Pulled Pork - saucing question

[Pitbull]

Almost all of my Q experience is with beef (except for pork & venison sausage). I have a hankerin' to tap some butt (pork, that is).

My questions have to do with saucing. It looks like when you're shredding/pulling the pork that you sauce it up some at that time. Am I right? And then you can have sauce available to add for each serving as wanted. My plan is to make up some Roxy's Mustard Sauce to add for each sammich. So, would I add some of that while pulling first? Or would I use something else? So do you call it a pulling sauce and then a finishing sauce? Chances are extremely good that I'm over-complicating this.

I'm from Texas, not the Carolinas, which is no doubt painfully obvious by my questions.

Thanks, y'all.

No presaucing here. Just serve and have my pull pork Sammy sauce available for those that want it. I will sometimes sprinkle a little bit of rub on the pulled pork and mix it it, depending on my mood.

 

[Telescopist]

I just got done making my second batch of Carolina style mustard/vinegar sauce. I liberally apply to my sandwiches but not to the batch itself. Here's a recipe: Credit to: http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Best-Carolina-Bbq-Meat-Sauce-Allrecipes?columns=5&position=2/36

• 1 12 cups yellow mustard (prepared)

• 12 cup brown sugar (packed)

• 34 cup cider vinegar

• 34 cup beer

• 1 tbsp chili powder

• 1 tsp black pepper (freshly ground)

• 1 tsp ground white pepper (freshly)
• 12 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 12 tsps worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsps butter (room temperature)
• 1 12 tsps flavoring (liquid smoke)
• 1 tsp hot sauce (taste)

 

[2dumb2kwit]

I don't normally sauce the pork, (unless it needs some moisture.) but I make my coleslaw pretty wet......and the wet ingredients in my slaw is dang near Alabama white sauce.

(Shhhhhhhh........don't tell anybody. If you tried to put some white sauce on someones pulled pork around these parts, you'd probably start a fight.)

 

[_BullDog_]

Thought 12 cups sugar was a lot.... But 34 cups of beer.....

Think a few "/" maybe missing.... ��

 

[HolySmoke77]

As some have already said, gather some juices, less the fat, add some rub and a small amount of your fav sauce..mix well and sprinkle some into the finished product. Its good to have a fat separator to do this.

 

[RolandJT]

I have an eastern carolina style finishing dip/sauce that I use. I only add in about 1/3 -1/2 cup to 8-12lb pork butt once I pull it. It doesn't end up wet, just keeps it moist. Also not a lot of huge flavors, just enough to elevate the pork flavor. Then i serve different sauces on the sides.

Finishing Dip - Use 1/3 - 1/2 cup for 1 8-12lb pork butt.
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons crushed red peppers (I prefer it with a little bit more, but i find most people like it when it isn't as spicy)
2 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoon turbinado sugar

I do almost exactly this. (I add some black pepper and about 2T bacon grease). 1C for a whole shoulder will add a bit of moisture but not effect the flavor much. Most people notice the difference but can't place that a vinegar based sauce was mixed in--just moistens a bit but the pork still appears dry to most people.

 

[rickv14623]

So much good information here. I also do the defatted drippings and some rub. Let you choose your sauce on the sammies. The bone however is always the property of the BBQ dog.

 

[kwas68]

I, like a bunch of others, save the juices and remove the fat via a gravy separator. The juice will be salty and savory. I'll whisk in a tablespoon or two of apple or apricot jelly to add some sweetness to it. This goes in the "naked" pork.

I serve sauce on the side for whoever wishes to insult me. :wink:

 

[Pole D]

Unless you're from SC, don't put mustard on your bbq.

 

[BBQdisciple]

Unless you're from SC, don't put mustard on your bbq.

We don't see that mustard stuff too often around here. I just discovered it a few years ago, but when I make bbq, that is always the first sauce gone.

for us used to Eastern Carolina vinegar sauce, that stuff is a very welcome change of pace

 

[Sauce Dog]

I've never met a Carolinian that didn't have a strong opinion about sauce, or anything for that matter, myself included (born and raised). You stumbled upon one of the great Carolina debates, like college basketball in the middle of NC. This doesn't even address the whole hog vs shoulder issue. When people say "Carolina Pulled Pork", it's like using the word "BBQ" to describe smoking, grilling, a party, and/or the actual meal. Over time I guess words just evolve into something else.

I tend to cook whole hog (extra shoulder mixed in) and "sauce" when flipping the hog skin side down later in the cook. It adds another dimension of flavor. I use an Eastern NC / Northeastern SC style sauce, which always has a base of vinegar (white, apple cider or mix), pepper, worsty (or some type of fish or oyster sauce), salt, and red pepper (usually crushed). I add honey to mine.

In NC there are traditionally 2 primary sauces, both thin vinegar (tomato in the west, not in the east), and Raleigh/Durham is a free for all. And, yes, there are traces of mustard in NC. Fun fact...people used to think tomatoes were poisonous and traditionally ketchup (catsup) was simply a vinegar/pickled fish sauce with spices, and sometimes mushrooms, but not tomato. Certainly puts an interesting twist in the debate.

As to SC, there are at least 4 major types of sauce, mustard based, vinegar, tomato vinegar, and ketchup based. Being a central SC native, I love the mustard based sauce, but caution there's a lot of bad versions out there, just like the ketchup counterpart. I believe it came from German settlers when they migrated up the river systems from the coast to the central part of the state, (pork, mustard & cabbage...sound familiar?). I'm now in L.A., via a half decade in Philly, and my mustard sauce has always been everyone's favorite. It's great not just on pork, but briskey, smoked chicken, veggies, etc. My wife loves to pour it over grits, fried egg & briskey hash.

As to your original question (sorry, I get a little carried away), when I pull/chop I add my vinegar sauce to flavor. Initially, it may seem wet, but I pour until it hits the flavor I want. It will take a little more than you think b/c when hot it seems to absorb the vinegar sort of like a brine. It also keeps it moist for low-temp reheat so you won't need to add any additional later. I read once in cooks illustrated that vinegar absorbs better when hot, but this was for a potato salad test so not 100% sure if meat fibers would work the same way. This gives the best of both worlds, pork flavor with a little tang, and some smoke allowing any other sauce to compliment it. Traditional "Carolina BBQ" actually isn't very smoky, and doesn't need to be. I assume adding the mustard sauce will have a similar affect, vinegar being a key ingredient, though it could slightly alter the effect of poured side sauce.

 

[Telescopist]

Unless you're from SC, don't put mustard on your bbq.

Ha-ha.

 

[OlyQ]

When I Cook and Host a Good Q with Pulled Pork , I like to Serve it the way it was intended to be served,,, i pull and drizzle with a tangy Vinegar Sauce , after that guest are on their own with a few other sauces to drizzle with . Slowly over the years the bottle of vinegar sauce seems to be the one hit the most .

Good Luck