Have you read this yet? If you haven’t, you’ll wonder where in the world I come up with recipes like this!

Moving to California, I had no idea the culinary changes in store for me. Pot stickers? Artichokes? Chow mien? Beef BBQ  with a sweet red sauce??? Pot stickers and artichokes are fine, but the beef BBQ was downright disappointing. Southern pork BBQ is spicy and tangy and usually served with coleslaw and, if done right, it makes you melt a bit inside. When we lived in Raleigh, my parents would often drive 40 miles to this hole-in-the-wall BBQ restaurant to buy loads of southern pork BBQ and we would eat it for weeks.

I’ve been living in California for 14 years now and I still refuse to eat California BBQ. When we bought our pig this past spring, I set aside a shoulder roast just so I could make some REAL BBQ sandwiches for my family. I tweaked the recipe I was working from and the end result was everything BBQ should be.

Note: many people find the smell of this cooking a bit overwhelming, so you may want to put your crock-pot outside. I called around while it was cooking asking, “How do I know when it’s done?” because the internal temperature suggested it was fully cooked but the meat was still tough. Both mom and my hubby suggested to just keep cooking it, so I did, and I see now that when it’s done, you’ll know for sure that it’s done because that meat will be tender and flaky and you should be able to pull it apart with two forks. If you have to ask, it’s not done.

southern pulled pork
www.allrecipes.com

1 (5 pound) bone-in pork shoulder roast
1 tbsp salt
ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp hot pepper sauce
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

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 or on high for 4-6 hours. Pork should easily pull apart into strands when done.

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 shredded meat in the slow cooker. Cover and keep on warm until serving.

Serve on a bun. If you’re a coleslaw fan, add coleslaw to the bun as well!