Monday, May 04, 2009

customized pulled pork

Bought a 5lb pork shoulder today, on sale, for $5, from Vons. Decided to cook it up, but it took nearly 8 hours (cooked to 175 deg internal, because I'm gonna slice/chop it).

Took 3 stages of prep:

1. Slather
2. Rub
3. Mop

Here are the related recipes:

Slather:
1/4 cup Tecate or other light-flavored beer
3 tbsp prepared yellow mustard
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp louisiana hot sauce (like Red Rooster)
1 tsp worceshire sauce
Fresh ground pepper
Salt to taste

Whisk to combine. Taste to adjust mustard, etc.

Rub:
this one is Wolfie Puck's. I like its sweeter flavor.
4 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp onion powder
4 tbsp garlic powder
4 tbsp thyme
4 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp mild paprika
2 tbsp hot paprika
4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tsp ground coriander
4 tsp ground black pepper (or 2+2 black + white pepper; that's the original recipe)
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp dry mustard (I don't see the mustard in his original recipe, but looks like I add this)
OPTIONAL: a few shakes of hickory smoke powder

Mop: made this one up myself, but inspired by some recipes in Paul Kirk's book; the jack + brown sugar, along with the "holiday spices" give it a (strangely) fruity, pleasant quality.

1/2 cup Jack Daniels
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp worceshire sauce
1 tsp louisiana hot sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
pinch allspice
pinch cloves
pinch cinammon

Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.

The whole process:

  1. Pat shoulder dry
  2. Slather with slather sauce.
  3. Sprinkle with rub, and let sit for 15 minutes.
  4. Bake at 250 degrees, unwrapped, for about 4 hours.
  5. At 4 hours, FLIP the roast, and rotate it.
  6. Then start the mop; mop about every 30 minutes; cook for about 4 more hours.
  7. For slicing, 165-175 degrees is optimal; for pulling, it's 195-205 degrees. Use a thermometer to check.
Enjoy some delicious pork!

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