Best Southeastern North Carolina Pulled Pork Recipes

NORTH CAROLINA-STYLE PULLED PORK

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix mild paprika, light brown sugar, hot paprika, celery salt, garlic salt, dry mustard, ground black pepper, onion powder, and salt. Rub spice mixture into the roast on all sides. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight.
• Prepare a grill for indirect heat.
• Sprinkle a handful of soaked wood over coals, or place in the smoker box of a gas grill. Place pork butt roast on the grate over a drip pan. Cover grill, and cook pork until pork is tender and shreds easily, about 6 hours. Check hourly, adding fresh coals and hickory chips as necessary to maintain heat and smoke.
• Remove pork from heat and place on a cutting board. Allow the meat to cool approximately 15 minutes, then shred into bite-sized pieces using two forks. This requires patience.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together cider vinegar, water, ketchup, brown sugar, salt, red pepper flakes, black pepper, and white pepper. Continue whisking until brown sugar and salt have dissolved. Place shredded pork and vinegar sauce in a large roasting pan, and stir to coat pork. Serve immediately, or cover and keep warm on the grill for up to one hour until serving.

NORTH CAROLINA-STYLE PULLED PORK

Steps:

• Preheat a grill to medium low and prepare for indirect cooking: On a gas grill, preheat the grill, then turn off the center burners. On a charcoal grill, light the coals, then push to the edges of the grill, creating an open space in the middle; put a disposable aluminum drip pan in the middle of the grill under the grates.
• When the grill registers 250˚ F, place the pork on the grill grates over the cooler part. Cover the grill and cook the pork until the skin is crisp, the meat easily falls off the bone and a thermometer inserted into the center of the pork (away from the bone) registers 190˚ F to 200˚ F, 7 to 10 hours (if using charcoal, adjust the air vents and add more coals as needed so the temperature stays around 250˚ F).
• Meanwhile, make the barbecue sauce: Combine 1 cup water, the vinegar, hot sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes, 2 1/2 tablespoons salt and 2 teaspoons black pepper in a pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar and salt dissolve. Let cool.
• If using a gas grill, turn off the heat and carefully transfer the pork to a cutting board. If using a charcoal grill, do this quickly, as the grease may cause the coals to catch fire. Let the pork rest at least 30 minutes, then pull the meat off the bone with tongs and a large fork; discard the bones and any large pieces of fat. Chop the crispy skin and stir into the meat. Transfer to a bowl and toss with 1 to 2 cups of the barbecue sauce. Serve on buns with the remaining sauce.

WORLD'S BEST CAROLINA PULLED PORK

Steps:

• NOTE: This recipe should be started 2 days ahead of time as you need 24 hours in the fridge, 12-14 in the oven and 2 hours of resting.

NORTH CAROLINA PULLED PORK

Steps:

• 1. If using the rub, combine the mild paprika, brown sugar, hot paprika, celery salt, garlic salt, dry mustard, pepper, onion powder, and salt in a bowl and toss with your fingers to mix. Wearing rubber or plastic gloves if desired, rub the spice mixture onto the pork shoulder on all sides, then cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours, preferably 8.
• If not using the rub, generously season the pork all over with coarse (kosher or sea) salt and freshly ground black pepper; you can start cooking immediately.
• 2. Set up the grill for indirect grilling and place a drip pan in the center.
• If using a gas grill, place all of the wood chips in the smoker box and preheat the grill to high; when smoke appears, reduce the heat to medium.
• If using a charcoal grill, preheat the grill to medium-low and adjust the vents to obtain a temperature of 300°F.
• 3. When ready to cook, if using charcoal, toss 1 cup of the wood chips on the coals. Place the pork shoulder, fat side up, on the hot grate over the drip pan. Cover the grill and smoke cook the pork shoulder until fall-off-the-bone tender and the internal temperature on an instant-read meat thermometer reaches 195°F, 4 to 6 hours (the cooking time will depend on the size of the pork roast and the heat of the grill). If using charcoal, you'll need to add 10 to 12 fresh coals to each side every hour and toss more wood chips on the fresh coals; add about 1/2 cup per side every time you replenish the coals. With gas, all you need to do is be sure that you start with a full tank of gas. If the pork begins to brown too much, drape a piece of aluminum foil loosely over it or lower the heat.
• 4. Transfer the pork roast to a cutting board, loosely tent it with aluminum foil, and let rest for 15 minutes.
• 5. Wearing heavy-duty rubber gloves if desired, pull off and discard any skin from the meat, then pull the pork into pieces, discarding any bones or fat. Using your fingertips or a fork, pull each piece of pork into shreds 1 to 2 inches long and 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide. This requires time and patience, but a human touch is needed to achieve the perfect texture. If patience isn't one of your virtues, you can finely chop the pork with a cleaver (many respected North Carolina barbecue joints serve chopped 'cue). Transfer the shredded pork to a nonreactive roasting pan. Stir in 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the vinegar sauce, enough to keep the pork moist, then cover the pan with aluminum foil and place it on the grill for up to 30 minutes to keep warm.
• 6. To serve, mound the pulled pork on the hamburger buns and top with coleslaw. Let each person add more vinegar sauce to taste.

