Pulled Pork with a Side of Whoop Ass

Did you know that pork butt is not really from the hind region of the pig? It's actually the shoulder. I hope that brings some happiness to your life.

We were on our third 80 degree day in a row, Game 2 of the playoffs was on that evening, and it was Earth Day Eve. Basically, it was a Tuesday just begging for a party, and I got the urge to make pulled pork sandwiches. I've never done this before either. (I know, first the biscuits, now this.) So, instead of trying it once just in case it was a dry mess, I decided to invite a bunch of people over for the game. Nice. I was nervous all f-ing day.

I picked up a nice 5.5 lb boneless pork butt from Gartner's Meat Market, which I highly recommend for all of your Portland area meat needs. My dry rub was something like this:

1 1/2 - 2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp dry mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp kosher salt

I cut some slits into the meat and then I really rubbed it to let the flavors permeate.

I only let it marinate for 2 hours because I wanted to make sure it was done by half-time, or at least in time to call for Thai takeout (in the event of a disaster), but I would have liked to let it go for longer. People say that overnight is best. I baked it in a 275-300ish degree oven, covered, on a roasting pan for about 4 hours. I was expecting it to take at least 5 or 6 hours, but the internal temperature had surpassed 190 F after 4 hours, which is plenty of cooking. Any longer and I think it would have been dry. I was really anxious to assess my success or failure and start pulling it right away, but it must rest for a while. If you cut it right away, all the juices will run out and you'll loose all that good moisture and flavor.

In the mean time, make a barbeque sauce. Mine is a mess of things that I can't begin to address in true recipe form, but I'll just say that it starts with sweet onions that get softened in bourbon. Then there is ketchup, cider vinegar, soy sauce, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, brown sugar, fresh ginger, Worcestershire sauce, Sriracha...yeah, I think that might be it. I'm not telling my secret ingredient. From there I just let it simmer away until it reduced to sticky saucy goodness.

Things were looking good. The Blazers were heading into Game 2 with a new vengeance after the ass-kicking they got last weekend, cornhole was in session in the driveway, and yes, the pork pulled appropriately. Thank God. I didn't get to any of the sides I had in mind, but I did manage to throw together a salad and open some jars of pickled okra and Wickles. I was a few drinks deep by the time the plates were piling, so I only got a couple mediocre photos, but you can at least kind of get the idea.

Overall, I'd say it was a success, but here are my exact notes that I took at the time of consumption:

"Pretty good, marinate longer, more salt."

My friends seemed pretty happy about the whole thing, but that could have just been because Rip City decided to show up that night. Well, and because of the Wickles.