Carolina Style Pulled Pork Sandwich

graftonr's Note:

I like to call this "The Worlds Greatest Sandwich". Cooked overnight in a crock pot, the meat is tender, juicy, and messy..the way a BBQ sandwich should be. Top it with your favorite cole slaw, and you have one tasty meal.

• Total Time: 12 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 12 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 18

Pulled Pork

• 2 onions , quartered
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 4 -6 lbs boneless pork butt
• ¾ cup apple cider vinegar
• 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 ½ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
• ½ teaspoon dry mustard
• ½ teaspoon garlic salt
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne (Spice it up a bit with 1/2 tspn)

Barbecue Sauce

• 1 cup yellow mustard
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• ¾ cup apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup water
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne
• ½ teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon liquid smoke

Extras

• 20 buns
• 1 lb coleslaw

Directions:

1. The Meat --.
2. Place the quartered onions in a crock pot.
3. Combine brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper: rub over the roast.
4. Place the roast over the onions in the crock pot.
5. Combine the vinegar, Worcestershire Sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic salt and cayenne; stir to mix well.
6. Drizzle about 1/2 of the vinegar mixture over the roast and cover. Refrigerate the remaining vinegar mixture.
7. Cook on low up to 18 hours, but at least 12 hours. Drizzle the other half of the vinegar mixture over the roast during the last 1/2 hour of cooking.
8. 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.
9. Remove the meat from the crock pot and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes. (Very important step -- longer is better).
10. Remove the onions and chop to a fine consistency.
11. Pull apart the meat with a couple of forks. Meat should have a shredded look to it.
12. 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.
13. To serve, spread barbecue sauce on bottom of a hearty bun.
14. Put layer of pulled pork on bun. Spread barbecue sauce over meat.
15. Add layer of your favorite cole slaw on top of meat. Layer some more barbecue sauce over cole slaw.
16. Spread top of bun with more sauce.
17. Grab a fist full of napkins, and enjoy.

Reviews

[PKG]

The method to make the pork is excellent--fall apart tender. I ended up using all of the liquid leftover in the crockpot and cleaned a pair of kitchen shears to cut up the onions. About the sauce: I was somewhat hesitant after reading reviews whether or not to make the sauce, but I made it twice because the instructions I think could use a little bit more clarification. This is also probably significant: I used Dijon mustard for both attempts. When I was mixing the ingredients I must admit it BURNED my nostrils! The first time I made the sauce I let it simmer *uncovered* for 30 minutes on low, stirring often, then covered it for the last 10 when you add the soy sauce, liquid smoke and butter. Everybody in the house LOVED the first sauce--it was thick, slightly sweet and spicy sauce with a nice kick. The second time I made it, I kept the sauce covered! Personally, the second sauce was not palatable for us. That being said, I love this recipe and would make the pulled pork again. I liked the sauce on these conditions: using Dijon mustard and simmering uncovered while watching/stirring carefully (and making a double portion of the sauce!). I would love to try this with just regular BBQ sauce as well. I will be making this again.

[Jrsygirl17]

I've made this SEVERAL times & thought I'd reviewed it but don't see my review so apologies if this is a duplicate. Every time I make this, it gets rave reviews! I made three roasts so instead of the crock pot, I used a roasted and cooked the meat on 225 all night. Worst part was smelling it cooking all night...LOL! I followed the recipe for the rub & cooking the meat almost exactly...I forgot the cayenne. It was just an oversight. For the sauce, I ran out of mustard, so I supplemented w/ketchup (about 1/4 of the mustard) so it added a bit of tomato to it. Someone said, "You could bottle that sauce & sell it!" I cooked the sauce w/the lid off as another person said. This recipe is soooo good & so easy to make. It's a GREAT crowd pleaser. THANKS for posting it!

[MKTaylor]

Wowza! This is great! Even my grill loving husband had to admit that it was amazing. The pork was perfectly seasoned and shredded nicely. The sauce is so, so delicious. I did half dijon, half regular mustard in it and kept everything else the same. My only complaint is that there wasn't enough! Next time, I'll double the sauce recipe. I also plan on making it to go with ribs! Yummy! Thank you so much for a great recipe!