Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Barbecue Sauce

  • 8
  • 500 mins

Ingredients

  • 2 heads of garlic, halved crosswise
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • Kosher salt
  • Pepper
  • 1 tablespoon minced thyme
  • 2 teaspoons dry mustard powder
  • 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
  • 2 teaspoons finely grated peeled fresh ginger
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
  • One 5-pound, bone-in pork butt (shoulder roast)
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 1/4 cups ketchup
  • 1 cup cola
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup cayenne pepper hot sauce, such as Frank’s Red Hot
  • 2 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • Split potato buns, Red-and-Green Coleslaw and Habanero Vinegar, for serving

Preparation

Step 1

MAKE THE PORK
Preheat the oven to 350°. Arrange the garlic cut side up on a sheet of foil, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap the garlic in the foil and roast for about 
1 hour, until very soft. Let cool, then squeeze the garlic cloves out of the skins into a medium bowl. Add the thyme, mustard powder, paprika, ginger, orange zest and the 1/4 cup of oil and mash into a paste. 


Reduce the oven temperature to 300°. Set a rack in a flameproof medium roasting pan and put the pork on it. Season the pork with salt and pepper, then rub it all over with the garlic paste. Roast for 6 hours, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat registers 200°; uncover for the last 45 minutes of cooking. Transfer to a work surface and let cool, then shred. Discard the fat and bones.


Spoon off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the roasting pan. Add the sugar, both vinegars and 1/2 cup of water to the pan and cook over moderately high heat, whisking, until bubbling and the sugar dissolves, 
5 minutes. Add the pork and toss to coat. Season the pork generously with salt and pepper and toss again; keep warm.


MEANWHILE, MAKE THE SAUCE
In a saucepan, whisk the ketchup, cola, vinegar, hot sauce, molasses and cornstarch and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat, stirring, until glossy and thick, 
8 minutes; keep warm.

Pile the pork on the buns and top with the barbecue sauce and coleslaw. Close the sandwiches and serve, passing the habanero vinegar at the table.