Pulled Pork

Name: Pulled Pork
Total time: 14 h
Yield: 10 to 12 servings
Cuisine: american
Ingredients: 4 tablespoons paprika; 4 tablespoons brown sugar; 2 tablespoons kosher salt; 2 tablespoons cracked black pepper; 2 tablespoons ground cumin; 2 tablespoons chili powder; 2 tablespoons dry mustard; 2 tablespoons ground coriander; 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper; 1 pork butt, 5 to 6 pounds; Barbecue sauce (see recipe)

Recipe from Chris Schlesinger

Adapted by Sam Sifton

Total Time: 14 hours, largely unattended
Rating: 4(906)
Comments: Read comments

The chef and barbecue madman Chris Schlesinger sold the East Coast Grill, his restaurant in Cambridge, Mass., in 2012. But his recipe for pulled pork, which adorned the restaurant’s menu from its opening in 1985, lives on in this excellent version he gave to The Times in 2003: a tangle of soft, vinegar-scented pork that pairs extremely well with coleslaw on top of a cheap hamburger bun. Cooking the dish can be an all-day or an all-night affair, the meat luxuriating in a bath of hardwood smoke, but it is hardly taxing for anyone with a kettle grill and 12 hours on hand. “Barbecue is such a typical guy thing to do,” Schlesinger said at the time. “Much ado about nothing.” But the results put the lie to the time spent spacing out, watching the smoke curl up into the sky. Schlesinger agreed. “It is intense,” he said. —Sam Sifton

Featured in: Barbecue? You Could Do It in Your Sleep

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Ingredients

Yield:10 to 12 servings

4tablespoons paprika
4tablespoons brown sugar
2tablespoons kosher salt
2tablespoons cracked black pepper
2tablespoons ground cumin
2tablespoons chili powder
2tablespoons dry mustard
2tablespoons ground coriander
1tablespoon cayenne pepper
1pork butt, 5 to 6 pounds
Barbecue sauce (see recipe)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
In a grill with a cover, build a small fire to one side, making sure all the wood or charcoal becomes engulfed in flame. (This dish should not be attempted on a gas grill.)
Step 2
Mix dry ingredients together in bowl, using a fork to break down hunks of brown sugar. Apply this rub to pork butt with your hands, covering meat entirely.
Step 3
When flames begin to die down, leaving flickering coals, place meat on grill on the side without fire. Do not let flames touch meat at any time.
Step 4
Cover grill, vent slightly and cook, checking fire every 30 minutes or so, and adding a bit more fuel as necessary, for about 14 hours, until meat is soft to the touch.
Step 5
Remove meat from grill with tongs, let rest 10 minutes, and pull meat apart with tongs. Serve on hamburger buns, drizzled with sauce.

Ratings

4 out of 5

906 user ratings

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Comments

Annie V7 years ago

Cooked an 8-lb roast in the crockpot on high for 8 hrs, with a sliced sweet onion around the sides and 4 strips of hickory-smoked bacon on top. The cooked meat was pretty salty (probably from the bacon) so added a big handful of brown sugar after shredding. Also strained off all the juices, cooled and skimmed some fat, and then added about half the juices back in. Great! This is the recipe I'll use from now on.

Jaimie7 years ago

I've tried at least 30 different recipes for pulled pork. I tried this one and the seasoning is right on. With other recipes I find I have to throw in some sauce at the end because the pork is bland. Not this one. I used boneless pork shoulder bought in bulk that was pre-cut in large pieces. I applied the rub, placed in the slow cooker (no water) for 3 hours on high/3 hours on low. The pork was so tender and omitting water allowed the edges to brown a bit and caramelize from the fat and sugar.

SJO7 years ago

Oh those BBQ snobs. "It's only BBQ if you smoke your chunk of meat on the west facing slope of a mountain over a fire pit at dawn". This recipe is just called "Pulled Pork". No mention of BBQ anywhere. I personally prefer the Dutch oven method because I find most BBQ tastes - I can only imagine - like licking a dirty ashtray. Six hours in a Dutch oven with 8-10 large onions sliced over the top. The onions give you more than enough liquid. Bliss.

Mike R8 months ago

Recipe did not mention cooking temperatures and meat temperatures. I did a 6 pound, bone in butt for 12 hours on a pellet grill at 200 for the first 10, and 250 for the last 2. Got a beautiful smoke ring, but the meat still seemed a bit undercooked, and I really had to work to pull apart. In retrospect I think next time I'd go with 250 for the entire 14 hours.

JeanAnouilh9 months ago

Any idea on the temperature this should cook at? And why not use a gas grill if I put my wood chips in foil or a metal smoker box?

EWitz1 year ago

Made a 7.5 lb pork butt for a party following the recipe but used low oven. After 7-8 hrs cooking it was ready to pull apart but much drier then my other try with a smaller pork butt in the hot pot. I added lots of sweet BBQ sauce and some water to finish it off and reheated in hot pot for the party. Everyone enjoyed the spices listed in the recipe with the option to make it spicier as well!

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