Brown Sugar Pulled Pork

Several weeks ago, my husband found a ~10lb picnic shoulder (meaning it still had the bone in it) for a pretty good price, so he picked it up. I did some guess work and cooked it low and slow in the oven and then shared it with friends.

We found another one, not on sale, but I wanted to make it again... So it ended up in the grocery cart.

Here's how I prepare it, for fall apart pork that's slightly sweet an REALLY good with some Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory & Brown Sugar Barbecue Sauce. It's a 2-day process, but so worth it.

First I line a large roasting pan with foil. Lots of foil, because there's a lot of liquid and drippings in this, and a well lined pan makes for much easier clean up, and then put the shoulder in fat/skin layer facing up.

Then I take a sharp, serrated knife and cut some grooves in the fat, down to the meat in a criss-cross pattern.

Then I put the rub together half of the rub goes on the meat to sit over night, the other half goes on before it goes in the oven.

The dry-rub ingredients:
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp onion powder
1/2 tbsp mustard pwoder
1/4-1/2 tsp ground cayenne

Mix them all up! Then rub half of the rub mixture onto the pork... make sure you get it down in the grooves, and directly on the meat on the ends, and the bottom.

Then cover with foil and stick in the fridge over night.

Day 2!

Set your oven to 275*F (low and slow, baby)

Uncover your pork shoulder, save the foil though, so you can cover it back up. Grab your rub, and rub the rest of it on the shoulder, then cover it back up and stick it the oven... For about 45 mins per pound.

My 10lb pork shoulder should be done in around 8 hours at 275. If you want to cook it more quickly, it can be done at 350 for 25-30 mins per pound. The trick is to get the meat to 180 or above for a while to break down the connective tissue so it falls apart into that juicy, shredded goodness. Make sure the internal temp is at least 160 though to be sure it's done.

When it comes out of the oven, I use tongs to remove and discard the fat layer (it should come right off) and pull the bone out (it should slide out clean). Then I pull it with the tongs and a fork and put the meat into a slow cooker on the "warm" setting to keep the meat warm. I serve it with barbecue sauce and bread and enjoy! :) Or sometimes I just eat it plain, it's really good!

(Sorry I don't have any pictures of the finished product, we had friends over and we were hungry!)

For the leftovers, I divide it into equal portions and store in freezer bags. It freezes pretty well. I use the leftovers for pork tacos or with collards. Yum.

Enjoy!
~Mandy