Pulled Pork
Servings: Approximately 8 cups
Ingredients:
4 1/2 – 5 pounds fresh bone-in pork shoulder butt
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
12 ounces smokey Porter Beer
1 large onion, peeled, thinly sliced and roughly chopped
1/4 cup apple cider reduction
Dry Rub
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon (medium heat) to taste red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground dry mustard
1/2 cup light brown sugar
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in an airtight container.
Cover and shake until the contents are well combined.
Brine Solution
Ingredients:
1/2 cup pickling salt (salt without iodine)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 quarts cold water
3 tablespoons Dry Rub (above)
3 medium bay leaves
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a tall, narrow bowl large enough to hold the brine solution and the pork shoulder butt. Stir until completely dissolved.
Rinse the pork shoulder in cold water and carefully place in container with brine. Pork must be completely covered by the brine solution. If it keeps floating to the top, place a heavy plate on top of the pork to submerge it. The brine will also cover the plate.
Chill meat in brine for 24 hours.
The next day, preheat oven to 225 F.
Remove pork from brine. Discard brine and bay leaves. Pat pork dry.
Cut between the layer of fat on top of the pork shoulder and the meat. Fold the layer back.
Make small slits all over the meat of the pork below the layer of fat. As each slit is made, slide a slice of garlic down the blade and into the meat. Cover the garlic spiked meat with dry rub and massage gently. Fold the fat layer back over the garlic spiked meat.
Cover the entire (fat top, bottom and sides) of the meat with the remaining dry rub. Massage the dry rub into the meat.
Place onion in the bottom of an ovenproof baking dish.
Pour apple cider reduction over onions.
Gently pour the beer over the onions, keeping foam to a minimum.
Place meat, fat side up, on onions.
Tent meat with tin foil. Cut 10 small slits in the tin foil.
Place in oven. Bake 11-12 hours or until the meat reaches 200 F.
Remove meat from oven. Remove the tent from over meat.
Allow meat to cool until it can be comfortably touched.
Remove any visible fat from the pork.
Use 2 heavy forks, working in opposite directions, to shred the pork.
Chill until ready to use.
Sauce
Ingredients:
Drippings from cooked pulled pork (approximately 4 cups)
4 Tablespoons cider vinegar
6 Tablespoons corn starch
4 Tablespoons cold water.
Directions:
Strain dripping from pulled pork and discard bones and onions.
Chill drippings.
Remove fat that congeals on top of the drippings.
Place drippings in a 2-quart saucepan.
Mix cornstarch and cold water in a bowl until the cornstarch is thoroughly dissolved. Whisk into drippings.
Add cider vinegar. Whisk to combine thoroughly.
Bring to a boil and stir until sauce is clear. Sauce should coat the back of the spoon and thread from the spoon. If not, continue to reduce until threading occurs. This is a sauce, not a gravy.
Add sauce to shredded pork to the desired consistency to keep shredded pork moist.
Any remaining sauce can be chilled and used as desired or for sopping.
Serve or chill until ready to re-heat and use.
.