North Carolina Pulled Pork Recipe

One taste of a traditional North Carolina style pulled pork recipe and you will be hooked!

A full pork shoulder, or a couple smoked butts, smoked for hours on end becomes incredibly tender.

Hickory smoke flavor, spicy rub, delicious barbecue mopping sauce, and a tangy finishing sauce all add up to an unbelievable taste explosion no one can pass up.   

The mopping sauce tenderizes the meat. 

With mop applied over the hours and hours of smoking the fat is rendered and the connective tissues break down. 

Pulled Pork Recipe Basics

Properly done pulled pork is to die for. Try one of your own and see if you agree.

Some folks with large smokers use an entire pork shoulder. However for the rest of us a couple Boston Pork Butts are a little easier to work with.     

Ingredients:

• 2 Boston Pork Butts 5-6 pounds each
• 2 Tbl spns pickling salt
• 2 Tbl spns fresh ground black pepper
• 2 Tbl spns Hungarian Paprika
• 1 Tbl spn garlic powder
• 1 Tbl spn ground cumin
• 1 Tbl spn sugar
• 1 Quart Pulled Pork Mopping Sauce
• Pulled Pork Finishing Sauce

1. Combine all the spices and mix.
2. Brush the butts with some vinegar barbecue sauce
3. Rub on the spice mix and wrap in plastic
4. Place the meat in the refrigerator for about 8 couple hours. 
5. When ready to cook fire the smoker to 225 degrees F. 
6. Remove from refrigerator 1 hour before smoking
7. Apply more of the spices 
8. Put the pork butts on the smoker grates fat side up.
9. After four hours start to baste with the vinegar sauce every hour.

The pork will smoke for a good long time, about 1.5 hours per pound. Keep smoke on the meat at least the first six hours. Once the internal temperature of the butt reaches 190 degrees remove from the smoker. 

Wrap in aluminum foil and let it sit an hour or so. This step is important so don't skip it. 

By this time the meat will be literally falling apart. Pull the meat apart and separate any remaining bone or gristle. You can add your favorite Pulled Pork Finishing.

We take our pulled port on fresh hard rolls with a side of potato salad. Have a nice selection of your favorite sandwich fixins available.   

We hope you enjoy this North Carolina Pulled Pork Recipe as much as everyone else does.

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