North Carolina Pulled Pork (Pulled Pork)
Pulled Pork Say it: PULLD PORK
Pulled pork is the cornerstone of North Carolina barbecue: a bone-in pork shoulder rubbed with spices, cooked low and slow over hardwood coals until the meat collapses into juicy, smoky strands. It is piled onto soft buns with coleslaw, and in the eastern part of the state it is dressed with a thin, sharp sauce of cider vinegar, pepper and a touch of sugar — no tomato at all. The contrast of rich, smoky pork and bright vinegar is what makes it unforgettable.
North Carolina Pulled Pork (Pulled Pork)
Pulled Pork
Pronounced PULLD PORK
- Serves
- 8
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 9 hr
- Total
- 9 hr 20 min
- Level
- Medium
Also nut-free and egg-free.
Allergens: contains mustard. Check labels on packaged ingredients.
Ingredients
Amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pan sizes stay the same.
Pork and rub
Eastern Carolina vinegar sauce
To serve
Method
Pat the pork shoulder dry with paper towels. Mix the brown sugar, paprika, salt, black pepper, cayenne, garlic powder and onion powder in a small bowl until evenly combined.
Rub the mustard all over the pork — it helps the spices cling and leaves no mustard flavour once cooked. Coat every surface with the rub, pressing it in, then wrap the shoulder in plastic and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
Take the pork out of the fridge an hour before cooking. Light a smoker or set up a kettle grill for indirect heat and bring it to 250°F (120°C), adding the hickory or oak chunks and a water pan.
Set the pork fat side up on the grate away from the heat, close the lid and cook, holding the temperature between 225°F and 275°F (110–135°C), allowing about 2 hours per pound — roughly 8 to 10 hours in total.
After about 5 hours the bark should be deep mahogany and the meat around 165°F (74°C). At that point you can wrap the shoulder tightly in heavy foil to push through the stall, or leave it bare for a firmer, crunchier bark.
The pork is ready when a probe slides in with almost no resistance, the thickest part reads 200–205°F (93–96°C) and the bone wiggles freely. Lift it into a foil-lined pan, tent loosely with foil and rest for 45 minutes.
While the meat rests, whisk the cider vinegar, water, brown sugar, salt, red pepper flakes and black pepper until the sugar and salt dissolve. Taste and stir in the hot sauce if you want more bite.
Pull the pork. discard the bone and any large pockets of fat, then shred the meat with two forks or gloved hands, chopping the crisp pieces of bark and folding them back through the meat.
Toss the pulled pork with 4–6 tbsp (60–90 ml) of the vinegar sauce until glossy, pile it onto the buns with coleslaw and serve the remaining sauce on the side.
Regional variant: Lexington-Style Pulled Pork (Lexington barbecue)
In the western Piedmont the sauce, called 'dip', is tomato-red: simmer 1 cup (240 ml) cider vinegar with 1/2 cup (120 ml) ketchup, 2 tbsp (26 g) brown sugar, 1 tbsp (18 g) salt, 1 tsp black pepper and 1/2 tsp cayenne for 5 minutes. Cook and pull the pork exactly the same way, toss it with the warm red dip instead of the clear vinegar sauce, and serve it with red slaw made with ketchup in place of mayonnaise.
Cook's notes
- Judge by temperature, not the clock: the shoulder is only shreddable at 200–205°F (93–96°C). A bone-in roast cooked to 185°F (85°C) will slice, not pull.
- No smoker? Set the rubbed shoulder on a rack in a roasting pan, add 1/2 cup (120 ml) water, cover tightly with foil and roast at 300°F (150°C) for about 6 hours, then uncover for the last 45 minutes to firm the crust.
- Pull the pork while it is still hot — it shreds far more easily — and keep it warm with a splash more vinegar sauce rather than reheating it dry.
Serve with
Soft white buns, coleslaw, hushpuppies, pickles and sweet iced tea.
Make ahead and storage
Keep pulled pork covered in the fridge up to 4 days or frozen up to 3 months; reheat gently, covered, with a splash of water and vinegar sauce at 300°F (150°C).
