**Eastern NC BBQ Pork Shoulder: A Taste of Tradition for New Year's Day and Beyond**
In the heart of Eastern North Carolina, a culinary tradition has been passed down through generations, embodying the essence of Southern hospitality and smoky, savory flavors. The Eastern NC BBQ Pork Shoulder is a centerpiece of New Year's Day celebrations, a dish deeply rooted in history and cherished by locals and visitors alike. This article presents a collection of authentic Eastern NC BBQ Pork Shoulder recipes, each capturing the unique nuances and techniques that have made this dish a legendary part of the region's culinary heritage. From selecting the perfect pork shoulder to mastering the art of smoking and saucing, these recipes provide a comprehensive guide to creating this mouthwatering barbecue masterpiece. Whether you're a seasoned pitmaster or a home cook seeking to explore the depths of Southern barbecue, these recipes will guide you in crafting a truly exceptional Eastern NC BBQ Pork Shoulder, perfect for New Year's Day gatherings or any special occasion.
SLOW COOKER CAROLINA BBQ
Miss the tarheel tradition of a pig pickin'? Then find yourself a crock pot, a big pork shoulder, some cider vinegar and get cooking! While ground and crushed red pepper will provide the basic heat - go the extra mile and find some Texas Pete (or Trappey's) pepper sauce to bring the taste of Carolina to your kitchen.
Provided by coolmonkshoes
Categories Meat and Poultry Recipes Pork Pork Shoulder Recipes
Time 12h15m
Yield 10
Number Of Ingredients 8
Steps:
- Place the pork shoulder into a slow cooker and season with salt and pepper. Pour the vinegar around the pork. Cover, and cook on Low for 12 hours. Pork should easily pull apart into strands.
- Remove the pork from the slow cooker and discard any bones. Strain out the liquid, and save 2 cups. Discard any extra. Shred the pork using tongs or two forks, and return to the slow cooker. Stir the brown sugar, hot pepper sauce, cayenne pepper, and red pepper flakes into the reserved sauce. Mix into the pork in the slow cooker. Cover and keep on Low setting until serving.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 292.8 calories, Carbohydrate 3.6 g, Cholesterol 90.5 mg, Fat 17.3 g, Fiber 0.3 g, Protein 27.6 g, SaturatedFat 6.2 g, Sodium 775.5 mg, Sugar 2.9 g
EASTERN NC PULLED PORK BBQ IN A CROCK POT
It's the best way to make BBQ short of having a pig pickin'! Eastern NC BBQ done the right way. No tomato in sight! The taste reminds me of Smithfield's, which is the best BBQ in my opinion. This BBQ goes great in a sandwich topped with a scoop of sweet coleslaw, side of hushpuppies, and sweet tea. Mmmmmm. Enjoy!
Provided by 9BallGuy
Categories Lunch/Snacks
Time 12h20m
Yield 18-24 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 12
Steps:
- Quarter and slice the onion into little arches. Place about half an onion's worth in the crock pot as to line the bottom.
- Place the whole pork shoulder into the crock-pot. Take just a small amount of sauce to dampen the shoulder.
- Cover with a generous coating of spice rub, if desired.
- Top with remaining onion slices. Take 75% of the sauce and pour it around the pork shoulder. Then pour the white and cider vinegars around the pork.
- Cover and cook on low for 8-12 hours.
- When cooking is complete, remove cover and then carefully pull the bone out of the pork shoulder (BE CAREFUL! IT WILL BE HOT!).
- Carefully remove the meat and half of the onions from the crock-pot and put into a large bowl, leaving behind as much of the cooked vinegar solution behind as possible. A slotted spoon may be needed.
- Then with two forks (or your hands once the meat has cooled a little, if you are so inclined), "pull" (shred) the meat.
- Pour in most of the remaining, "uncooked" sauce, saving a little to add to BBQ sandwiches as desired. (Personally, I prefer using Texas Pete on my sandwiches.).
- Serve as sandwich or BBQ plate.
- Enjoy!
