World’s Greatest Carolina Pulled Pork [+ Video]

Make the proper Carolina pulled pork with this simple and scrumptious recipe. Impress your family and friends with this mouth-watering dish, full with a step-by-step video tutorial.

Wish to make the finest pulled pork from your personal kitchen? The important thing to creating this Carolina pulled pork recipe is the brine. You’re truly going to begin this recipe two days forward of time with the brine, and it takes time to make tender, juicy pulled pork within the oven. So plan your schedule accordingly, and prepare for the finest pulled pork of your life!

Make a batch of our easiest macaroni salad and toss collectively a recent fruit salad, and it’s social gathering time!!

Watch How This Pulled Pork Recipe is Made…

Creating the Greatest Pulled Pork Recipe

After I consider BBQ, I can’t assist however consider sluggish and low model, the Carolina manner. With a view to cook dinner the perfect pulled pork, it’s important that you just plan forward and spend a while prepping and cooking that scrumptious meat at these decrease temperatures. This helps deliver out all these flavors that soften in your mouth and permits that pork to actually collapse. I do know, we’re all lazy and don’t need to, however belief me, this Carolina pulled pork recipe is really easy your canine might do it.

This recipe might seem to be a course of, however right here’s the deal: you actually simply plop the pork within the fridge to marinate, after which switch it to the oven. Though it takes a very long time, you’re simply going about your on a regular basis life so it’s actually not additional work in your half. 

These thought for this pulled pork recipe come from watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Shout out to Man, who will get to eat for a dwelling! We sometimes watch his present on Netflix at evening, and to start with, it makes us so hungry, however we additionally really feel like we are able to completely guess when he doesn’t actually take pleasure in one thing. We want we might discover out what he actually thinks are the perfect and the worst of the locations he has tried.

Anyway, I bought a bit off matter. Listed here are the secrets and techniques to the world’s finest Carolina pulled pork.

Carolina Pulled Pork Elements

There are three important elements to this pulled pork recipe: the brine, pulled pork rub, and the home made BBQ sauce. Here’s what you will want for every part:

• 5-8 Pound Pork Shoulder (or Butt)

Pulled Pork Brine

• Water
• Apple Cider
  • Word that you just’ll be utilizing apple cider, NOT cider vinegar, within the pork shoulder brine. However a lot of our readers have missed that and added pure vinegar and so we had no selection however to attempt it since so a lot of you liked the outcomes. Certain sufficient, it was nice! So we want the juice however hey, vinegar is enjoyable too! Apple cider provides a bit extra taste with out ever tasting like apple, and all it’s a must to do is dump it in.
• Kosher Salt
• Darkish Brown Sugar
• Dry Rub (see beneath)
• Bay Leaves
• Pink Pepper Flakes

Pulled Pork Dry Rub

• Onion Powder
• Smoked Paprika
• Garlic Powder
• Chili Powder
• Okosher Salt
• Black Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper
• Dry Mustard
• Cumin
• Brown Sugar

Selfmade BBQ Sauce

After all, you’re welcome to make use of a store-bought sauce, however in case you’re on the lookout for the perfect pulled pork recipe ever, properly, it’s worthwhile to use home made barbecue sauce. 

• Apple Cider Vinegar
• White Vinegar
• Brown Sugar
• Chili Powder
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Salt

The measurements for all of the elements might be discovered within the recipe card on the finish of the put up.

What’s the Greatest Pork for Pulled Pork?  

To make the perfect pulled pork, you’ve bought to begin with the perfect minimize of meat. Most barbecue eating places use complete bone-in pork shoulders, however they’re not often accessible in grocery shops. When you discover a complete shoulder, use it. In any other case, we suggest a Boston butt, which is half of the shoulder, the opposite half being the picnic shoulder.

The right way to Make Pulled Pork within the Oven

This pulled pork recipe seems to be prolonged, however every step of this recipe is extremely simple. Right here’s a fast overview of methods to make pulled pork within the oven: 

1. Combine all of the elements for the dry rub in a small bowl.
2. Stir collectively the pork shoulder brine and let the pork soak in it for 12 to 24 hours. 
3. Take away the pork from the brine and place it in a big baking dish, then pat it dry with paper towels. 
4. Rub the pulled pork seasoning all around the meat, saving just a bit of the dry rub for later. 
5. With the fats dealing with up, bake the pork at a low temperature till it registers 200ºF on the thickest half. 
6. Flip off the oven and let the pork relaxation for a pair hours. 
7. Take the pork out of the oven and take away the fats from the highest. Then, shred the meat with two forks. 
8. Drain half the juices from the pork, then add the remaining dry rub and toss within the home made bbq sauce.  
9. Serve with buns or hoagies to make pork sandwiches or simply serve the meat plain with some coleslaw and all of your favourite sides.

