Carolina Pulled Pork Sliders with Mustard

Sometimes, I give you my tried and true recipes, and sometimes I run across a recipe that sounds wonderful and I want to share it, before I've had a chance to try it.  This is one of those recipes.  It looks awesome.  The process is very similar to what I've done in the past.  I'm definitely going to give this one a try! 

~Shelly

This will work great with a Pork Shoulder or a Rolled Boston Pork Roast. 

FOR THE RUB

2 teaspoons dry mustard

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 garlic powder

1 teaspoons teaspoon onion powder

1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 Boston butt Roast

FOR THE MOP SAUCE

2 cups distilled white vinegar

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

FOR SERVING

24 small buns

6 tablespoons butter (optional), melted

Thinly sliced sweet or dill pickles

Combine the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl and stir to mix. Sprinkle the rub all over the pork, patting it onto the meat with your fingertips. Let the pork cure at room temperature while you make the mop sauce.

Make the mop sauce. Combine the vinegar, mustard, water, salt and pepper in a large nonreactive mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup of water, and whisk until the salt dissolves.

Set up the grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium-low. If using a gas grill, place all the wood chips or chunks in a smoker box or smoker pouch and run the grill on high until you see smoke, then reduce the heat to medium-low. If using a charcoal grill, place a large drip pan in the center, preheat the grill to medium-low, then toss 1 cup of the wood chips or chunks on the coals.

When ready to cook, place the pork, skin side up, if there is one, in the center of the hot grate over the drip pan and away from the heat. Cover the grill. Cook the pork until darkly browned on the outside and very tender inside, 4 to 6 hours. To test for doneness, use an instant-read meat thermometer: The internal temperature of the pork should be about 195 degrees F. If the pork starts to brown too much (and it probably will), cover it loosely with aluminum foil, but remember that the browned bits are good, too. Every hour for the first 4 hours, swab the pork with some of the mop sauce, using a barbecue mop or basting brush. If using a charcoal grill, every hour you’ll need to add 12 fresh coals and 1/2 cup of wood chips or chunks to each side.

Transfer the pork to a cutting board, cover it loosely with aluminum foil, and let it rest for 20 minutes before pulling or chopping. Place the pork slices in an aluminum foil pan. If you are not quite ready to serve, cover the pan with aluminum foil and place it on a warm—not hot—grill or in a low oven.

If desired, brush the buns with the melted butter and lightly toast them on the grill. Load each bun with pork and slather with South Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce. Top with pickle slices and serve.

South Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce

1 tablespoon butter

1 small onion, finely chopped        

1 clove garlic, minced        

1 cup Dijon mustard        

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar        

3/4 cup distilled white vinegar        

1 tablespoon hot sauce (preferably Crystal), or more to taste        

Coarse salt (kosher or sea) and freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a heavy nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft but not brown, about 3 minutes.

Stir in the mustard, brown sugar, vinegar, and hot sauce and add 1/2

cup of water. Let the sauce simmer, uncovered, until thick and richly flavored, 6 to 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning, adding more hot sauce as necessary and seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Let the sauce cool to room temperature before serving. In the unlikely case you have any mustard sauce left, store it in a clean jar in the refrigerator. It will keep for at least a week; bring it to room temperature before using.

TIP

You could use a different sweetener, substituting honey or molasses for the brown sugar. Use 3/4 of a cup of honey. If substituting molasses, start with 3/4 of a cup, but taste for sweetness—you may need to add a little more, since molasses is not as sweet as brown sugar.

Crispy Skin Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder

I will put this roast in the oven and enjoy the aroma ALL DAY LONG!

I grew up on this roast.  My family is German and Bohemian, and we always put Caraway Seed on it, and served it with sauerkraut, potato dumplings, and a brown gravy made from the roast drippings.  If you're interested, the recipe, Pork, Sauerkraut & Dumplings, is in our first Harter House Cookbook.

I bet, it’ll feed your entire family for a few days! 

It makes the best Pulled Pork and it's just plain delicious. 

There are 2 parts of the pork shoulder – the Picnic Roast (what we’re using) and Boston Butt (which comes from the upper part of the shoulder).

The Picnic roast will have meaty chunks of pork that we can literally pull apart with our fingers. It does take a little extra cooking time, and a little more patience  - and a really great value.

When you purchase a fresh picnic at Harter House, it is usually frozen. (Fresh meaning not cured, as in a ham) I have learned that if I put the roast in the oven frozen, at 350 degrees for 7-8 hours, it turns our perfect and the skin is ALWAYS crispy.

The following recipe comes from ruled.me  blog.

"This recipe cooks the roast from a thawed state, at a lower temperature, for a longer period of time.

Since I am a huge fan of the crispy skin, I have always cooked the roast from the frozen state to ensure the crispy skin."  ~Shelly

8 lbs. Pork Shoulder (bone-in, skin-on)
3 1/2 tbsp. Salt
2 tsp. Oregano
1 tsp. Black Pepper
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Onion Powder

1. Completely wash and pat dry the pork. Leave on the counter-top for 2-3 hours to come to room temperature.

2. Once the pork has been dried and is coming to room temperature (after a few hours), preheat your oven to 250F. Mix together all of the spices in a bowl.

3. Starting skin side down, pat the salt rub all over the pork to completely cover it. Once the bottom is done, flip and place on a wire rack that’s sitting over a baking sheet covered in foil. Spread the rub on all sides and top of the pork.

4. Once your oven is preheated and pork rubbed, place into the oven and bake for anywhere between 8-10 hours. I did 10 hours for my 8 lb. roast, but if you have smaller sizes or bigger sizes, you will have to adjust accordingly. You essentially want the internal temperature to be about 190F.

5. Remove the pork from the oven and cover with foil. Allow the pork to rest for 15 total minutes. Preheat oven to 500F.

6. Once pork is rested and oven heated to  500 F, remove the foil tent from the pork and place into the oven. We will rotate the pork every 5 minutes to allow for even cooking of the skin (YAY CRACKLINS’). There may be smoke that comes out of your oven during this process due to the fat that dripped off during the roasting time. You can either open the window or remove this fat previous to putting into the oven.

7. Take the pork out of the oven and let rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing/digging in.

8. Serve up for family and friends alike – the pork should be completely tender, easily separating from the roast by pulling the meat off with your fingers.

This makes a total of 20 (6 oz.) servings of Crispy Skin Pork Shoulder. 

ENJOY!

Pulled Pork in the Crock Pot

(1) 6-7 pound pork shoulder roast or Boston Butt from Harter House
Dry Rub
3-4 drops Liquid Smoke (optional)


My favorite Dry Rub

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Add all ingredients to a small bowl and stir until combined.

Rinse roast with cold water then pat dry with paper towels.  Using your hands, rub roast with Dry Rub until evenly coated.

Cover rubbed roast with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight if possible.  It’s not a deal-breaker if you can’t but it’s SO much better if it can soak up the flavors of the rub overnight.

Remove the plastic and place the roast, fat-side down, in a large crock pot.  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.  Do not add water.

Add Liquid Smoke to the broth that has been created from cooking the roast (not directly onto the roast).  Reduce heat to low and continue cooking for 4 more hours.

Remove broth from crock pot to use for gravy or freeze for later use.  Turn crock pot off and let roast rest, covered, for 30-45 minutes.

Remove roast from crock pot.  The meat will “pull” away easily.  Toss or serve with BBQ sauce if desired.

Enjoy!