Pulled Pork Barbecue

This has become my go to recipe for indoor pulled pork barbecue.  Because it is cooked in the oven and not a smoker, I use a few tricks to make sure that the meat has enough smoky flavor by the time it is done cooking.  One of my secrets is to add a generous amount of spanish smoked paprika in the dry rub.  You can find smoked paprika, or Pimenton, in most large supermarkets these days, but if yours doesnt carry it click here to order it from Amazon.com.  I just use the sweet smoked variety as opposed to the spicy.  The second way to achieve smoky results without an outdoor smoker is with liquid smoke.  I add this to the wet rub.  The pork can be made a day or two ahead of time.  I like to serve it with coleslaw and baked beans.  Click here to see the recipe for our Boston baked beans.  

Ingredients for BBQ

10 lb pork shoulder (also sold as Boston Butt)

2 Tbsp spanish smoked paprika

2 Tbsp fresh ground black pepper

2 Tbsp white sugar

1 Tbsp salt

1 Tsp cayenne pepper

1/3 cup dijon mustard (or any other kind)

2 Tbsp liquid smoke

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp honey

Ingredients for Coleslaw

1/2 head of cabbage (green, purple, or a mix)

3 carrots, peeled

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

Juice from 1 lemon

Dash of cayenne

1 Tsp celery seeds

1Tbsp apple cider vinegar

salt and pepper

Ingredients for the BBQ Sauce

2 cups ketchup

1/4 cup molasses

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper

1/2 cup defatted pork drippings (see below)

This is the brand of smoked paprika I used.  It costs about 6 dollars.  

 Mix the paprika, sugar, both peppers, and salt together.  In a separate bowl, mix together the mustard and the liquid smoke to make the dry rub.  

 This is the pork shoulder I used.  This was I was able to buy at only $1.29 per lb.  Trim away some of the large chuncks of fat but leave most on because the fat will render and flavor the rest of the meat during cooking.  Next, cut it into 4 roughly equal sized pieces.  Note: These usually come with the bone attached so you have two options: 1) you can either keep the bone on one of the pieces, but that part will take longer to cook so you might have to leave it in the oven a little longer or 2) you can remove the bone but unless you are an expert butcher you might lose some of the meat in the process.  

 After the meat is trimmed of fat and separated into 4 pieces, rub all of it with the mustard and liquid smoke mixture.  Then, sprinkle the dry rub liberally over the entire surface, and place the meat on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet with a cooling rack placed in top.  This will let the fat be able to drip down to the bottom of the pan.  

 Next you must place sheet of wax or parchment paper of the pork, followed by another sheet of aluminum foil.  The reason for the wax paper is that the mustard contains chemicals that will react with the foil and start to dissolve it.  Once securely tightened around the edges, place the pan into a preheated 325 degree oven for 3 hours.  After 3 hours, transfer the pork to a cutting board and pour the drippings into a separate container.  You will have about 2-3 cups so make sure the glass you are using is large enough.  Then return the pork to the oven for another 2 hours or so, until it has a decent crust on the outside and is very tender on the inside.  Note: The second time the pork goes in the oven, take the foil cover and wax paper off to allow a substantial bark to form on the outside.  About 20 minutes before the pork is finished, crumble the brown sugar over the top and drizzle over the honey to make a sweet glaze.  

 For the coleslaw, thinly slice a half a head of cabbage into a julienne cut.  If you want you can use a food processor or a mandoline but it's not necessary.  

 Then slice a carrot into thin strips as well.  What I do is I slice the carrot thinly on a very sharp angle, and then line them all up and cut the other way.  Since I dont explain it very well here is what I did.  

 Then simply combine all of the dressing ingredients and add to the chopped vegetables.  

 The finished coleslaw.  

 This is what the pork looked like the next day, after it was fully cooked.  

 This was the drippings from the pork roast.  I let it cool in the fridge overnight and I then scraped off the fat the had risen to the top and solidified.  

 For the barbecue sauce, mix together the ketchup, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper.  Then, to give the sauce some extra flavor, I like to stir in about a half a cup of the defatted pork drippings.  

 You're almost done!  Now just shred the pork with two forks or, how I recommend, with two clean hands.  Toss it with some of the BBQ sauce and then pile it high on a potato roll with coleslaw as well as extra sauce and baked beans on the side.  

Enjoy!