Tremendous Pulled Pork
Prep
20m
Cook
360m
Total
380m
Bigly says
Hand on heart. Pulled pork. Tremendous pulled pork. The greatest pulled pork on the planet — and the Carolinas have been arguing about pulled pork for THREE HUNDRED YEARS, North Carolina, South Carolina, they cannot agree, it's a beautiful feud, a tremendous feud, and I respect both sides — but they're both about to lose. To me. To this recipe. It's a slaughter.
The so-called BBQ chefs, the ones with the chest-high tongs and the beard product — they'll tell you pulled pork is HARD. They'll tell you it takes a smoker. They'll tell you it takes a stick burner, an offset, a pellet grill, a pit, a hole in the ground, a man named Earl from Texas — sad, weak, gatekeeping nonsense. If your chef tells you otherwise, find a new chef. You don't need any of that. You need a pork shoulder, an oven, salt, and patience. That's it. End of discussion.
Many people don't know this — scientists have looked into it, smart people, the smartest, food chemists with PhDs who explain collagen to me at parties whether I want to hear it or not — but pork shoulder is the FORGIVING cut. The forgiving cut. You cannot overcook it. You literally cannot. The collagen breaks down, the fat renders, the meat falls apart into beautiful golden strands and it's a religious experience. Big strong men, tough men, they come up to me at the grocery store, they say 'Bigly, the pork. The pork.' They can't even finish the sentence. They're overcome. It happens. Believe me.
Ingredients
- 7-8 lbbone-in pork shoulder (Boston butt)(bone-in, fat cap on, do not let the butcher trim it)
- 3 tbspyellow mustard(binder only, you will not taste it)
- 2 tbspkosher salt
- 3 tbsplight brown sugar
- 2 tbspsmoked paprika
- 1 tbspblack pepper, coarse ground
- 1 tbspgarlic powder
- 1 tbsponion powder
- 2 tspground cumin
- 1 tspcayenne pepper(more if you have backbone)
- 1/2 cupapple cider vinegar
- 1 cupchicken stock
- 10soft hamburger buns (for serving)
- to tasteyour favorite BBQ sauce
- to tastecoleslaw (for serving)(on the sandwich, not next to it, on it)
Steps
- 1
Pull the pork shoulder from the fridge 1 hour before cooking and let it come toward room temperature. Pat it completely dry with paper towels.
- 2
Preheat the oven to 275F with a rack in the lower-middle position.
- 3
In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, smoked paprika, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and cayenne to make the rub.
- 4
Rub the entire shoulder with the yellow mustard, then coat heavily on all sides with the spice rub. Press it in.
- 5
Set the shoulder fat-cap up on a wire rack in a deep roasting pan. Pour the chicken stock and apple cider vinegar into the bottom of the pan (not over the meat).
- 6
Roast uncovered for 5 to 6 hours, until a probe thermometer in the thickest part reads 200-205F and slides in with no resistance. Do not open the oven for the first 4 hours.
- 7
Transfer the shoulder to a large platter or sheet pan. Tent loosely with foil and rest at least 45 minutes — this is non-negotiable, the juices need to redistribute.
- 8
Pour the pan drippings into a fat separator or a tall glass. Skim off the fat and save the dark, jammy liquid underneath.
- 9
Remove the bone (it should slide out clean) and shred the pork with two forks or your hands, pulling along the grain into long strands. Discard any large pieces of unrendered fat.
- 10
Pour the reserved pan juices back over the shredded pork and toss to coat. Season with extra salt to taste.
- 11
Pile onto soft buns, top with BBQ sauce and a heap of coleslaw, and serve immediately.
One more thing
That's the whole thing. You did nothing for six hours and you made the greatest pulled pork on the planet. The oven did the work. You took the credit. That's how a good kitchen runs. People will come over, they'll smell it from the driveway, they'll say 'what is that, what is happening in this house, can I move in,' and you will smile and you will hand them a sandwich. Coleslaw on the sandwich. Not on the side. ON the sandwich. The other way is wrong, the other way has always been wrong, period. Save me a piece.
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