Wandering through BJs the other day, Jessica spotted a luscious looking pork leg and asked if I thought we should make it. Of course my answer was “YES!” However, the two of us came to our senses and decided to just buy a pork shoulder weighing in at just under nine pounds, as opposed to the leg, which was probably 20 or 25 pounds.
We debated a bit what style to prepare the butt, generally we were thinking either latin (like pernil) or southern (like BBQ). The last time or two that we cooked this cut we made pernil, so we opted for BBQ. I didn’t have a favorite rub recipe on hand, so I did a lot of research and made up a new one. Oh boy, did it work out well.
FoodMayhem BBQ Dry Rub
~makes 1 cup of dry rub
- 3 tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 3 tablespoons Kosher Salt
- 3 tablespoons Paprika
- 2 tablespoons Black Pepper
- 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder
- 1 tablespoon Onion Powder
- 2 teaspoons Ancho Chili Powder
- 1 tablespoon Cayenne Pepper
- 2 teaspoons Dry Mustard
- 1 teaspoon Ground Star Anise
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
Unlike Andrew, my BBQ Smokemaster Cousin, I don’t have a smoker… or a barbecue. Both are because we’re in the city. So I had to go with the next best option: slow roasting. I know it’s not true BBQ, but it’s in the style of, and it worked out pretty darn good.
Slow Roasted (BBQ-style) Pulled Pork
- Thorougly coat a pork shoulder (we used a 8.92 pound butt) with the FoodMayhem BBQ Dry Rub. Make sure to move the meat around and lift any parts to get the rub everywhere. I used about half a cup. Cover container or bowl, store in refrigerator for at least six hours, preferably 12.
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Roast at 225 degrees F for about 12 hours until internal temperature reaches 195 degrees F. Around 9 hours, start checking every hour or so.
- Remove butt to large cutting board, rest for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, drain drippings from roasting pan into a sauce pot.
- Pull the pork while it’s still hot, it will make your life much easier. Remove as much of the fat as possible, add to sauce pot (with drippings).
Making this pork literally could not be easier. Basically, you rub spices on it, leave it alone. throw it in the oven, leave it alone. However, it wouldn’t be me, if I didn’t find a way to make it hard! Because we had guests coming for dinner at seven, and Jessica was going to be making a cake and fresh biscuits, we needed the oven clear. That meant I woke up at 4:45am to get the pork in the oven. Fortunately, it was pretty easy, and after it went in the oven, I ran back to bed.
It wouldn’t be pulled pork without BBQ sauce, so I made a really easy recipe for cooked BBQ sauce. This turned out to be the best part of my whole recipe. I loved it so much, I was putting it on everything from the biscuits to the sweet potatoes. When I served the pork, I poured a good amount of the sauce into a mixing bowl and tossed the pork with it. It’s best to serve the pork dressed…
FoodMayhem BBQ Sauce
~makes about 2 cups of heaven
Ingredients
- Drippings and fat from pork
- 1/4 teaspoon Bourbon Vanilla Extract (or just use Bourbon)
- 2 cups of Water
- 1 cup Ketchup
- 1/3 cup FoodMayhem BBQ Dry Rub
- 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
Instructions
- Combine fat, drippings, and vanilla (or bourbon) in a small pot. Cover with water. Bring to boil, then simmer until reduced by at least half (or more if you have the patience), about 20 minutes.
- Strain out all of the particulate (fat, etc.). I had about 1.25 cups of gravy.
- Add ketchup, dry rub, and vinegar. Simmer over low heat, stirring regularly to combine completely. Cook at least 10 minutes, longer is ok.
- Place into a squeeze bottle, use it like a hose.
We hope you enjoy this recipe and share it with your friends. We tried it on Kaiser rolls and hamburger buns. The latter was better. We recommend any soft bun, like hamburger, brioche, challah, or potato rolls.
love it!!
I love pork sammies and yours look better than most I find at “Real” bbq places. Out west they put coleslaw on them for some reason NOT bad but unusual.
Yum! I love making this in a slow cooker…the smell when I walk in the door is so comforting.
In completely unrelated news, a friend of mine is really excited about what she says is an “occasional restaurant” that she keeps recommending to folks in and around the Brooklyn area. Have you ever heard of Jack? Link here: http://jackrestaurant.com/
Off the Strip, I’ve seen it served with cole slaw and I think I’ve eaten it that way, but not sure…sounds good though…I should make some cole slaw…
Dr. Food, I don’t think I’ve heard of Jack but I have heard about a few occasional restaurants in Brooklyn. Attempts to get reservations so far have failed. It looks like Jack doesn’t have an opening till April. =(
“Place into a squeeze bottle, use it like a hose.” hahaha, awesome!
where did you get the idea to use vanilla extract? did you taste the vanilla?
