Down Home Pulled Pork Sandwiches

This is original, southern barbecue. When you do it right the results are truly miraculous. Use a Boston Butt for the best results. A pork shoulder is usually divided into the picnic, the upper part of the shoulder, and the butt, the lower half. Picnics are frequently found in the meat case at your favorite grocer, but the butt often has to be requested. This is because, on its own, the butt isn’t a particularly attractive piece of meat as it has a fairly high fat content. For smoking, however, this is great! It is inexpensive and the fat adds wonderful flavor to the meat while mostly cooking away during the long smoking time.

The night before you are going to smoke the roast, rinse it well and pat it dry. Vigorously apply the dry rub all over the roast and allow to sit in the fridge until about an hour before you are going to start cooking. Place the roast in the smoker and cook at 200 - 225 degrees. The roast will need to cook for about 1½ hours per pound - check with meat thermometer.  The best temperature for pulling is 170 degrees.   Remember that the internal temperature will rise a few degrees for the first 15 minutes after removing from the smoker.

When the roast is done, remove to carving board and allow to cool for about 30 minutes. Pull off chunks of the roast and then shred the pork with forks or your fingers. You can also simply chop the roast into small pieces but traditionally it is pulled (shredded). Make sure that, when finished, the dark outer portions of the meat are mixed well with the whiter insides. Drizzle on a few tablespoons of the Pig Pickin’ sauce and toss.

Most BBQ joints in the south heap the pork onto plain white hamburder buns. The idea is that nothing should interfere with the flavor of the pork.   It's a nice thought but for convenience I find sub rolls, cut almost through, work the best because the shredded or chopped meat isn't spilling out the side of the bun with every bite you take.

Serve with extra Pig Pickin’ sauce and your favorite coleslaw. Traditionally the coleslaw is put on top of the pork, much like lettuce on a hamburger.