Pulled Pork is Good

Everyone once in a while--well, really, long whiles. I post a recipe. Always is it something we really enjoyed. In this case it is a new recipe for an old dish but by far the best that I have made. It was moist, super tender and just tasted good. I found it recently in a Cooking Light magazine that I had seen at the dentist office. Now I have subscribed to the magazine which is strange since we've almost stopped getting magazines anymore. They seemed to take up an inordinate amount of space,

This recipe is a real slow cooking one but in the oven--not a slow cooker, which I suppose would work well but why mess with success? The only recommendation I have is to cut back on the vinegar. My family seemed to think it was too strong.

Slow-Roasted Pulled Pork

Photo: Randy Mayor; Styling: Cindy Barr

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: about 3 ounces pork and about 1 tablespoon sauce)

Ingredients

• Pork:
• 2  tablespoons  dark brown sugar
• 1  tablespoon  smoked paprika
• 1  tablespoon  chili powder
• 1  teaspoon  salt
• 2  teaspoons  ground cumin
• 1  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2  teaspoon  dry mustard
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground chipotle chile pepper
• 1  (5-pound) boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), trimmed
• Cooking spray
• 2  cups  water, divided
• 1/2  cup  apple cider vinegar
• 1/3  cup  ketchup
• 
  Sauce:
• 3/4  cup  apple cider vinegar
• 1/2  cup  ketchup
• 3  tablespoons  dark brown sugar
• 2  teaspoons  smoked paprika
• 1  teaspoon  chili powder

Preparation

1. To prepare pork, combine first 8 ingredients in a small bowl. Rub sugar mixture evenly over pork. Let pork stand at room temperature 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 225°.
3. Place pork on the rack of a roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Pour 1 cup water in bottom of roasting pan. Place rack in pan. Bake at 225° for 1 hour.
4. Combine 1/2 cup vinegar and ketchup in a medium bowl; brush pork with ketchup mixture (do not remove from oven). Bake an additional 3 hours, basting every hour with ketchup mixture.
5. Pour remaining 1 cup water in bottom of roasting pan. Cover pork and pan tightly with foil. Bake an additional 3 3/4 hours or until a thermometer registers 190°. Remove from oven; let stand, covered, 45 minutes.
6. To prepare sauce, combine 3/4 cup vinegar and remaining ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with a whisk. Boil 5 minutes or until slightly thick. Shred pork with 2 forks. Serve with sauce. Serve shredded pork on hamburger buns with pickle chips, if desired.