Recipe: Pulled Pork with Mustard Barbecue Sauce

Based on a recipe for "South Carolina Pulled Pork" from the June 2008 Cook's Country.  The number of servings depends on the size of the pork shoulder roast you cook. A small 3-lb roast provided 8-10 servings.

Read the story behind this dish in Sunday, Dinner for Two.

Ingredients 

Pork
3 tablespoons dry mustard
1½ tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 boneless pork shoulder roast (3 to 5 pounds)

4 cups wood chips
Sauce
½ cup yellow mustard

½ cup light brown sugar

¼ cup distilled (white) vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon hot sauce

1 teaspoon table salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

1. Combine dry mustard, brown sugar, salt, pepper, paprika, and cayenne.
2. Pat the pork roast dry and rub generously with the spice mixture.
3. Wrap the roast with plastic and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
4. Soak the wood chips in water for 15 minutes.
5. Seal the wood chips in an aluminum foil packet the top of which is pierced creating several vent holes for smoke to escape.
6. Place the packet of wood chips directly on one burner of a gas grill.
7. Turn all burners on high and close the grill, heating until the wood chips begin to smoke, about 15 minutes.
8. Turn off all of the burners except the one under the wood chips.
9. Clean the grill, spray with a vegetable spray made for grilling, and place the roast on the cool side of the grill.
10. Close the lid and smoke the roast for 2 hours until it develops a rosy hue.
11. While the roast smokes, make the sauce by whisking together the ingredients until smooth.
12. With a rack in lower-middle position, heat the oven to 325°.
13. Put the smoked roast in a roasting pan and brush on ½ cup sauce.
14. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and bake 2 to 3 hours until a fork inserted in the meat can be removed with no resistance.
15. Remove the finished roast from the oven and let it rest, still covered, for 30 minutes.
16. Transfer the pork to a cutting board and with two forks pull the meat apart, discarding large pieces of fat.
17. Toss the pulled pork with barbecue sauce to taste and serve on buns. If desired add additional sauce, pickles, or slaw.

Dry the roast, rub it with a spice mixture, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate.
(This is a boneless roast and was tied by the butcher, bone-in roasts are good, too.)

Put a foil packet of wood chips on the burner of a gas grill; you can see it peaking though the grill grates here.

Smoke the pork on the cool side of the grill for 2 hours.

To make the sauce, whisk together hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, yellow mustard, salt, and black pepper.

Brush the roast with sauce, cover, and bake at 325°.

The roast is done when a fork can be pulled from the meat without resistance.

After resting, use two forks to pull apart the pork.

Add sauce to taste and serve on buns.