Carolina Pulled-Pork Sandwiches

By Rose-3

Get a head start on barbecue season with an American classic tailored to the South: Andrew Zimmern’s personal recipe for pulled-pork barbecue. A triple shot of homemade flavor — a rub, basting sauce and barbecue sauce — makes it a hit every time.

Ingredients

• Rub:
• 5-pound natural bone-in pork shoulder
• Favorite rolls.
• 1/4 cup paprika
• 3 tablespoons ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon celery seeds
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• Basting sauce:
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1 small onion, minced
• 1 teaspoon chili flakes
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Barbecue sauce:
• 2 cups cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons molasses
• 3 tablespoons dark corn syrup
• 1/2 cup chili sauce
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce
• 2 teaspoons chili flakes, or more to taste
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper

Details

Cooking time 30mins

Preparation

Step 1

Combine rub ingredients, or use your favorite store-bought rub. Massage pork shoulder with rub and let sit 24 hours in refrigerator.

Combine basting sauce ingredients, whisking until sugar and salt are dissolved, set aside. Combine barbecue sauce ingredients over medium heat in a small pot. Once simmering, pull from heat and let cool. Refrigerate for later use.

Grill shoulder over indirect medium-low heat, using smoking chips, if desired, to establish a smoke flavor. Remember that a little goes a long way. You’ll want to keep adding wood or charcoal every 40 minutes or so to maintain a medium-low heat of roughly 300 degrees. For gas grills, you’ll want to maintain a temperature of roughly 275 to 300 degrees. Baste every hour.

Pork is done when the internal temperature is 185 to 190 degrees. Alternately, you can cook, in rack and pan, in a 275-degree oven for 6 hours.

Let pork cool for 30 minutes, shred meat by hand and discard bones. Toss meat with some barbecue sauce and mound on toasted rolls. Goes well with coleslaw, by the way.