| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 15 hr 30 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Inactive: | 8 hr |
| Cook: | 7 hr |
| Yield: | 8 to 10 servings, with leftovers |
Ingredients
- 1 (8-pound) bone-in pork shoulder, with skin
- 1 head garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
- 3/4 cup Memphis Shake, recipe follows
- 5 cups apple or other wood chips, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes and drained
- 2 batches North Carolina-Style Vinegar BBQ Sauce, recipe follows
- 8 to 10 soft hamburger rolls
- Dill pickles
- 1/4 cup sweet paprika
- 3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons granulated garlic
- 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 3 cups cider vinegar
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Make small holes all over the pork shoulder with a thin sharp knife and stuff in garlic cloves. Rub the meat all over with the Memphis Shake; cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Prepare an outdoor grill with an indirect medium-hot fire with a mix of briquettes and hardwood charcoal in half of the grill. Set grate over coals. Place pork, skin side up, in an aluminum pan with about 1 1/2 cups water on the cooler side of the grate. Toss 1 cup of the soaked and drained wood chips onto the coals and cover the grill, making sure the lid’s vents are directly over pork.
- When the coals cool to medium-low heat, preheat a chimney-full of hot briquettes and hardwood charcoal. Whenever smoke stops coming out of the vents, about every hour, add more hot coals and 1 cup of soaked and drained wood chips to the fire. The goal is to maintain a medium-heat, smoky fire (but don’t worry if it is hotter when the coals are added and cooler while preheating the coals). Rotate the pork when you add coals so it cooks evenly. Cook the meat until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the pork registers 180 degrees F, about 6 hours.
- Set aside 1 quart of the North Carolina-Style Vinegar BBQ Sauce. Once the pork reaches 180 degrees F, begin mopping the entire surface of the meat every 20 minutes with some of the remaining sauce and the pan drippings. Continue to cook the pork, covering the grill between mopping, until an instant-read thermometer registers 200 degrees F, about 1 to 2 hours more.
- Transfer the pork to a cutting board and let rest for at least 15 minutes. Remove the outer skin and discard. Cut large chunks from the bone and shred, using 2 forks or your fingers, (when cool enough to touch) or chop. Toss with about 1 cup of the reserved barbecue sauce for every 3 cups of meat. Tuck the pork into the soft rolls and serve with pickles.
- Whisk paprika, brown sugar, oregano, garlic, ancho powder, salt, and celery salt in a small bowl. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 2 months.
- Heat the vinegar and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Off the heat, stir in the ketchup, honey, salt, red pepper, and black pepper.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 898 |
| Total Fat | 51 g |
| Saturated Fat | 17 g |
| Carbohydrates | 54 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 31 g |
| Protein | 52 g |
| Cholesterol | 193 mg |
| Sodium | 1485 mg |
Reviews
Wow. No. Not NC bbq. Born and raised in Lexington NC (heart of NC bbq country). To be fair, this recipe is not terrible but studded with garlic and the Memphis Shake? Lordy no. No ma’am. Unh-unh. The sauce is not far off base; white vinegar is often used instead of cider and Tabasco or Red Hot is often added as well but not honey. Fine recipe but don’t serve it to any true blue Tarheels.
Sorry to those who don’t like it. Great recipe. I’ve tweaked the sauce made it a little sweeter (Brown Sugar and some molasses) but over all really nice.
Whatever it is called…it was too much vinegar for me… so what does a cook from NJ know? Well, I grew up in Philly and tasted some of the best bbq in little local bbq joints. Smiles.
My parents would also take us to Lawnside, NJ where they barbqued on open grills and pits right outsideon thelawns. Yes, they did and it was the bestbbq you could wrap your lips around.
I added some mustard, brown sugar, onion powder and tomato paste to thicken it up and it tasted pretty good.
It was also good on a whole cut-up chicken baked in the oven…
BBQ tastes different all over the country and everyone has their own taste buds, so what the heck!
This sauce just was too much vinegar for me.
And yes, aother reviewer was right. We called it sliced or chopped barbque too and with some of the skin mixed in…it made the best chopped bbq sandwiches. And I used a pork butt, a Smithfield pork butt, so maybe that’s Virginia style bbq.
Great sandwiches.
I cant believe I am reading people getting upset over what is and isnt bbq..Who cares as long as it tastes good..I am from Buffalo…I could say the same thing about the sad recipes I see that says anything that is orange colored and a little spicy is “Buffalo” this or that. Or those who call for it to be baked or use hot pepper flakes instead of Franks Hot sauce, or those who put ranch on it and call it “Buffalo” Who cares? For one there are more important things to get upset over, and two who cares if it tastes good and someone likes it. Do you honestly think that I recipe I get online (which could be from anywhere is “Authentic”? Not to mention the recipe is called NC STYLE bbq..it does not say AUTHENTIC NC bbq..
Im from the south and we have all kinds of saucies,I truly loved this one! I do add i little more spice to mine becouse like it hot…Just a touch..of ghost pepper sauce..does the trick for me,but be carefull..ghost peppers…are not for everyone they will light you up! With or without I like it both ways.
I dont care what its called or where its from. I just really enjoyed the pulled pork!
I am from Raleigh, NC and i tailgate for ECU and NC State football game so this is coming right from the horses mouth. IT’S AUTHENTIC!! I have been all over North Carolina and this just as good if not better than Eastern NC BBQ (the one everyone loves!) SO anyone on here that says it’s not authentic or it’s not NC BBQ is obviously not from or has never had NC BBQ!!!!
I dont care whether its authentic or not, this recipe is fantastic! Everytime I’ve made it for a party everyone asks “who made the pulled pork”. Then I direct them to the recipe. Ive had pulled form lots of places and this so closely resembles the dish at a restaurant whose owners are from the Carolinas. Love it!
So you dare to try our BBQ and then insult us at the same time …. Sounds like something a Yankee would say . Shelley keep it under wraps ! That’s how awesome BBQ starts anyways … a little of this a little of that and you never tell . Why would someone from NY think that they would know anything about NC BBQ anyways ….