How to Make Pulled Pork Sandwiches

So what is pulled pork, anyway? It's meat from the shoulder of a pig, that breaks down to a beautiful, soft shredded mass of goodness, that is so excessively flavored, it will leave you speechless. The spices, sauces, and herbs used while cooking pork shoulder, are robust ingredients that pack a flavorful punch for a meat such as this, since it has to penetrate it without losing its intensity. The following recipes will leave you breathless for seconds.

Wrap the bottom of the sandwich in aluminum foil, so that it remains intact without the juicy meat falling through. Slow-cook the pork or put it in the oven for the stipulated cooking time (425° F, four hours), and you'll be left with a great batch of meat.

Ingredients

• 3-pound pork shoulder
• 1 tbsp. of hickory-flavored liquid smoke
• 2 cups of barbecue sauce
• 1 tsp. of freshly ground black pepper
• Salt (if required later)
• 2 cups of water

Alternative Ingredients

To experiment with a different set of flavors, try these ingredients the next time you prepare a batch of pulled pork. But for now, use the above ingredients for this preparation.

• 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
• ¼ cup of granulated brown sugar
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled

• 1 pickled jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 tsp. of chipotle chile powder
• 1 tbsp. of tomato puree
• 2 tbsp. of mustard sauce
• ¾ cup of distilled white vinegar
• 1 tsp. of paprika
• ⅓ cup of ketchup
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt as per taste
• Hamburger buns

Preparation

• Using kitchen roll paper, pat the pork shoulder dry, being carefully not leave behind any bits of paper. Massage the shoulder with the salt and pepper, scoring the meat with a sharp knife after you're done. Just randomly stab the shoulder in the front and back, so that it cooks through, perfectly.

• Keep the pork aside to rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Place it in the slow cooker and add the liquid smoke, barbecue sauce, and water.
• Let the pork cook on a low flame for 8 to 10 hours till the meat falls apart.
• Remove the meat from the sauce and continue to reduce it to half its quantity.

• Shred the pork shoulder in the meantime, placing it back in the pot with the sauce, as it cooks for another 10 minutes.
• With a pair of tongs, place the shredded meat on open-faced buns or lettuce wraps, or soak thick bread slices in the sauce prior to sandwiching the meat.