So I tried my hand at a S. Carolina pulled pork, and scored what is rumoured to be a direct hit. There were some friendly mutterings about various changes I could make and how they'd have to come back to see if
I got it right.... *snrk*

95% of all props for this recipe to Steven Raichlen who's recipe I based this on.


The Rubbining
* 3 tbsp hot smoked paprika
* 4 tsps Demerrara brown sugar
* 1 tsp celery salt
* 1 tsp garlic salt
* 1 tsp dry mustard
* 1 tsp freshly cracked Tellicherry black peppercorns
* 1 tsp onion powder
* 1/2 tsp fleur de sel

The Roast
* 1 pork shoulder roast, bone in.

I'd never tried to get one of these before, and the butcher walked out of the cooler with a serious monstrosity in hand. 10.5 lb roast that thing was... $20. Sweeeeet.


Mix all of the above ingredients, and then rub over the entire roast. Cover in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight.





The Vinegar Sauce

* 2 cups cider vinegar
* 1/2 cup ketchup
* 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar, or more to taste
* 5 tsps fleur de sel
* 4 tsps hot red pepper flakes
* 1 tsp fresh cracked Tellicherry black peppercorns
* 1 tsp fresh cracked white pepper

Combine all of the above and 2 cups of water in a bowl and whisk until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Basically whisk the hell out of it. You can add more sugar or salt as you feel needed. As Raichlen notes,
it should be piquant but not sour.

Prepping the BBQ


So morning arrives! If you got the same size roast I did (poor bastard!) get this thing on EARLY. Dinner was a late affair tonight - I should have had this thing on at 9am! You're using indirect grilling
for this, so hopefully you have a bbq that has at least two flame sources. Light one side and put your stainless steel smoker there. The one I used is just a small cheap deal that cost me under $10. For those of you with actual yards and serious obsessions, there are much better and bigger ones out there. I used a combination of hickory and applewood chips that I'd soaked overnight. Just as an observation, you may want to prep several batches of the chips in advance - mine were charred down to nothing when I pulled out the smoker, so I clearly should have reloaded it at least once.
Alternately, wrap pre-soaked chips in tinfoil leaving the ends loosely open so the smoke can escape and swap as necessary.

Put the roast in on the side without direct heat and place a drip pan beneath it. From here on out it's a waiting game as you play it low and slow on the bbq. With a roast the size of the one I got, you're looking
at about 10 hours.

Once the roast hits an internal temp of 195, transfer the pork roast to a cutting board, loosely tent it with aluminum foil, and let the poor bugger rest for 15 minutes.




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). I have patience, and was ably assisted by the ever salacious and pretty Ms Devil Bunny. I can now honestly say she's pulled my pork.

*pause to duck and weave thrown objects*



Transfer the shredded pork to a nonreactive roasting pan. Stir in 1 1/2 to 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.

Carolina Mustard

This mustard sauce is made by combining 1/2 cup of yellow mustard, 1/2 cup of cider vinegar, 6 tbsp of brown sugar (dark), 1 tsp of hot smoked paprika, 1 tsp of Worstershire sauce, 1 tsp white pepper, 1 tsp of cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp of black pepper, and 2 tsp 'toasted' black mustard seeds.

You can use prepared yellow mustard, but I made it from scratch. Dig around for a recipe that appeals to you :) The black mustard seeds were another addition of mine. Warm olive oil in a pan, and toss in the
seeds when the oil is hot (nearly smoking). Once they start to pop, I poured them out into a bowl lined with paper towel to get rid of the oil and let them cool. You may want to cut some of the spices back a
smidge, and perhaps cut the vinegar down to 1/3 cup. The current batch has enough tang to it to make a wasabi fiend weep *grin*




The Slaw

* 2 tbsp pear and pomegranate vinegar
* 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
* 1 tbsp honey
* 1 tbsp spicy mustard
* 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
* 2 medium unpeeled apples, cored, quartered, and thinly sliced
crosswise
* 1 lemon, squeeze out the lemon juice
* 3 cups coarsely shredded red cabbage
* 2 cups coarsely shredded green cabbage
* 3/4 cup dried cranberries
* 3/4 cup pecan halves, toasted
* salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:
Whisk both vinegars and mustard in small bowl. Gradually whisk in the honey and olive oil.

Toss apples with lemon juice, shredded cabbage, and dried cranberries. Add dressing and toss. Stir in the pecans and toss again. Refrigerate and toss again before serving.



Serve the pulled pork on hamburger buns, or you could follow my lead! Following my lead in this case means completely forgetting to purchase buns and serving it on rosemary potato bread ;) Depending on where
you're from, it may be traditional to serve the coleslaw on top of the pulled pork.

I'm not from there, and I didn't.