Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I realize that a recipe for pulled pork is a kitchen version of an oxymoron. But I tried to write mine down in a way that will give you the confidence to pull off the sort of clean-out-the-fridge improvisation that makes the best pulled pork. While bbq sauce varies region to region, all over the country and some are sweet and smoky, some spicy, some vinegary and thin, all sauce has some combination of the same elements. It’s how they are balanced that makes the difference. I really like all the different sauces at different times, but for pulled pork, I emphasize the sweet and smoke a little more. I also like a thicker sauce so it doesn’t soak the bun through immediately. I am going to list some common ingredients I’ve used organized by element. You can use any of these, and really, using them all will contribute to a more complex the flavor. Just keep them balanced. Also, I’ve never written down this recipe before and the brioche recipe hadn’t been used in awhile, so there were lots of surprises, “mistakes” (or opportunities for technique development) and messes this past week. I’ll share them with you so you can learn from them and prevent them as well as to see that sometimes the mistakes cause you to learn more about cooking in general and to realize that they happen to every cook all the time and it’s no big deal. Even if it doesn’t come out as expected, it can still be delicious. Also, don’t forget about the international section of your pantry. I use a lot of Asian flavors and products in my sauce and if you’ve had Korean bbq, you know why I would rely on those flavors for my Pulled Pork Sandwiches on my Super Bowl Menu.

Smoke: chipotles (heat too), cumin (spice too)
Sweet: brown sugar, pineapple juice, fennel seeds, tomato sauce, tamarind concentrate (tangy too), sweet chili sauce (from Asian grocery stores), maple syrup, apple juice or cider
Salt: soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, French onion soup leftover in the fridge, salt itself, beef stock, pickle brine
Heat: hot sauce, red pepper flakes, chili paste, jalapeños, serranos, habaneros
Spice: chili powder, oregano, paprika (hot and/or smoked are best), brown mustard seeds, black pepper, coriander, five spice, cinnamon
Acid: red wine, apple cider vinegar, tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar (almost everything in this category has some sweet notes too)
Base: tomatoes or tomato sauce, bottled bbq sauce (balance)

Print Recipe

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Breaking down bbq sauce by flavor profile makes it easy to make pulled pork from scratch without a recipe for delicious pulled pork sandwiches.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time7 hours hrs

Total Time7 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings: 12

Author: Barrett Bridenhagen

Ingredients

• 7 ½ pound picnic shoulder of pork- don’t forget to make sure the butcher removes the skin like me. But, if you do, then you can look at my photos where I try to show you how to remove it.

Base

• 28 oz can of whole tomatoes
• 12 oz of leftover tomato sauce
• 8 oz leftover bbq sauce

Acid

• ½ cup red wine
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar

Salt

• 2 cups of leftover French onion soup
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 2 tablespoons salt LATER- READJUSTMENT

Smoke

• 3 canned chipotles and their sauce leftovers, might have used more but didn’t want to open a new can
• 2 tablespoons cumin powder

Heat

• 3 tablespoons hot sauce

Sweet

• 3 tablespoons tamarind concentrate
• 4 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
• ⅓ cup brown sugar LATER- READJUSTMENT

Spice

• 1 tablespoon coriander powder
• 1 tablespoon oregano leave dried or double if you have fresh
• 1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chili powder I had ancho

Instructions

• Remove pork from fridge and bring to room temperature. Remove the outer skin if you were a fool and forgot to check with the butcher. This is done best with a very sharp knife (I used my boning knife). I started at a corner of the skin and angled my knife in so as to loose little of the fat and gently released the tension between the skin and the meat. You will quickly get a feel for where the skin wants to give and when and you continuously run your knife to the place of greatest resistance.  Once the skin is removed, you can either discard it or reserve it for a future project.
• I really like making pulled pork in a crockpot because I can set it up early in the morning and get on to other things the rest of the day. This huge piece of meat requires the big crock pot. I used a 6 quart and the boundaries of the machine were definitely pushed by the meat and sauce quantity I selected.
• The basic concept is make the sauce. Put it and the meat in the crockpot. Cook for a long time. That doesn't mean the practice will be so simple... Something I should have done: measure the volume of the sauce and meat before I committed to them both fitting into the pot. What I actually did: Start throwing great stuff in the crockpot while writing it down for this recipe. See it was getting full. Put pork in. Realize that the lid would barely fit. Put on anyway. Realize that spills were going to happen when it got hot. What I should have done: remove some of the liquid and reserve for after the meat cooked down and I removed the bones. What I did: leave it alone hoping that it would magically cook gently and the volume increase due to heat would perfectly coincide with the meat cooking and shrinking. What did happen?: lots of splattering. Solution: reserve some of the liquid ingredients until you remove the bones and then add it when you have more room in the pot.
• After the meat is tender and starting to pull (somewhere in the 6-7 hours range), remove the bones.
• If the sauce is still really runny, scoop out as much liquid as you can and place it in a medium pot and cook over medium until it reduces to a thick liquid. (I ended up reducing about 4 cups of liquid to 1 cup).
• Now is the important part. Taste the sauce. Readjust the balance. I had to add the brown sugar and salt at this point. Return to pork. Taste again. Readjust.
• Set on keep warm or low.Buy some good rolls to serve the pork on, or make some homemade brioche. (Hint: you’ll need flour, yeast, salt, butter, eggs and to start a day ahead ideally). Steam or sauté spinach as a topping for the sandwich; figure one cup of leaves per person. These are a great part of a Super Bowl Menu and perfect since people can serve themselves whenever they so choose.
• Notes: I made mine a day ahead, refrigerated overnight and placed back in the crockpot on warm the next day and didn’t serve it until night. As long as you start early, there’s no reason you can’t make it and serve it in the same day.

Notes

$pendy Alterations: If you want a smaller cut, you an try a pork shoulder, pork butt, or even a roast pork loin. The loin will be boneless and more expensive, but it’s also leaner meat. I think the picnic cut is really flavorful and you can always invite a few more friends or freeze a quart of the pulled pork for next month’s pulled pork quesadillas.