Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Photographing pulled pork is like photographing sloppy joe’s – you just shouldn’t. So, sorry! No pictures today! I wasn’t going to post this, since I didn’t have any, but it really was SO good that I wanted to share.

Again, you can find many different recipes for pulled pork online. Many families have their favorite recipe that they swear by. I just found a bunch that looked good and combined them to make it my own. You can easily do the same thing.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

*2-3 lb pork shoulder or butt

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp ground mustard

1 tsp onion powder

½ tsp garlic powder

1 tsp chili powder

1 onion, sliced

20 oz. soda – we used Dr. Pepper, but Root Beer and Ginger Ale are also popular

18 oz. bottle favorite BBQ sauce, or homemade BBQ sauce

*We had to buy a 5 ½ lb pork shoulder, because we couldn’t find one that was smaller, so I just cut it in half and put the other half in the freezer, and we’ll have it on hand to make this again.

Combine the sugar and spices. Thoroughly rub into the pork. It won’t all stick to it, but keep as much on there as you can. Place in a large freezer bag and stick in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, remove the pork and place in a greased crockpot. Slice the onion and place all around the pork. Pour the soda over the pork and onions. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, turning it over halfway through.

When pork is done, remove it and shred (I use a couple of forks). It should be so tender it will practically pull itself apart =) Be sure to carefully discard as much of the fat as you can. Place pulled pork into a separate bowl. Use a slotted spoon to remove the onions from the pot, and add them to the pork, if you want to. Otherwise, just throw them away. Then pour the juices from the pot into another bowl to cool down before discarding. I like doing it this way because it gets rid of as much fat as possible.

Place the pulled pork (and onions) back into the crockpot. Combine with BBQ sauce, cover, and cook on low for another hour. Serve on hamburger buns. Some people (not me) like to put coleslaw on top. Others (me) like just a little cheese melted on top. Use it however you want! Yum yum!

By the way, this made three meals for our little family, plus one meal put in the freezer for later. Yay for yummy leftovers!