Page 31 of Sex On A Plate

PERFECT PORK SHOULDER

DIFFICULTY: Grab meat. Slide it in a warm place. Slide it out. Sounds familiar?

TIME: 5-6 hours. This is a weekend project

What you’ll need from the cupboard: A roasting pan with rack, a saucepan, and a mixing bowl.

What you’ll need from the pantry: For the pork, you’ll need salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper powder, brown sugar and a whole pork shoulder (Boston Butt). For the sauce, you’ll need cayenne powder, mustard, vinegar, ketchup, Worcestershire, and brown sugar. For the pulled pork sandwich, you’ll need BIG hamburger buns.

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Contrary to the belief of many, Boston Butt isn’t from the pig’s ass. It’s shoulder meat. For this recipe, I suggest you get an entire pork shoulder (bone-in). It’ll be between 8-10 pounds and it’ll have a bone in the center.

If you have a 4-pound boneless Boston Butt, that’s fine, too. You’ll need less time to cook it, that’s all.

There are many recipes for cooking pork. Believe me when I say I’ve tried them. This recipe yields the best pulled pork, period.

It’ll have crispy edges, a moist center, pork cracklins to die for, and a flavor unlike anything you’re going to get anywhere short of a five-star barbeque joint.

Get the pork out of the fridge and let it sit for an hour at room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 425. Gather all eight ingredients from above (listed in the pork part) and measure a tablespoon of each. Dump them in the mixing bowl. Add a 1/2 of a cup of brown sugar.

Mix well.

Place the rack in the roasting pan. Unwrap the Pork Shoulder. Place the pork on the rack in the roasting pan. Cover the entire piece of pork with the mixture from the bowl. Press it into the meat with your palms. Rub, rub, rub. Massage it in deep. If any falls off (it will) pick it up and rub it in.

When you’ve got the roast covered COMPLETELY, situate the pork on the rack, fat side up.

Poke a thermometer (I use a grilling thermometer that syncs to my phone) into the thickest part of the meat, making sure to miss the bone.

Make note of the time. Write it down in you have to. Put roasting pan in the oven (no water in the bottom) at 425.

Wait twenty minutes.

Turn the temperature down to 320.

Let it cook at 320 for ROUGHLY an hour a pound (from the time you wrote down). Some recipes will say 30 minutes a pound, some will say 45, but, believe me, it’ll be an hour.

Ultimately, the meat thermometer will let you know when it’s done. Start checking it at 80% of the cooking time, but it’ll be about an hour a pound from when you started (if it’s a big roast).

A small (4 pound) roast will take about the same time per pound.

When the roast it 190 degrees, yank that fucker out. Let it sit 20 minutes before touching it. It’ll be a perfect temperature at this time. No, you don’t need to measure it, 145-degree pork is fine to eat. This cut of meat, however, is thick with collagen. To break down the connective tissue, the temperature needs to be 190-200.

While you’re waiting the 20 minutes for the pork to settle, get the saucepan.

Add a cup of yellow mustard, a half cup of apple cider vinegar, a half cup of brown sugar, 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire and a teaspoon of cayenne powder to the saucepan. Then, add 2 tablespoons ketchup. Heat on medium, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

This will make a sweet but tangy sauce with a little heat. You can cut the brown sugar in about half if you find this too sweet. It’s perfect in my opinion but modifying the brown sugar changes it considerably.

I would not suggest changing anything else.

Remove the upper layer of fat from the pork and set aside. Yes, this is good to eat. It’s always got a thin layer of meat attached to it, and it’s insanely tasty (men seem to like it and women don’t).

The roast will shred with two forks without ANY effort.

This is the pork I use for sandwiches, tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, etc. For the sake of this recipe, let’s assume you’re making pulled pork sandwiches.

Open the bun. Cover with a HUGE layer of pork. Add shredded cabbage if that’s your thing. Drizzle with sauce. Add pickles if you like ‘em (I do). Put the top on the bun.

Serve with pasta salad, potato salad, or fries. Those recipes will follow. Save what’s left for carnitas tacos, enchiladas, or quesadillas.

Enjoy.