Why is it when working out at the Y, the only good thing on TV is the Food Network? It kills me to watch fabulous dishes being made while I’m dripping sweat and struggling to breathe. But, since I don’t have cable television in my house (mostly because if I did, all I’d do is sit and watch the Food Network), I’m thankful for the great ideas I get from watching Rachel, Ina, Paula, Bobby and Guy at the gym. This week it was Paula Dean. This is the first recipe I’ve ever tried of hers. They always look amazing, but I’ve never actually remembered to look up the recipe once I get home. I think I’m in an indoor BBQ kind of mood because apparently in Seattle we’re going to skip right over Spring this year and go directly from Winter to Summer sometime in July. Seriously…I think there was a frost this week and I broke out my flip flops yesterday because it was going to be a whopping 58°.
The liquid smoke and the very slow cook time are the keys to a great pulled pork sandwich that tastes like it has been grilling outside all day. Just as a side note, when you pull the lid off to pour sauce over the meat every hour, I would suggest duct taping a hot pad to your hand. That way, you won’t use a hot pad to pick up the lid when removing it and then forget to put the protection back on your hand when you grasp the handle to put the topper back on your pot. Yeah. Ouch ouch ouch. I am a total clutz. On a brighter note, I’m pretty sure I burned my finger prints off the fingers of my right hand – so now I can commit that perfect crime I’ve been plotting.
I cut back on the cayenne just a tad because I was feeding it to my kids and felt like the original amount called for would be a little spicy for them. I’m so glad I did because even as written below, this stuff had a kick! A perfect one for me, not overpowering, but certainly enough to make me sit up and take notice of my food. The pork was incredibly tender (fall off the bone) and succulently (I’m sure that isn’t a word) delicious. I spooned a little of the cooking liquid over my pork once I shredded it and only had to use a few drizzles of BBQ sauce – the meat has amazing flavor without much additional topping.
BBQ Pulled Pork (Adapted from Paula Dean)
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar2 tablespoons paprika1 teaspoon cayenne
4 pound shoulder pork roast
2 cup apple juice
1 cup apple cider vinegar2 tablespoons Worcestershire
2 teaspoons liquid smoke1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
6 soft hamburger buns
Bbq sauce (you can use homemade, or your favorite bottle)Cole slaw
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Mix the dry rub ingredients in small bowl. Sprinkle dry rub all over the pork roast, pressing into the pork. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (I left mine to get all spicy overnight).
Combine liquid ingredients and the garlic powder in a medium bowl and pour into a large Dutch oven (or large pot with tight fitting lid). Place pork in the oven and tightly cover with aluminum foil then lid. Roast for 4 hours or until fork tender and shreds easily. Brush the roast with cooking liquid every hour.
Remove from oven and let stand until cool enough to handle. Shred the pork with a fork or tongs into bite size pieces.
Serve on hamburger buns topped with BBQ sauce and cole slaw.
Bakerlady 
Thanks for sharing this; it sounds tasty! I’ve been making pulled pork in the crock pot for a while now and while it’s been easy (look ma, no burnt fingers!) I’m not thrilled with my old recipe because it relies mainly upon bottled BBQ sauce. Have you read the main ingredients in most bottled BBQ sauces these days? Garbage! I really like that yours develops the sauce using juice, vinegar, etc. Thanks!
Yeah, I’ve done it in the crock pot too – just wanted to try something new to see if it has the same tenderness etc. The burnt fingers are certainly a deterrent for the oven method. Hope you enjoy this recipe! I know, bottled sauces are good in a pinch, but there’s so much junk in there!
What a fabulous recipe!
🙂 Mandy
I agree. It was soooooo good.
If doing this in the crock pot what would the time, settings be?
I would say low 6 hours or high for 3.
Lovely. Thanks for linking this in to Food on Friday. Cheers