Hickory-Smoked Pulled Pork with Carolina Vinegar Sauce

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A weekend-long, hands-off smoke: a whole pork shoulder rubbed with brown sugar and paprika, cooked over hickory at 250°F until it pulls apart at 203°F internal. A thin, tangy vinegar sauce cuts the richness the way it does all over the Carolinas. Twelve ingredients, most already in the cupboard, and the smoker does every bit of the work.

Ingredients

• 8 lb bone-in pork shoulder (Boston butt)
• 2 tbsp yellow mustard
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 3 tbsp sweet paprika
• 2 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp onion powder

• 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. The night before (or at least 1 hour ahead), pat the pork shoulder dry, smear it all over with the yellow mustard, then mix the brown sugar, paprika, salt, black pepper, garlic powder and onion powder and press the rub onto every surface, including the underside. Refrigerate uncovered on a rack.
2. Set up your smoker for 250°F using hickory wood — chunks over charcoal, or a filled hopper and hickory pellets. Let it settle at temperature with clean, thin blue smoke for 15 minutes before the meat goes on; take the pork out of the fridge while you wait.
3. Place the shoulder fat-side up directly on the grate and smoke undisturbed for 5 to 6 hours, until the bark is deep mahogany and dry to the touch and the internal temperature reads 165°F. Do not open the lid before hour 4; spritz with a little cider vinegar every hour after that if the bark looks dry.
4. Wrap the pork tightly in two layers of heavy-duty foil (or unwaxed butcher paper), return it to the smoker and cook another 3 to 4 hours at 250°F until the internal temperature hits 203°F and a probe slides into the thickest part with no resistance, like softened butter. Temperature alone is not enough — go by feel.
5. While the pork finishes, simmer the cider vinegar, ketchup, 2 tbsp brown sugar and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan over medium heat for 5 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Cool; the sauce should stay thin and pourable.
6. Rest the wrapped pork in a dry cooler or turned-off oven for at least 1 hour, up to 2. This is not optional — cutting early loses the juices.
7. Unwrap over a tray to catch the drippings, pull out the blade bone (it should slide free), and shred the meat with two forks, chopping through any thick bark. Toss with the reserved drippings and about half the vinegar sauce; serve the rest at the table with soft buns and slaw.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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