How Lengthy to Cook dinner Pulled Pork

When you’re southern, you realize this isn’t only a secret however virtually a legislation within the south — LOW AND SLOW. I at all times snigger when individuals inform me they’ll’t make bbq, “I let it cook dinner for over an hour and it was dry and onerous as a rock!” 

BBQ may be very relaxed, identical to southerners. It needs to hang around all day, and when you might imagine you’re overcooking it, you’re not! Our pork cooks for at the very least 12 hours, generally extra if it’s an even bigger butt (I really feel like there must be a joke in there). Don’t rush it.

Can I Make Pulled Pork on a Smoker? 

When you’d relatively make smoked pulled pork as a substitute of oven pulled pork, we suggest following our Smoked Pulled Pork Recipe. It offers step-by-step directions on smoking pulled pork on a Traeger. 

Can I Make This Pulled Pork Recipe within the Gradual Cooker?

Sure this may be carried out within the sluggish cooker, however we’ve discovered that it doesn’t do it justice. It is usually onerous to suit the scale of pork butt you want right into a crock pot. When you determine to attempt it, it’s going to cook dinner for a similar period of time on low. Observe the brining directions as written, and no want so as to add any liquid to the sluggish cooker. There’s sufficient juice within the pork to maintain cooking correctly.

The right way to Prep Carolina Pulled Pork in Advance

Reader Kate says:

“I’m heading as much as my cabin and want a dinner for a big crowd just a few hours after we arrive, questioning if I can cook dinner the pork after which end it off within the grill after we arrive? Or if it’s higher to do all steps after which reheat it on arrival? Seems delish.”

Nice query! We do that ALLLLLLL the time. Go forward and make this pulled pork recipe, after which you’ve got two selections. Pull it out of the oven and put it straight into the automotive and it’ll relaxation on the way in which to the cabin and be able to eat two hours later. 

Or make it, relaxation it, cool it and place in freezer luggage, or to be sincere, we use this Foodsaver and simply suck the air out and freeze pork to be used over the following three months. It’s tremendous simple, and tastes completely recent after we reheat. We simply place it within the fridge to defrost after which reheat in a big pan with foil in a low oven or range prime with a bit oil within the pan and a lid to maintain the steam in so it’s juicy. 

Tricks to Making the Greatest Pulled Pork

The important thing factor to recollect when making this pulled pork recipe is to let the meat relaxation after it’s completed cooking. I informed you, it’s lazy. Letting it relaxation redistributes the juices, and since it’s massive and cooked for a very long time you’re going to need to let it relaxation longer — like an hour and even two — earlier than shredding.

Maybe the most important secret of all, and one which I can not declare as my very own as that is the place Triple D (Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) is available in, is to sprinkle a bit extra of the rub onto the meat earlier than serving. We observed many bbq joints weren’t simply slathering on the sauce, however truly sprinkling that dry rub all around the shredded meat and tossing to let it sink it. You gained’t imagine what a distinction it makes! 

It’s also possible to use one other kind of bbq sauce on this pulled pork recipe! Carrian likes a thick, candy sauce or a Carolina vinegar bbq, and I really like this Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce on my home made pulled pork.

What to Serve with Carolina Pulled Pork

We suggest firing up the grill and making grilled corn to go together with this Carolina pulled pork. It’s so dang good each time! And only for pure consolation, add a aspect of Southern mac and cheese. A number of different pulled pork sides we love are: 

• Macaroni Salad
• Southern English Pea Salad
• Broccoli Salad
• Roasted Potato Salad
• Baked Beans

Storing and Reheating

Leftover pulled pork must be saved in an hermetic container within the fridge. It is going to preserve for as much as 3-4 days. This meat additionally shops nice within the freezer. Let it cool fully after which place in ziploc luggage (or higher but, use a Meals Saver!). It is going to preserve within the freezer for as much as 3 months.

Use leftovers in pulled pork pizza or pulled pork nachos! If you wish to simply reheat it, flip in your oven and set the temperature to 250°F. Then, cowl your meat with foil and put it into the oven when it’s prepared. After you set it into your oven, let it warmth for half-hour or till reaching an inside temperature of 165 °F.

Prepare for the juiciest and most flavorful pulled pork you’ll ever attempt! This recipe for Carolina pulled pork is a crowd-pleaser!

Extra PORK DINNER RECIPES You Should Attempt:

• Pork Chop and Rice Casserole
• Traditional Pork Carnitas
• Copycat Cafe Rio Candy Pork
• BBQ Pulled Pork Tacos
• Pineapple Braised Pork
• Traditional Pork Roast (+ Pan Gravy)
• Grandpa’s BBQ Pulled Pork
• Pork Chops with Apple Chutney
• Nation-Model Pork Ribs (in an Prompt Pot)
• …All of our MAIN DISH recipes!

READ: World’s Greatest Carolina Pulled Pork [+ Video]