Pulled Pork with Hot Pepper Vinegar Sauce

 

Name me one person who doesn't like a big pork butt smoked over hickory. See? Absolutely no one. 

Name me one person who doesn't like to spend 10 hours over a smoker trying to get some smoke flavor into their butt? Me.

When I first started smoking meat, I had a Weber Rocky Mountain Smoker that required old-school skills. Carefully light a few briquettes...toss in some hickory...fill a big container of water to hold temperature in the smoker...and then slap a big honkin' pig shoulder on there. Don't even think of going anywhere as you are a conjoined twin with your smoker for the next 10 hours. No napping...no potty breaks...that temperature dial must be carefully monitored for the next 600 minutes. 

Wait a few years and technology makes life easier. Along came pellet smokers with PID controls. You add your pellets. Toss on your pork shoulder. Hit the ignition button and the PID controller maintains the smoke level and temperature in the smoker for as long as you set it for. See you in 10 hours!

Name me one person who doesn't like to spend 10 hours over a smoker trying to get some smoke flavor into their butt? Me.

I'm soon to celebrate another birthday. Which means I have a finite number of hours left on this hallowed earth. I have more important things to do than waste those  hours watching a temperature gauge. Ten frigging hours! So when I feel like having me some smoked pork butt, I toss my butt into my car and head to Costco. You get 2 pounds of the most perfectly smoked Kirkland pork butt for just $14.99. That's cheaper than what you would pay for a pork butt alone. Plus, you just cut your prep and cook time by 11 hours.

Name me one person who doesn't like to spend 10 hours over a smoker trying to get some smoke flavor into their butt? Me.

So what I've done here is taken an 11-hour recipe (prep + smoking) and reduced it to 17 minutes. That's a very manageable time for both of us. All those poor folks sweating up a storm and blowing a day to get a little taste of that extraordinary North Carolina BBQ. For a few ticks over 15 minutes and less than $20, you get the full Hot Pepper/Cider Vinegar BBQ experience right in your own kitchen. 

Now don't expect the thick, savory sauce of Texas Hill Country BBQ. North Carolina Hot Pepper Vinegar sauce is thin and runny. But it's gonna smack you across the face with a punch from the hot pepper sauce and then roll up your tongue like an errant window shade with the snap of the vinegar. It is the crowning glory for this Pulled Pork Sandwich and the perfect amount of hickory smoke the pit master put in his butt.

INGREDIENTS

For the Sauce

1 cup cider vinegar  

2 tablespoons sugar

1 or more teaspoons hot sauce (use your fave: Tabasco, Sriracha, Frank's or Cholula )

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Fresh cracked black pepper

For the Sandwich

2 pounds Kirkland Pulled Pork

6 hamburger buns, split

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small saucepan, combine sauce ingredients. Whisk to stir thoroughly. Heat pan and bring sauce to a boil. Reduce  and cook on a simmer for 10 minutes. Keep warm.
2. Prepare pulled pork according to package instructions (microwave on high for 7 minutes). When heated, remove plastic and place pork in a large saucepan. Use 2 forks to shred pork.
3. Add sauce to pork and mix with sauce. Adjust heat to medium-high and cook until pork is well heated trough. Divide pork between buns and serve with garnish of your choosing.

Pairing: A Pilsner