Low and Slow Oven-Roasted Pulled Pork
We’re eating classic bbq pulled pork sandwiches dressed with coleslaw, hot sauce and barbecue sauce and served on a freshly made kaiser roll.
Happy New Year! As 2009 rolled to a close we decided that rather than staying up late and ringing in the new year we would wake up early and head over to our friends Nicole and Justin’s house for a day long celebration of watching two back-to-back bowl games followed by some serious rocking out (to Rock Band of course). ๐
One of the perks of being real-life friends with food bloggers is that you get to eat what they’re cooking! We decided that since Nicole was making some kaiser rolls for her blog, I would make some complimentary pulled pork to go on them. Normally I would have gone crazy and done some untraditional seasoning for the pork roast, but when the time rolled around for me to make the pork I was in a classic, nostalgic kind of mood. Thus here is my recipe for classic southern pulled pork. If you have a smoker, then by all means, please use it! Unfortunately I don’t have a smoker so the recipe below is using the low and slow oven-roasting method. If you end up giving this recipe a try, we’d love to hear how it worked out for you in the comments section below!
For the Rub:
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 1/2 packed tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1 tsp granulted garlic or garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp mustard powder (coleman's preferably)
1 (5 to 6 lb) bone-in pork shoulder roast
flavorless oil, such as canola or safflower
1 bottle of your favorite bbq sauce, plus extra for serving
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar, plus extra for seasoning
kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, as needed
Add all ingredients for the rub to a small bowl. Whisk to thoroughly mix. Evenly coat the pork shoulder with the rub, massaging the seasonings into the meat. Wrap the seasoned pork tightly in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge and let marinate for 2-6 hours.
Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
Remove seasoned pork from fridge and let sit at room temperature for about 1 hour.
Coat the pork roast with oil and place into a glass or ceramic baking dish, fat-side up. If you have one, insert a digital meat thermometer into the middle of the roast and set the alarm for 190 degrees. Do not let the thermometer touch any bones.
Place the roast into the preheated 275 degree oven. Roast for 6-7 hours, basting with pan juices every hour or so, until the meat has reached an internal temperature of 190 to 200 degrees and is fork tender. Remove from oven, place the roast on a platter and loosely cover with foil. Let the roast rest for 1 hour before shredding.
Once the pork has been removed from the baking dish, pour all of the pan juices (aka jus) into a small container. Place the jus into the fridge to chill. (Chilling the jus will help all of the fat rise to the top and solidify so it is more easily removed!)
After the pork has rested, use your hands or two forks to shred into chunks. At this stage you can either finish the preparation for immediate consumption or place the pork into an airtight contain and refrigerator for 1 day until ready to eat.
Place the pulled pork into a pot and place over medium low heat. Remove the jus from the fridge. Using a spoon, scrape off the solidified fat and discard or save for another use. Add the jus, bottle of bbq sauce and apple cider vinegar to the pot with the pork. Stir to thoroughly coat all pork with sauce. Heat until pork has absorbed most of the sauce and is heated through. Taste and adjust season as desired with kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper and more cider vinegar or bbq sauce. Serve with on kaiser rolls with coleslaw and extra bbq sauce or hot sauce as condiments. Enjoy!
can’t go wrong with this…just add sweet ice-tea!!! ๐
This was SO GOOD! I’ll make homemade rolls any time you want to supply the filling!
Hot damn! Those are some fine looking sandwiches, Amanda. And those rolls are perfect, Nicole!
soooo true, amelia!
it’s a deal, nicole! seriously…
thanks so much, susan! ๐
Thanks a lot for the wonderful recipe. Every New Year , I try something new in my kitchen. I wanted to try something new for this time too to treat my family and friends with. This will be a real treat!
bottled?
But then again, I just ate a frozen burrito, heated up of course. The funnest thing about making kaiser rolls is tieing them up, or rolling, or how about lacing them up?
I’m thinking about taking a job at Capital Grocery, but I think I also want to what out and see what kind of fin aid I may get, and I have a pretty good chance of getting an assistantship in the summer. I need to ask someone with a hort asst’ship how much they pay….I thought I wanted the job, but then I can only take one class, oh yeah this is a food blog, sorry I thought it was the life advise column….
thanks, weiber! ๐
bobby, if people wanna go two posts back and use the blueberry stout bbq sauce recipe they can. i was feeling lazy AS IT WAS NEW YEARS day. i figure the average joe pretty much always feels lazy and doesn’t want to make from scratch bbq sauce. ๐ you should totally try to go to school and do the assistantship rather than working at capitol grocery! ps – why can’t this be both a life-advise colum AND a food blog? just sayin’…
How much brown sugar? 1 1/2 what, tbs? cup?
OOOPS Should have read it closer. Sorry
No worries, WindStar! I am FULL of typos so it’s helpful when people point them out and I can change them. ๐
I’m working deals with the devil, and heather so I can go fulltime this spring and get into grad school in the summer. I am a little over qualified for the jobs I have applied for, but they do offer night schedules. I even think I may apply for a kitchen job, evenings, but I’m scared, its a wine bar, in BR. I know how to cook hot dogs and slather ’em in chili so it may not be too bad.
This may be the wrong place to ask this, but do you think there are too many food blogs? I friend is changing hers from what I called the therapists couch to a What she is trying to cook on Saturday night.
I’m just jealous because I don’t have a blog, can’t cook, and might soil myself every month or so, slightly spoiled lunch meat and eating after working in the garden without properly washing my hands.
Do you really think you are qualified to give life advise? There isn’t a facebook quiz to help you answer everyone’s questions.
I am SO excited to make these, FINALLY. I just have one question. I am planning on making these in the slow cooker that I have. Can anyone tell me how I would need to alter the recipe?
Thank You!
hi laura! if you make this in a slow cooker i would suggest browning the roast on all sides before putting it into the crock pot. I’ve never made this in a crock pot before so i don’t now if you’ll need to add any liquid or if it’s the same as roasting where that’s not necessary. good luck! i hope it comes out well!
Pulled pork is a close to heaven as you can get!
Great way to prepare it when it’s too cold to fire up the smoker.
:DDDD
Pulled pork recipe.. … first make sure the salt is kosher
I assume one can use fresh garlic that has been finely minced. I am sure it would give the dish a nice “garlicky” touch.
I am terrible about reading a recipe and following it, so here are the changes I did, lower/slower at 200, then up to 225 after 2 hours, used a lot of cayenne, red pepper, pepper in the rub with a little nutmeg. after 6 hours, i took the meat off the bone, threw out the fat, and put the meat back in the pot and juices, and added the sauce(sweet baby ray chipotle and honey ) This was fantastic! My husband said it was the best pulled pork he has ever had, and the best I have cooked!
Low and Slow Oven-Baked Pulled **Pork**
For the Rub:
1 tbsp **kosher** salt
Why?
The salt is used in the Koshering process to draw out blood. The salt isn’t Kosher in itself. It also doesn’t totally dissolve unless there’s lots of liquid. I’m guessing it adds to the crust on the pork.
I made this. It was so, so, so good. Thanks for the fantastic recipe.
This is so good. Just got done pulling(shredding) my pork shoulder. It tastes so good. Can’t wait to warm up for dinner in a few hours. Sweet Baby Ray’s Original and cider vinegar. Homemade cole slaw. Thank you for the recipe. Glad i came across it.
I was always scared to try to make this…but took a chance. It was a big hit. Simple but perfect. Thanks