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA BARBECUE
Provided by Food Network
Categories main-dish
Time 10h50m
Yield 6 large servings
Number Of Ingredients 8
Steps:
- Add hickory, oak, and maple chunks or chips to your smoker. Refer to the directions for your smoker to determine the correct amount of chips for the meat and for lighting instructions. When the chips are ready, add the pork and smoke it for 2 to 2 1/2 hours at 250 degrees F. Remove the pork and wrap it in heavy-duty aluminum foil. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F. Cook the pork for 6 to 8 hours or until the meat is tender and falls apart when the bone is removed. Chop the pork coarsely and mix in salt and Barbecue Sauce, to taste. Serve with more Barbecue Sauce on the side.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the vinegar, red pepper, garlic, and salt over high heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-high. Boil for 15 to 20 minutes and then remove from the heat. Let cool then add the black pepper.
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA BARBECUE
Provided by Food Network
Categories main-dish
Time 10h50m
Yield 6 large servings
Number Of Ingredients 8
Steps:
- Add hickory, oak, and maple chunks or chips to your smoker. Refer to the directions for your smoker to determine the correct amount of chips for the meat and for lighting instructions. When the chips are ready, add the pork and smoke it for 2 to 2 1/2 hours at 250 degrees F. Remove the pork and wrap it in heavy-duty aluminum foil.
- Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F.
- Cook the pork for 6 to 8 hours or until the meat is tender and falls apart when the bone is removed. Chop the pork coarsely and mix in salt and barbecue sauce, to taste. Serve with more barbecue sauce on the side.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the vinegar, red pepper, garlic, and salt over high heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-high. Boil for 15 to 20 minutes and then remove from the heat. Let cool then add the black pepper.
EASTERN NC BBQ PORK SHOULDER FOR NEW YEAR'S DAY
Traditionally we have BBQed pork shoulder, collards, black-eyed peas & oysters roasted on the grill. Weather reports called for heavy rain here on New Year's Day (they were right too!) so we decided to enjoy the beautiful weather on the 31st and get to BBqing. This turned out so well that I plan to continue to do my shoulders this way instead of getting up early on the day I plan to serve and monitoring fire all day! Time does not include overnight rest for both the roast and me!
Provided by Busters friend
Categories Pork
Time 6h15m
Yield 8 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- Rinse shoulder and pat dry. Make several slashes on all sides - into muscle as well as through skin.
- Mix first 7 ingredients and rub all over shoulder, slipping rub up under skin. Let sit 1 hour (minimum - can be overnight if you wish - the shoulder will "sweat" if left overnight in fridge with rub on it - no worries, just put it in a roaster or something with sides so it won't leak) while you prepare the grill.
- Load grill (must have a lid or cover - ours is a cut drum with hinges and smokestack) with 8 pounds of good quality charcoal. Place the charcoal in two piles or around the edges with central open area. Place an aluminum drip pan there. Put a quart of water or preferred liquid). Light the coals and let burn until evenly coated in grey.
- Place shoulder, skin side down over drip pan and cover grill. The goal is a temp of 225 if your grill has a lid thermometer. Adjust vents to maintain this temperature. Keep covered 2 hours. After 1 1/2 hours add 6 to 8 more coals on each side and re-cover. Repeat in an hour. When adding second batch of charcoal, grab roast with heat resistant mitten and tug to see if meat is beginning to slip and feel like it's giving. Another 1 - 2 hours will get internal temp to 180 degrees F and the meat falling apart tender when grabbed with mitt. You want to cook, adding coals periodically until you feel the "slip" of the meat from the skin & bone. You will know it when you feel it.
- Pull roast from grill & let cool overnight (we cooled in cold oven as Buster was observed eyeing the roast & plotting with the dogs).
- In the AM (Happy New Year!), shuck off skin and discard and do likewise with all bones. Chop and pull apart pork into shreds and put in 9 x 13 inch pan.
- Heat next 6 ingredients (starting with vinegar) in microwave for 5 minutes. Using 1/2 cup measure, pour 1 cup of mop sauce over the pork. Pour an additional 1 1/2 cups water over pork.
- Cover pork in pan tightly with aluminum foil and place in 325 degree F oven for 45 minutes. Ready to serve! Serve additional mop sauce at the table. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts : Calories 1246.5, Fat 92.6, SaturatedFat 32, Cholesterol 362.3, Sodium 2519.7, Carbohydrate 6.8, Fiber 1.3, Sugar 3.8, Protein 88.3
NORTH CAROLINA PULLED-PORK BARBECUE
This classic pulled pork is the ultimate holiday weekend grilling project.
