Jon's Pulled Pork
Barbecue Of A Different Nature
by John Havel
The first time I tackled a pulled pork barbecue I was, more or less,
just wingin' it. I knew the procedure for a gas grill - remove one
half of the grate (that's the side you'll be lighting), put some wood
chips on some aluminum foil over the burners, and cook your pork on
the other side. I'm not picky about my wood, as long as it's a hard
wood. I like using firewood bark - make sure to soak it in water for
about an hour. So far so good, but what's it going to taste like?
Barbecuing has three general opportunities for flavor. First, you
want a dry rub which is usually a mixture of sugars and spices. I've
seen hundreds of different rub recipes, but when I was at the grocery
store, I picked up some McCormick Grill Mates Barbecue Seasoning. The
taste reminds me of barbecued potato chips with a sweet and smokey
flavor. It also has the same ingredients as most rub recipes.
Next, you want a mop - no, not because you spilled something, but
a liquid to baste the pork. Here I went with a typical Eastern North
Carolina vinegar-based sauce. I figured that would offset the sweet
rub. While the pork is cooking, you want to liberally baste the meat
with the liquid throughout the cooking process.
Finally, when the meat has slow cooked for hours and is so tender it
pulls right apart easily, you'll need a sauce to flavor it. Here's
where I break tradition. North Carolina BBQer's (along with much of
the South) use a vinegar-based sauce whereas you'll find sweet tomato
based sauces in the Midwest (another BBQ hotspot). Here in Upstate
New York we have a restaurant called Dinosaur Bar-B-Que which has a
very unique sauce - tomato based but thin and not sweet. It goes with
the other flavors perfectly.
Realize one thing when you try this recipe - it's going to take up
most of your day. The origins of the barbecue are to take a cheap
piece of meat and cook it all day so that it's tender. This is 100%
American peasant food and 1000% delicious. While you have the time,
go all the way and serve it with cole slaw, baked beans, collard
greens and corn bread. It's hardly a budget breaker.
Pulled Pork
===========
2 boneless pork shoulder halves, about 6 pounds total
3/4 cup McCormick Grill Mates Barbecue Seasoning
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 quarts Dinosaur Bar-B-Que Mutha Sauce
http://www.e-cookbooks.net/recipes/ho521.html
Rub pork with the Barbecue Seasoning covering the entire surface.
Let it sit at room temperature for one hour. Soak about six cups of
wood chips in water. Prepare the mop by mixing the vinegar, water,
Worcestershire, salt, pepper, and oil.
Remove one half of the grill grate on a gas grill. Light only that
side and adjust temperature so that, when covered, the temperature is
a steady 250F. Place several layers of 9 inch square aluminum foil
over the fire. Add a hand full of wood chips on the foil. Place pork
on grill rack. Cover; cook until meat thermometer inserted into
center of pork registers 165F, turning pork and brushing with cold
mop every 45 minutes, about 6 hours total. Maintain the temperature
at 250F and add more wood chips as needed.
Transfer pork to clean rimmed baking sheet. Let stand until cool
enough to handle. Shred into bite-size pieces. Combine pork and Mutha
Sauce in a crock pot. Turn crock pot on high and cook for about two
hours, stirring occasionally. Serve on hamburger buns.
enjoy
'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not keep you
~Sugar
--
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