Pulled pork

Ingredients

• Pork shoulder — bone-in4 kg
• Smoked paprika4 tbsp
• Brown sugar4 tbsp
• Mustard powder2 tbsp
• Garlic powder2 tbsp
• Cayenne1 tsp
• Mustard — as a binder for the rub3 tbsp
• Cider vinegar250 ml
• Apple juice250 ml
• Hickory or apple wood chips300 g
• Buns — to serve10
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Mix the paprika, sugar, mustard and garlic powders, cayenne, salt and black pepper.

   8 min

2. 2

   Smear the shoulder with mustard as a binder and coat it all over in the dry rub.

   12 min

3. 3

   Leave the meat in the fridge overnight, covered with film.

   10 min

4. 4

   Bring the smoker or oven to 110 °C and take the meat out an hour ahead so it warms up.

   60 min

5. 5

   Smoke it fat side up for six hours, spritzing with the vinegar and apple juice mix every hour.

   360 min

6. 6

   When the internal temperature reaches 75 °C and stalls, wrap the meat in foil and return it to the heat.

   15 min

7. 7

   Hold it to 95 °C inside, about four hours more, rest it an hour still wrapped, and pull it apart by hand.

   260 min

About the dish

The Carolina rule is "low and slow": 110 °C and ten hours. There is no faster route: connective tissue breaks down into gelatin only under long moderate heat.

Around 70 °C the meat's temperature stops rising for several hours. That is the stall, and it does not need fixing with more heat — evaporation is simply balancing the input, and it will move on afterwards.

The meat is pulled by hand or with two forks, never cut. Cutting gives slices; the point is long threads with sauce held between them.

Worth knowing

• — A thermometer is essential. Time is a guide here; doneness is set by internal temperature alone — 95 °C and not a degree less.
• — Do not skip the hour of rest in the foil. The juices redistribute in that time and the meat stops running as you pull it.
• — An oven without smoke gives a close texture but a different flavour. That is an honest substitution and should not be called barbecue.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

620 kcal

Protein

48 g

Fat

38 g

Carbs

22 g

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