Looks very delicious!
Sheng, I got the idea based on a number of recipes for sauces that include bourbon. However, I thought this would be an interesting twist. You can taste it, but I think next time, I will try adding it at the end to not cook it off as much.
amazing, foodmayhem-ers. i was recently very disappointed by a batch of pulled pork, so i’m on the hunt for a different mode of attack. i’m liking this very much.
Would it be out of line to post something like “Lon has always been the master of pulling his pork”?
I am such a sucker for pork. Specially sapre ribs and pork fat. Do they have to bad for cholestorol. Why God? Why?
oh this looks mighty tasty, so sad i won’t be able to enjoy any tonight.
To the hosts, how would you rate this on the Time/Effort/Cost (TEC) to foodiness scale (ratio of amount of food to deliciousness of food)?
Tim – I’d say it’s TEC ratio is pretty high, because even though it takes a lot of waiting, it’s not much work. Really, just through the rub on, wait, roast, wait. There is some work in pulling it, but it’s repetitive and not complicated. The cost of the meat is not too bad, and will feed an army 🙂
As the only person with a full size outdoor smoker on the Upper East Side, I can say that I love your efforts. I can only offer one suggestions for your BBQ sauce. Dark Molasses. Only a couple of tablespoons will set your bbq sauce off completely, and will change the color, texture and flavor like you can’t imagine. Try Grandma’s brand, they even sell it in Food Emporium. If you’d like, I can email pics of my BBQ successes, as you are so into food porn!!!!
hey Meyerboy, so funny that you suggested dark molasses because Lon just made more BBQ sauce today (since we have tons more pork) and used dark molasses.
We’d love to see pics of your smoker and BBQs!
This sounds incredible. I have to make this for my pork loving boyfriend. I am soo excited. I just tried to make carnitas…I don’t think it was quite there yet. But I am excited to try your recipe.
I dunno Lon…Making the spice mix seems like lots of measuring. And what if you don’t have everything…therein lies uh..the rub. Do they sell OTC rubs? (I have crappy stores near me).
Tim – Good point, measuring can weigh on you (best pun I could come up with on the fly). The nice thing about rubs, are that you can scale them up, and they’ll sit on the shelf for months without a problem. Then you can use ’em when you need ’em.
re: OTC rubs, yes! You can definitely buy many. I watch those BBQ competitions on food network, etc. and the big bbq’ers are always selling their special rubs. And I’ve noticed that most bbq restaurants sell theirs as well.
that looks great!! i use a dry rub of brown sugar, paprika, black pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, and dry mustard on my pulled pork. Hard to beat slow cooked pulled pork. Here is my recipe.
http://www.squidoo.com/barbecue-pulled-pork-recipe
It’s tough to mess this up. I use McCormicks pork rub on mine and it’s very good. It’s the slow cook that makes this so good. 225 degrees for 8-9 hours depending on the size. Being from the NC we like it with a little more apple cider vinegar and I add some liquid smoke for that smoky flavor. Diffenitely need to pull it while it is still warm. It’s amazing how much meat will pile up off of one butt. Tough to beat a good pull pork sandwich
We served this recipe at a party last weekend. It was a smash hit! The bbq sauce came out very spicy.
Aimee – That’s awesome, thanks for letting us know. Please post a pic and share it with us, we’ll throw it in our Fan Pics (on the right side).
I just made the rub recipe for the 1st time and am refridgin’ the pork overnight…am a little concerned about the heat of the cayenne, so cut it back some…much to most people’s dismay, I am not a heat eater. Aimee wrote that the sauce came out very spicy, so hopin’ I don’t scare off my children with it. I am takin’ this to a Superbowl gathering on Sunday for a friend’s birthday. She requested pulled pork and I liked the sound of yours the most of others I found.
Just had some good rubbing of 16+lbs of boston butt. Making pulled pork for 40 & was wondering if I had enough. I’m guessing with all the fixing it will be, but you can’t run out. I love the 225 degree temp. So many are suggesting 300-350….UGH. They don’t deserve good BBQ. I hope mine looks as good as your does in the pic with it all chopped up. I’ve made it before, its hard to mess this up. Hint: I bought smoked paprika it smells soo good. I put a little on my tongue & I can still taste the smoke flavor. I added it to my recipe. I know it will enhance the flavor. Happy Eating & great job!!
Celia, let us know how it turns out? Take some pictures!
Shawn, 16+ lbs sounds like enough, especially if you’re serving on bread. We’d love to see your pics too!!
