How to Barbecue – Pulled Pork Barbecue

As we have mentioned in a previous article on the How of Barbecue, pork was the meat of choice for barbecue in the American South primarily because pigs could be allowed to run semi-wild until they were needed for a food source. Cattle and other animals were not able to be managed in this way, so economics more than anything else made the decision that pigs and hogs would dominate the barbecue scene.

Since these animals were not pampered like they are today, their meat was often stringy and tough and required some ingenuity and patience to make them appetizing. Slow, smoke cooking that often took more than 24 hours was the answer to this: it could transform the most inedible cuts of meat into mouthwatering delicacies. By using this slow smoking approach most of the fat and collagen would have melted away so that all that was left was the meat, which by that time was so tender that it could be literally “pulled” from the bones.

The delicious barbecue flavor is achieved by exposing the pork to smoke for at least six hours, using hickory, oak, walnut or cherry or apple woods for your fire. Unlike grilling, you should stay away from mesquite because it will likely add too strong of a smoke taste. If you’ll be using charcoal, add your preferred wood chips to get the desired flavor.

After cooking over a low heat for at least 6 hours, check with a meat thermometer until you have an internal temperature of between 180F and 190F degrees. At this temperature the meat will have cooked sufficiently for you to be able to pull the meat from the bones. Let it set for an hour or so until it is cool enough for you to begin pulling. Separate the meat from the bones and any other inedible parts and put it in a cooker on low heat to keep it warm.

Your barbecue will have all the flavor it requires from the smoking process itself. Many people like to add a sauce while the pork is in the pot, or simply serve it on the side for dipping. After you’ve gone to such lengths to cook your meal, it only seems appropriate to make a barbecue sauce from scratch rather than use store-bought.

The basic ingredients start with hot pepper sauce and vinegar, adding salt and pepper to taste. Since there are so many variations of sauces all particular to each person’s taste buds, experiment until you come up with the right combination of other ingredients for you. The most popular include some type of tomato-based product (ketchup or whole, sauce or paste tomatoes,) brown sugar, molasses, garlic, chili powder, and even mustard. This is one of the most appealing aspects of barbecue sauce: it bears the fingerprints of its maker in a very unique way.

We hope this gives you a taste of how to barbecue pulled pork and inspires you to fire up the barbecue and get started! Have fun smoking!