Carolina Pulled Pork with Lexington Red Sauce

By Lady Butterfly

Bill and Cheryl Jamison, Cooking Light

JULY 2007

Ingredients

• RED SAUCE:
• 8 hickory wood chunks (about 4 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
• 2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 (5-pound) bone-in pork shoulder (Boston butt)
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 2 1/4 cups water, divided
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• Cooking spray
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Details

Servings 13
Adapted from myrecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

To prepare pork, soak wood chunks in water about 16 hours; drain.

Combine turbinado sugar and next 4 ingredients (through ground red pepper); reserve 2 tablespoons sugar mixture. Rub half of the remaining sugar mixture onto pork. Place in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal and refrigerate pork overnight.

Remove pork from refrigerator; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Rub remaining half of sugar mixture onto pork.

Combine reserved 2 tablespoons sugar mixture, 1 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup water, 1 teaspoon salt, and oil in a small saucepan; cook over low heat 10 minutes or until sugar dissolves.

Remove grill rack; set aside. Prepare grill for indirect grilling, heating one side to medium-low and leaving one side with no heat. Maintain temperature at 225°. Pierce bottom of a disposable aluminum foil pan several times with the tip of a knife. Place pan on heated side of grill; add half of wood chunks to pan. Place another disposable aluminum foil pan (do not pierce pan) on unheated side of grill. Pour remaining 2 cups water in pan. Coat grill rack with cooking spray; place on grill.

Place pork on grill rack over foil pan on the unheated side. Close lid, and cook for 4 1/2 hours or until a thermometer registers 170°, gently brushing pork with vinegar mixture every hour (avoid brushing off sugar mixture). Add additional wood chunks halfway during cooking time. Discard any remaining vinegar mixture.

Preheat oven to 250°.

Remove pork from grill. Wrap pork in several layers of aluminum foil, and place in a baking pan. Bake at 250° for 2 hours or until a thermometer registers 195°. Remove from oven. Let stand, still wrapped, for 1 hour or until pork easily pulls apart. Unwrap pork; trim and discard fat. Shred pork with 2 forks.

To prepare sauce, combine 1 cup vinegar and remaining ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1 1/4 cups (about 5 minutes). Serve sauce warm or at room temperature with pork.

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving Calories: 230
Calories from fat: 50%
Fat: 12.9g
Saturated fat: 4.6g
Monounsaturated fat: 5.8g
Polyunsaturated fat: 1.3g
Protein: 21.4g
Carbohydrate: 4.7g
Fiber: 0.3g
Cholesterol: 74mg
Iron: 1.6mg
Sodium: 692mg
Calcium: 31mg