I have a question for the BBQ sauce recipe, it doesn’t say the amount of drippings and fat from pork. Is there a general guideline here on the amount to use?
Maynard – It’s hard to say because it varies each time depending on a number of factors including how much fat in the pork. Generally I’d guess you’ll end up with around 1/3 cup. As I mentioned, after boiling it down with the water I only had 1.25 cup. So focus on that part after reducing.
You won’t screw it up, just keep a few starting points in mind. The water is there to cover the fat, you can add a little more or use a little less, no big deal. When you’re done reducing though, adjust the remaining ingredients as to not over or under take the pork reduction. You want that flavor to come through.
I have made this with only a few tweeks here and there. It is always a hit. I use a crock pot for 9 hrs on low with sweet rolls. Will be starting the pork in a few hrs. Can’t wait.
that’s awesome! I definitely want to use the crock pot more!!
I use the juice from the crockpot in place of the water when I make the sauce. I also bump up the vanilla just a tad to a tablespoon and then add some whiskey.
Could you use rum instead of bourbon?!?
Shelly, you can. It will be a little different in flavor but it should still be good.
Instead of cooking it all the way in the oven, I start mine in my smoker. I use cherry wood and it adds a wonderful taste. About 4 hours in the smoker and then about 4 hours in the oven. Just made about 15 more pounds this weekend. Your recipe is great!
Steve, we’re jealous of your smoker! I’m sure it’s even better!
this looks awesome!! (btw bourbon vanilla is not made with bourbon. it’s called that because it’s from ile bourbon, aka reunion. I’m a nerd.)
Sara, I have no idea what ile bourbon or reunion is. I have something to look up later…
When cooking in the oven, do you cover it?
Hi Sharon, I don’t cover it.
I have a pork butt prepared with your dry rub in the slow cooker right now. It smells wonderful. Can’t wait until it is done!
Marc, what’d you think? I’m kind of a little jealous that Lon (un-trained home cook) wrote this recipe and it’s one of the most popular on our blog.
I made the mistake of trying this in a slow-cooker ie, crock pot. I have slow roasted pork butts in the oven many times with great success, but this just didn’t come out moist and succulent, and did not flake apart. The dry rub was great in my opinion, but a bit spicy for my wife and kids. The crock pot made the top of the butt dry, although the bottom that was submerged in the juices was indeed tender and delicious. I served it Sunday on rolls with BBQ sauce and your corn bread recipe, along with some fresh sweet steamed corn and my own cole slaw. All in all it was a good meal, but I know the pork should have been much better.
I put the dry pork pieces back in the juices overnight. When I came home from work, my mom-in-law had prepared most of dinner but couldn’t find the cod fish that she thought we still had, so she lacked a meat offering for her dinner. So I took the pork out of the liquid, rinsed it off, trimmed the fat away, and sliced the pork. I then cut up a red onion, and carmelized it in a wok. I then added ShoaXing wine, a little light soy and less dark soy, and thickened it with some cornstarch and increased the volume with a 1/4 cup of water. I then tossed the sliced pork in which had become very tender after it re-hydrated in the juices overnight. The result was a success which made me feel better about the mistake I made the night before.
Marc, I love fixer-uppers. haha Your wife and kids are so lucky to have both your MIL and you cooking in the house!
I just made this recipe last night and I am so excited to bring it over to a friend’s for dinner later! It’s the perfect blend of sweet and spicy and a great cooking method for anyone without the ability to smoke. My boyfriend and I couldn’t help but taste it this morning, and we are in love with this recipe. Thanks so much FoodMayhem!
Coming from Memphis, the real home of BBQ :), it is interesting to see your recipe and the comments. I am going to make a few statements that I truly hope to not offend; it’s just how we do it in Memphis and Mississippi. Dry rub with a home blended concoction similar to the recipe. Slow smoke the pig for hours, until it reaches 135-140 internally. I try to keep my temperature at aprx. 265. Let it sit for 15 minutes as the temp. will rise another 10 degrees. Pull the pork by hand. I have never heard of vanilla in a sauce, but I am willing to give it a try next time. I always add red pepper flakes; I like it spicy. Throw it on a toasted bun and top it with homemade coleslaw. That’s a gift from heaven! Good job and have fun exploring!
Thanks Kristin!
Derrick, no offense taken! Glad to hear more about your local style! We wish we had a smoker but alas, we don’t. =( Maybe one day!!
Marc, I usually add about a half a can of Ginger Ale to the slow cooker at the start. By the time it is about 1/2 way done the pot is full of juice. I will then baste the pork every hour or so. It comes out great. I don’t use the same amount of chili spice. Maybe a half tea spoon worth.