Provided by Ruth Cousineau
Categories Backyard BBQ Summer Grill Grill/Barbecue Gourmet Graduation
Yield Makes 8 servings
Number Of Ingredients 4
Steps:
- Bring vinegar to a boil with sugar, red-pepper flakes, 2 tsp salt, and 1 Tbsp pepper in a small nonreactive saucepan, stirring until sugar has dissolved, then cool. Set aside 2 cups vinegar sauce to serve with sandwiches.
- While sauce cools, score pork skin in a crosshatch pattern with a sharp knife (forming 1-inch diamonds), cutting through skin and fat but not into meat. Pat meat dry and rub all over with 1 Tbsp each of salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before grilling.
- Prepare grill for indirect-heat cooking over low heat, leaving space in middle for disposable roasting pan.
- When coals have cooled to about 300°F (45 minutes to 1 hour; when most coals will have burned out), put disposable roasting pan on bottom rack of grill between the 2 remaining mounds of coals, then fill pan halfway with water. Add a couple of handfuls of unlit charcoal to each charcoal mound, then put grill rack on so hinges are over coals.
- Oil grill rack, then put pork, skin side up, on rack above roasting pan. Grill pork, with lid ajar (for air, so coals remain lit), basting meat with sauce and turning over every 30 minutes (to maintain a temperature of 250 to 275°F, add a couple of handfuls of coals to each side about every 30 minutes), until fork-tender (a meat fork should insert easily) and an instant-read thermometer inserted 2 inches into center of meat (avoid bone) registers 190°F, 7 to 8 hours total.
- Transfer pork to a cutting board. If skin is not crisp, cut it off with at least 1/4 inch fat attached (cut any large pieces into bite-size ones) and roast, fat side down, in a 4-sided sheet pan in a 350°F oven until crisp, 15 to 20 minutes.
- When meat is cool enough to handle, shred it using 2 forks. Transfer to a bowl.
- Serve pork, cracklings, and coleslaw together on buns. Serve reserved vinegar sauce on the side.
CAROLINA-STYLE PORK BARBECUE
I am originally from North Carolina (where swine is divine) and this recipe for the slow cooker is a family favorite. My husband swears my authentic Carolina 'cue is the best BBQ he has ever eaten! -Kathryn Ransom Williams, Sparks, Nevada
Provided by Taste of Home
Categories Lunch
Time 6h30m
Yield 14 servings.
Number Of Ingredients 15
Steps:
- Cut roast into quarters. Mix brown sugar, salt, paprika and pepper; rub over meat. Place meat and onions in a 5-qt. slow cooker., In a small bowl, whisk vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, sugar and seasonings; pour over roast. Cook, covered, on low 6-8 hours or until meat is tender., Remove roast; cool slightly. Reserve 1-1/2 cups cooking juices; discard remaining juices. Skim fat from reserved juices. Shred pork with two forks. Return pork and reserved juices to slow cooker; heat through. Serve on buns with coleslaw.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 453 calories, Fat 22g fat (6g saturated fat), Cholesterol 85mg cholesterol, Sodium 889mg sodium, Carbohydrate 35g carbohydrate (14g sugars, Fiber 3g fiber), Protein 27g protein.
Tips:
- Choose the right pork shoulder: Look for a pork shoulder that is well-marbled with fat, as this will help keep it moist and tender during the cooking process.
- Use a good quality rub: The rub is what will give your pork shoulder its flavor, so it's important to use a good quality one. There are many different recipes for rubs available online and in cookbooks, so you can find one that suits your taste.
- Cook the pork shoulder low and slow: The best way to cook a pork shoulder is to cook it low and slow. This will allow the meat to cook evenly and develop a tender, fall-off-the-bone texture.
- Let the pork shoulder rest before serving: Once the pork shoulder is cooked, let it rest for at least 30 minutes before serving. This will allow the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, making it even more tender and flavorful.
Conclusion:
Eastern NC BBQ Pork Shoulder is a delicious and easy-to-make dish that is perfect for any occasion. Whether you're cooking for a party or just a weeknight dinner, this recipe is sure to please everyone at the table. So next time you're looking for a flavorful and satisfying meal, give Eastern NC BBQ Pork Shoulder a try.
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