Pulled Pork and Slaw
Pulled Pork and Slaw Dish Guide
For The Pork
1 pork shoulder (~6-8 lbs) (pork butt/Boston butt)
2 T yellow mustard
1 t liquid smoke (only for the oven method)
Rub of your choosing
Coat the pork in the mustard and generously shake on your rub. Make sure your rub has salt and pepper in it. If it doesn't, generously season with salt and pepper as well. Let it rest at least 30 minutes and up to a day in the fridge.
If you have a charcoal grill, get a full basket of hardwood chunks lit and set up your grill for low and slow cooking. When the coals are lit, add 4-5 pieces of dry hardwood like oak, cherry, hickory or pecan scattered over all the coals for even smoking. Add the pork fat-side down and bring the grill to 250-275 degrees. Place a temperature probe in the pork (or check every couple hours) and cook until you start to hit 150 degrees Fahrenheit. When it hits 150, wrap tightly in foil or butchers paper and return to the grill until it hits 195-200 and is probe tender (the probe should effortlessly slide in and out of the meat when poked). Remove, cover with more foil and a towel and rest for at least an hour. Total cook time will depend on the size of the shoulder but usually 8-10 hours.
If you have a gas grill, soak wood chips in water for 20 minutes then drain and place in foil and wrap to create a "foil pack". Poke several holes in the foil. Place the foil pack on one side of the grill and light that burner. Place your pork on the unlit side of the grill fat side down and bring the grill to 250-275 degrees. Continue to cook as described above. You may need to add another foil pack of wood for smoke so check and see if the pack is still smoking periodically.
If all you have is a lowly oven, do not despair! Add 1 t of liquid smoke to the mustard before brushing on the pork and seasoning. Place pork shoulder in a deep baking dish (there will be a lot of liquid) and cover. Bake at 300 degrees for about 6-7 hours or, again, until extremely tender and around 195-200 degrees in the center. Optionally you can uncover the pork for the last hour or so to help create a better bark but you don't want to cook uncovered the whole time as the oven is a very dry cooking environment.
No matter the method, after the pork has rested the bone should pull out without any resistance and then you can shred the pork into large chunks, removing any remaining large pieces of fat (there shouldn't be many). From there you can chop it, pull it, shred it, add sauce, don't add sauce, it's completely up to you.
For the Slaw
1/2 head of green cabbage, core removed and shredded
2 large carrots, shredded
Handful of parsley, chopped finely
4 green onions minced
1 cup mayonnaise
2-3 T vinegar (we prefer apple cider vinegar)
2 T Dijon or whole grain mustard
1 t sugar
1/4 t celery seed
Salt and Pepper to taste
Combine the cabbage, parsley, green onions (somehow lost them in the video footage but they were in there...) and carrots in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl combine the mayo, mustard, sugar, vinegar, celery seed, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Add about 2/3 of the dressing to the slaw and mix thoroughly. Add more dressing if needed/desired to reach your desired consistency.
Serve the pork and slaw on buns, on a plate with some hush puppies, in taco shells, in an old shoe, etc.
Dish Notes
You can absolutely used bagged coleslaw mix for this and probably can't tell a difference but definitely make the homemade dressing. It is miles better than the preservative laden stuff in the pre-made store-bought dressings. Bonus points if you make your own mayonnaise (see episode 1.2 for our homemade mayo). Some BBQ comp purists insist on endlessly trimming the meat but for something that's going to be shredded like pork shoulder I find this unnecessary (brisket on the other hand ... well that's another video). Chances are you'll have lots of leftovers and if you get tired of sandwiches, consider pulled pork tacos, pulled pork mac and cheese, or pulled pork hash (Randy's suggestion).