CAROLINA STYLE PULLED PORK SANDWICH

Steps:

• The Meat --.
• Place the quartered onions in a crock pot.
• Combine brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper: rub over the roast.
• Place the roast over the onions in the crock pot.
• Combine the vinegar, Worcestershire Sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic salt and cayenne; stir to mix well.
• Drizzle about 1/2 of the vinegar mixture over the roast and cover. Refrigerate the remaining vinegar mixture.
• Cook on low for 8 hours. Drizzle the other half of the vinegar mixture over the roast during the last 1/2 hour of cooking.
• While the meat is cooking, prepare the barbecue sauce. Mix all ingredients except soy sauce, butter and smoke. Simmer, uncovered, on low heat for 30 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer, uncovered, for 10 more minutes. Set aside to cool.
• Remove the meat from the crock pot and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes. (Very important step -- longer is better).
• Remove the onions and chop to a fine consistency.
• Pull apart the meat with a couple of forks. Meat should have a shredded look to it.
• Mix chopped onions and shredded pork along with a little bit of juice from the crock pot to taste. Add sufficient barbecue sauce to the mixture to achieve desired taste. Meat should have distinctive barbecue flavor.
• To serve, spread barbecue sauce on bottom of a hearty bun.
• Put layer of pulled pork on bun. Spread barbecue sauce over meat.
• Add layer of your favorite cole slaw on top of meat. Layer some more barbecue sauce over cole slaw.
• Spread top of bun with more sauce.
• Grab a fist full of napkins, and enjoy.

NORTH CAROLINA PULLED PORK

Steps:

• Mix the spices together. Give the butts a good rubbin' with some of the vinegar barbeque sauce, and then rub on the dry seasoning. Allow the pork butts to rest for at least a couple of hours "in the rub". Fire up the smoker. A temperature range of 215 to 230 degrees F is what you want, and the closer to 215, the better. (Even though it will take a little longer, lower temperature smoking makes for juicier meats.) Place the pork butts into your smoker, fat side up. After five hours or so, begin to baste it with the vinegar sauce every hour.
• When the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees, remove the pork from the smoker, wrap it or cover it, then let it rest for at least an hour. This step make a tremendous difference in the final texture and flavor of the pulled pork.
• After the rest, pull the pork, add some sauce, and serve it on buns. It's a nice touch to have a variety of sauces, pickles, and such available for your guests so they can fancy up their sandwiches as they see fit. And most important of all....
• Don't Forget The Coleslaw!

NORTH CAROLINA-STYLE PULLED PORK SANDWICHES AND COLESLAW

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Mix together the salt, pepper, and paprika; sprinkle all over the pork and rub inches
• In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook, turning occasionally, until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a 24-inch-long sheet of heavy duty foil and double wrap the pork.
• Place the pork, skin side up, in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish; roast until tender, about 4 1/2 hours. Remove from the oven and carefully unwrap the top of the pork, revealing the skin. Increase the heat to 450 degrees and roast for 20 minutes more.
• Transfer the roast to a large bowl, along with any juices. Using two forks, shred the pork. Add the vinegars, sugar, and hot sauce; toss. Serve on the hamburger buns, topped with coleslaw (recipe follows), if using.
• For the coleslaw: In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegars, sugar, hot sauce, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper. Add the cabbage and toss. Let stand for 30 minutes, then toss and serve.

SOUTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA PULLED PORK

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients for the rub together until well blended.
• Rub on the pork roast.
• Allow to stand 30 minutes before cooking.
• Place pork roast in a baking pan, add about 1/4 cup water and cover tightly.
• Bake slowly (250 F- 300 F) for 4 to 5 hours, or until the meat is tender enough to"pull" with a fork.
• Shred the meat and then add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of recipe number 51595, True Southeastern North Carolina BBQ Sauce.
• Stir through the meat until absorbed (you don't want sauce standing in the bottom of the dish, as it can become quite strong in flavor).
• Serve with hush puppies and coleslaw (I recommend Chia's Cole Slaw recipe#47606).
• If making pulled pork sandwiches, just put the pork on a hamburger bun, with some coleslaw that has been flavored with mustard.

CAROLINA PULLED PORK

Steps:

• Place boston butt pork roast in a dutch oven with enough water to come up to middle half of roast. Add salt and black pepper.
• Boil covered on middle low heat for 2 to 2 1/2 hours until flaky tender. Lift roast out of water onto a plate and allow to cool.
• Shred or cut into small pieces resembling pulled pork. Put into a serving bowl and add sauce to one's own taste.
• SAUCE: Mix ketchup, water, lemon juice, oil, brown sugar, vinegar, worcestershire and red pepper flakes. Put in a small saucepan and boil for 1 to 2 minutes. Cool and use to season boston butt roast.
• Serve with vegetables or serve in a sandwich bun.
• Note: See recipe #310662 (coleslaw) and recipe #307995 (fried cornbread) for good suggested side dishes.

NORTH CAROLINA PULLED PORK

Steps:

• Preheat slow cooker on Low for 15 minutes.
• Season pork shoulder with salt and pepper; place pork in preheated slow cooker. Mix ketchup, brown sugar, and vinegar in a bowl; pour over pork.
• Cook on Low for 8 hours. Transfer pork to a large platter and slice into 3 to 4 pieces. Shred meat with 2 forks and return to slow cooker. Continue to cook for 1 hour.