. Last week I decided that I wanted to whip together a pulled pork sandwich. I was to discover that they can't be 'whipped together' quickly but darn it they are brilliant!

I added hickory wood chunks to the smoker for the last  2.5 hours of cooking.

The tender shreds of spiced pork are all the more delectable when drenched in this hot pepper vinegar sauce. When i make it gain I will double the sauce recipe - I like these really messy!

For the rub:

2		tablespoons paprika
1		tablespoon packed brown sugar
1		tablespoon chili powder
1		tablespoon ground cumin
1		tablespoon sugar
1-1/2		teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
2		teaspoons salt
1		teaspoon ground red pepper
1		boneless pork shoulder roast (Boston butt), 4 to 5 pounds

For the sauce:

3/4		cup apple cider vinegar
3/4		cup white vinegar
2		tablespoons sugar
1/2		teaspoon red pepper flakes
1		teaspoon hot pepper sauce
		Salt and pepper
		Hamburger Buns
		Coleslaw (optional)

To make the rub: In a small bowl combine all rub ingredients. Rub mixture over pork roast, pressing into surface.

Place pork in center of cooking grate. Grill 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 hours for well-done (170° F/77° C), or until very tender. Remove meat from grill; cover and let stand for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the sauce: In a medium saucepan combine apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, sugar, red pepper flakes, hot pepper sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Keep warm.

Shred, chop, or "pull" pork into shreds with two forks. Add hot pepper vinegar sauce; mix well. Serve on buns with extra sauce and coleslaw, if desired.

Makes 12 to 16 servings.

This is what the pulled pork looks like after it has been 'pulled' and sauced:

Comments

[Palma]

I do a similar "pulled pork" you might like to try. Take the pork shoulder, rub it with olive oil, and lots of Chinese 5 spice (I get it at William-Sonoma or an Asian market). Sear it on the grill, then cook it slowly like you did here, or even in a low oven for 4 hours. Yummy seasoning, and oh so easy.

[Jerry]

Wow - that sounds great. I will have to try that one out. It is difficult to even find a pork shoulder roast here - I had to have a butcher make one up for me. I guess that they all get shipped south!

[Robert]

Hi Jerry,

This looks very good. The sauce in particular sounds interesting.

Pork shoulder is also hard to get here - I wanted it to make a mini-porchetta once and found no butcher here stocks it and I would have had to order it in specially.

How did you add the woodchips to the grill? Or was this a barbecue type setup that you used as opposed to the cooker indoors?

[Jerry]

Hi rob. The sauce was great - as I said I would double it next time.

Over here you can buy smokers (I don't have one0 they are like a BBQ but all they do is smoke the meat like you find with 'classic' BBQ. You can also purchase cast iron smoker boxes. I have one of those. To use it you soak the wood chunks in water for 30 minutes, put the smoker box on the grill, and hours later enjoy the most wonderful flavour!

[Kim]

Man, that looks amazing! Do you think you can freeze the meat - I can't imagine when we'd be able to eat all of it at one time (unless of course we invited others to partake ;D).

[Jerry]

Kim - I'll let you know about the freezing because we froze more than half of the meat. We have a group of people coming over for various dinners over the next few weeks and I thought the idea of mini pulled pork sandwiches as a first course would eb fun!