Pulled Pork Recipe
Classic, Tender and Smoky!
Pulled Pork Recipe !
Whether you are in New England, Hawaii, Texas or Alaska everyone has their version of smoked pork shoulder/butt AKA pulled pork recipe. The mention invokes thoughts of the tender pork with that smoke flavor permeating through. Sauces can vary rather wildly by region. From sweet to spice or the vinegar sauces of the Carolina's, everyone has their version. This is our place to gather all those excellent pulled pork recipes, with their sauces and condiments.
The basics that seem to run through most of the pulled pork recipe regions are as follows:
1. The pork will be cooked "low and slow" to an internal temperature of 190-205 degrees.
2. Most will use some sort of dry rub on the outside of the shoulder/butt.
3. Many will use a mop during the long smoking process.
4. Sauces are actually optional, a beautifully smoked pork should be able to stand on it's own.
Randy's Wine Country Pulled Pork with
Old Vine Zinfandel BBQ Sauce
I developed this pulled pork recipe on the amazing California central coast and Paso Robles Wine Country. Around here, Oak is the wood of choice for the smoker and with the incredible Paso Robles Zinfandels making a OVZ sauce seemed a natural. By the way, OVZ stands for Old Vine Zinfandel.
Dry cure your pork. Rub your pork shoulder/butt with your favorite rub.
Try our RRR Rib and Chicken Rub it works great on this recipe. Let is cure overnight in the refrigerator.
If you are using a boned pork butt, I like to tie it up into the more or less original shape using butcher twine. This evens out the cooking time.
Soak your wood chips for an hour or more. I personally like mesquite or oak chips.
Heat your smoker to 250 - 275 degrees.
I set up a drip pan with water under the butts to catch drips and bring some humidity to the smoking process. If you are using live coals or wood, this is mandatory! This also will avoid flare up fires as the pork will drip quite a bit of fat during the cooking process.
Smoke your pork until it reaches the target heat of 190 degrees.Depending on the size, bone in or bone out, smoking may take six to nine hours.
When the pork is done remove from the smoker and allow to rest for thirty minutes. Depending not the application the pork can be shredded, chunked or sliced. It should be very tender and fall apart pretty easily.
Old Vine Zinfandel Sauce
½ 750 ml. bottle Old Vine Zinfandel try to find one that's not too expensive like Bogle if you can!
1 ½
cups Ketchup
4 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon orange marmalade
1 tablespoon coarse Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
½ teaspoon pasilla chile powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
Combine all in a non-reactive pan and simmer for 30 minutes on low heat. Allow to rest for a couple of hours and the flavors to combine.
Korean Pulled Pork Recipe &
Korean Pulled Pork Sandwich with Spicy Slaw
In the world of fusion cuisine, incorporating the spices of international cuisine into our cooking and in this case smoking of pork butt yields a delicious pulled pork recipe. This Korean flavored pulled pork makes outstanding sandwiches, lettuce wraps or even just with the slaw recipe.
One 7 to 8lb. Pork Butt
Korean Marinade
¼ cup Soy Sauce
6-8 cloves garlic chopped fine
¼ fresh ginger chopped fine
¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
½ cup Gochujang Sauce
⅓ cup Hoisin Sauce
¼ cup sesame oil
1 tablespoon five spice powder
¼ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Sriracha or Chili Garlic Sauce ** optional if you like it spicy!
Combine all the ingredients and place in a large zip lock bag or I use my vacuum packer.. Add the pork to the bag, squeeze out as much air as possible and marinate overnight.
Preheat the grill/smoker to 250 degrees. I like significant smoke apparently more than come from my Traeger Silverton 620 (it does not have the Super Smoke setting), so I use a smoke tube to supplement the smoke. **If you do use a smoke tube, be sure to not allow it to come in contact with fat or grease drippings.
Place the pork on the grill. Reserve the marinade and baste the pork with it periodically.
Smoke the pork for 8-10 hours or to 205 degrees. When the temp reached 195 boosted the heat up to 325 to get a bit more caramelization from on the exterior. While the pork is cooking make the slaw and BBQ sauce.
Spicy Korean BBQ Sauce
1 cup chicken or beef broth
1 tablespoon chile garlic paste or Sriracha sauce
½ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons gochujang sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 ½ teaspoons five spice powder
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
Combine all and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Note, this sauce is great on chicken too!
Spicy Korean Slaw
While not authentically Korean, this slaw is a great fusion style salad incorporating Korean flavors into a western style slaw.
1 head white cabbage or Napa cabbage thinly sliced
2 cups red cabbage thinly sliced
1 red onion thinly sliced
5 green onions thinly sliced
1 carrot julienne or grated
¼ cup cilantro
Dressing
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoon ginger finely chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons red pepper flakes or kochukaru
Salt and pepper to taste.
Combine all and allow to sit for a while for flavor to combine.
Toss slaw just before serving
Korean Pulled Pork Sandwich
- We bought some beautiful Brioche Buns and assembled a killer sandwich with the pork, slaw, BBQ sauce and marinated cucumbers. Pictured.
Korean Pulled Pork Tacos or Burritos
- Make tacos with the corn tortillas, pork, slaw and top with the BBQ sauce! Burrito style wrap it all up in a flour tortilla.
More Pulled Pork Recipes to Come!
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