East Coast BBQ Pulled Pork
Nothing is more North Carolina than BBQ. Here, pulled pork is king. While whole hog is preferred by many purists, a smaller cut is much easier to handle and a bit more practical for the home cook. A common cut for this purpose is the shoulder, often called the butt…but it’s not the butt. Ever wonder where Boston Butt came from (other than Boston)? Wonder no more. Back in the day New England butchers packed cuts such as shoulder into barrels that were called butts. Eventually the name stuck. Slow cooked in a manner similar to the way I do spare ribs, the pork achieves stunning bark development while rendering the meat lusciously unctuous. The sauce for the pulled meat is equally important. In Eastern North Carolina they go for one that is vinegar based that more seasons the meat rather than sauces it. That’s what we have here. As with spare ribs, it’s blasphemy to use the oven…but hey, it works.
What you’ll need
Approximately 6-12 hrs total time
Glass casserole dish
Non-stick pot
1 Boston Butt (pork shoulder)
Salt and pepper
2 C cider vinegar
1 C water
1 T hot sauce
1 T crushed red pepper
½ C brown sugar
Buns
Liberally, and I mean liberally, coat all sides of the pork with salt and pepper pressing it into the meat. Mix about a 3-4 T of each together. Remember this has to season the entire roast when its finished.
Lay the pork in the casserole dish fat side up and place in a 225 degree oven. Close that sucker up and leave it alone for 6 hours, go binge watch your favorite show. At the 6 hour mark check on the meat. A nice crust should be forming. Wiggle the bone in the center of the meat, this is how you will check for doneness. If the bone is loose, the meat is done. If not, keeping on cookin. Check the roast every hour until it’s finished, this could take up to six hours more. Yes, it’s a labor of love, but trust me it’s worth it. When the bone is finally loose, remove the meat from the oven.
Cover it with foil then place a towel on top of that and then let it rest for 30-60 min. While that’s going on, make your sauce.
Place the vinegar, water, hot sauce, red pepper, brown sugar and a ½ tsp each of salt and pepper in a non-stick pot. It is important not to use stainless steel as you’ll get a chemistry experiment you don’t want. Bring the pot to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.
When it is finished resting, take two forks (large serving forks work best) and shred that bad boy. You want it to be small bit sized pieces that fit nicely in a bun. Pour the sauce on the meat ¼ C at a time and mixing between each pour until you’ve added 2 C. Reserve the remaining cup to be served with the sandwiches.
