Pulled pork

Difficulty: Easy | Prep time: 8 hours

Inspired by mouth-watering videos from well-known barbecue stars like Noskos, Pitmaster X, and Ralph de Kok, Gijs started experimenting with the festival classic: pulled pork.

Pulled pork is a dish where the meat needs to stay on the barbecue for quite a few hours (7 to 8). Keeping a stable temperature is important, so with most barbecues it is smart to stay nearby. That is why Gijs invited a few friends over for a relaxed afternoon around the barbecue, with a beer in hand.

Ingredients

• 2.5 to 3 kg pork neck (Boston butt / pork shoulder)
• Briquettes
• Smoking wood (cherry / apple)
• Enough beer for yourself and your guests

Rub:

• 4 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tbsp paprika powder
• 4 tbsp raw cane sugar
• 2 tbsp sea salt
• 2 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper

Barbecue sauce:

• 800 ml tomato ketchup
• 4 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves fresh garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
• 2 tbsp (apple) vinegar
• 4 tbsp (apple) syrup
• 1 tbsp mustard
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp (olive) oil
• 1 tsp chili powder (to taste)
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp salt

Buns:

• 500 g flour
• 10 g salt
• 20 g butter
• 14 g dry yeast
• 300 ml lukewarm water

Preparation

If you are barbecuing on charcoal like Gijs, it is best to light your barbecue first. The barbecue needs time to warm up and should stay stable between 90 and 120°C for your pork neck.

While the barbecue heats up, Gijs has time to make the rub and prep the meat. The easiest step is making the rub: just combine and mix paprika powder, cane sugar, mustard powder, and cayenne pepper. If you want to grind fresh pepper and salt like Gijs, 4 tablespoons suddenly feels like a lot. If you have a Magic Bullet or coffee grinder, you can use that to quickly grind peppercorns and salt.

After all rub ingredients are mixed, it is time to prep the meat. Trim off any small loose bits (this does not have to be perfect). Once the pork neck is cleaned up, apply the rub. Make sure there is a thick layer everywhere, do not leave any spot uncovered.

Now the big moment has arrived: the pork neck goes on the barbecue. By the time meat prep is done, Gijs has reached the target barbecue temperature (90–120°C).

When placing the pork neck, make sure it is not directly above the fire. The goal is to let the meat cook slowly in the smoke. For this, Gijs adds a few larger chunks of smoking wood. For this dish, he chose a mix of cherry and apple wood because it gives a relatively mild flavor.

Now the long wait begins: the pork neck needs about five hours before it gets brushed with barbecue sauce.

The five-hour wait is also the perfect time to make barbecue sauce. This recipe is based on a blog post from bbq-helden, but Gijs added his own twist.

Start with onion and garlic, finely chopped, because this has to become a proper sauce. If you use a machine to chop them, make sure the onion does not turn into paste. The little onion pieces add to that rustic barbecue character. Instead of fresh garlic, you can also use garlic powder; if you do, add it later in the process.

Fry the chopped onion in a medium saucepan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the onion turns translucent, add fresh garlic while stirring continuously. Let it cook for about one minute, still stirring.

Now add pepper, salt, and chili powder. If you do not like spicy sauce, use less chili powder or skip it entirely. If you are using garlic powder, add it now as well. Stir until everything is well combined.

Now add 800 ml ketchup and half a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. This forms the base of the barbecue sauce. Stir and then add, one by one while stirring continuously: 1 tbsp mustard, 4 tbsp apple syrup, 2 tbsp apple vinegar, and 4 tbsp brown sugar.

Let it simmer gently for 10 minutes. Keep stirring so the sauce does not stick to the bottom of the pan. After that, the barbecue sauce is ready and it is back to waiting for the meat.

When the meat has been on the barbecue for five hours, it can be brushed with barbecue sauce. Do not be shy and coat the pork neck well; the sauce will form a thick crust and absorb extra smoky flavor.

Once coated, the meat should stay on the barbecue for another hour or two. Every cut of meat is different, but during cooking you will hit a point where the internal temperature barely rises. This often happens around 74°C. At that point moisture starts evaporating and the meat can dry out. So Gijs keeps a close eye on the temperature to prevent drying. To monitor this, he uses a core thermometer.

After another 1 to 2 hours, or once the meat reaches a stable core temperature of around 74°C, Gijs wraps the meat in aluminum foil. This helps prevent the meat from drying out. To avoid tearing the foil and losing juices, he uses two solid layers.

Gijs puts the wrapped meat back on the barbecue until fully done. That is usually when it reaches around 88°C. Again, he checks with his core thermometer.

In the meantime, Gijs thought it was a good idea to bake his own buns to serve the pulled pork on. For this, he made a simple bread dough.

To let bread rise, you need yeast. To activate it, Gijs put 14 grams of dry yeast in a bowl and slowly stirred in 300 ml of lukewarm water. The lukewarm water activates the yeast.

In a large mixing bowl, Gijs combined 500 grams of flour, 10 grams of salt, and 20 grams of butter. He then added the yeast mixture and kneaded the dough for 4 to 5 minutes using a stand mixer.

To make neat buns, Gijs rolls the dough into a long log and cuts it into equal pieces. Those pieces are shaped into balls, brushed with a little olive oil, and left to rise for 45 minutes to an hour. Then they can be baked in the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Once the pork neck reaches 88°C, it can be taken off the barbecue, unwrapped, and pulled apart. Gijs carefully unwraps it in a tray so the juices from the foil are not lost. Those juices are packed with flavor and great to mix back into the pulled pork.

Warning: the pork neck is very hot. From experience, Gijs recommends not pulling it apart with bare hands. He uses two forks, but if you own real meat claws, even better.

If your pulled pork is a little dry, or just needs more flavor, you can mix in extra barbecue sauce. In Gijs’s case, this was not needed.

Finally, it is time to assemble the buns and dig in. Add barbecue sauce and some coleslaw to taste for a nice fresh tang.