Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Pulled Pork on the Gas Grill


The Patriots season opener was yesterday and I wanted to make some tailgate style food to watch the game with but didn't want to heat up the house. I thought I would try to do a pulled pork on the grill and it came out great. The trick is to cook with low indirect heat for a long time (about 3 hours) and to properly season the meat.

I use a Boston Butt for this dish (it's from the shoulder). Either bone in or boneless is fine.

3-4 pound Boston Butt Roast
Spice Rub:

2 tablespoons Paprika
2 tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Dry Mustard
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Chili Powder

Mix the spice rub ingredients and rub onto all surfaces of the roast. Let the roast sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile prepare the grill for indirect cooking. Basically light just one burner and close the lid to preheat the grill. Place the roast on the grill making sure it not over the flame and close the lid. The temperature of the grill with the lid closed should be about 275 - 300. Let the pork cook for about 1 1/2 hours. Make sure you monitor to make sure that the dripping fat does not flare up. If you are doing it right there should be very little smoke. After the initial cooking transfer the roast to a foil pan, baste with vinegar based BBQ sauce (recipe follows) and cover tightly with foil. Place back on indirect heat, cover grill and cook for another 1 1/2 hours). The pork will be done when you poke it with a fork and it shreds easily. Remove pork from grill and let rest, covered, for 20 - 30 minutes. Using 2 forks shred the pork. Toss the pulled pork with a bit more of the BBQ sauce to season. Serve on your favorite roll or by itself with more BBQ sauce on the side.


Mid–South Carolina Mustard Sauce
Makes about 2½ cups

1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil
6 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
Ground black pepper

Mix all of the ingredients, including black pepper to taste, together in a medium bowl. (The sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for several days.)




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