South Carolina Pulled Pork

Welcome to Djalali Cooks! We are making our way toward Memorial Day with a great cookout main dish: South Carolina Pulled Pulled Pork. The hallmark of South Carolina barbecue is the mustard-based sauce. It’s tangy and light, perfectly complimenting the sweet smoky pork. We are making sandwiches, but it’s so good all on its own with a side of coleslaw. Let’s get to the recipe!

Pork Rub

We will start by making a spice rub for the pork shoulder. This will be the first layering of tangy mustard flavor. Whisk together dry mustard, light brown sugar, pepper and salt, cayenne and paprika. Dry the pork shoulder with paper towels, then generously coat all sides of the pork shoulder in the rub; press and pat the rub onto the meat and cover tightly with two sheets of plastic wrap. Set the pork shoulder on a plate or small sheet tray and set it in the fridge for 24 hours.

Smoker Set Up

We are using our Big Green Egg and hickory wood for this smoke; you can turn your gas or charcoal grill into a smoker with a foil packet of water-soaked wood chips. Soak the wood chips in water for about 15 minutes, then create a packet out of foil with the wood chips sealed inside. Cut three vent holes in the top of the packet. Once your coals are ashed over, scoot them to one side of the grill and place the foil packet on top of the coals, when the chips begin to smoke (about 15 minutes), place the pork shoulder on the cool side of the grill for two hours, until the pork develops a rosy crust on the exterior. If using a gas grill, you will place the foil packet directly on the primary burner. Turn all the burners on high and when the chips begin to smoke, turn off all but the primary burner and place pork on cool side of the grill.

South Carolina Barbecue Sauce

For the South Carolina Barbecue Sauce, we are starting with good old yellow mustard. We have brown sugar, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and white vinegar. Mix all of these together until the sauce is smooth.

Baste and Roast

If you’re not using a dedicated smoker, preheat your oven to 325 degrees and adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position. At the two hour mark on the grill, transfer the pork to a roasting pan and brush 1/2 cup of sauce over the pork shoulder, cover tightly with foil and roast for 2-3 hours, until the pork is tender and gives no resistance when a fork is inserted. Remove from oven and let the pork rest, covered for 30 minutes.

If you are using a smoker and want to finish it in the oven, you can do that to speed things up, or you can let this pork shoulder go for about 1 hour per pound. For us, this amounted to about 7 hours on the smoker. At hour four, or when the pork has a deep burgundy color, wrap the pork shoulder in foil. Continue the smoke. When we were about 20 minutes from pulling this off the smoker, we basted the pork shoulder twice with the South Carolina Barbecue sauce, every 10 minutes. Leave the foil wrap on the pork and then let it rest in a cold oven or an empty cooler.

When the pork has rested and is cool enough to handle, use two forks or your hands to shred the meat.

Finish with Sauce

Place the shredded pork in a large bowl and drizzle on the remaining South Carolina Barbecue Sauce, mix it altogether with your hands to evenly coat the pork with sauce.

We like to make South Carolina Pulled Pork sandwiches on Martin’s Potato Buns with just a few dill pickle chips.

South Carolina Pulled Pork

And that’s all you need, really. No mayo, no ketchup. Just that delicious, sweet, tangy South Carolina barbecue sauce. It’s such a perfect marriage of flavors, the rich smoky pork and the mustard sauce. Personally, I prefer the Carolinas’ barbecue sauce over the tomato-based sauces like St.Louis or Kansas City. I like the vinegary base to cut through the richness of the meat. The sauce is flavored just enough to give it something extra without overpowering the flavor of the meat.

With summer approaching, I am really looking forward to evenings spent cooking outside, grilling up our favorite summertime foods with friends and family. Do y’all enjoy grilling out? What are your favorite foods to cook out on the grill? Let me know in the comments, or reach out on Instagram. Thanks for spending time with me today, if you’re interested in another great grill recipe, check out my Soy Grilled Pork Chops. I will see you again tomorrow with an easy dessert, perfect for a Memorial Day or summertime cookout. Take care and be well, everyone. xo Kelly

Print Recipe

South Carolina Pulled Pork

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Dinner, Main Course – American

By Adapted from America's Test Kitchen – Serves: 4-8

Prep Time: 20 Minutes, with an overnight dry brine – Cooking Time: 5-7 Hours – Total Time: 8 Hours, with resting time

Hickory-smoked pulled pork shoulder with South Carolina's signature mustard-based barbecue sauce – it's rich, smoky and tangy with a little kick. Have it as a sandwich, or on its own with a side salad.

Ingredients

• Pork Rub
• 3 tbsp. Dry Mustard
• 1.5 tbsp. Light Brown Sugar
• 4 tbsp. Kosher Salt (or 2 tbsp. Table Salt)
• 2 tsp. Pepper
• 2 tsp. Paprika
• ¼ tsp. Cayenne Pepper
• 1 Boneless/Bone-in Pork Shoulder Roast (4 to 5 pounds. If your roast is more than 5 lbs. plan for an extra 30-60 minutes in the oven)
• 4 cups Hickory Wood Chips, soaked for 15 minutes
• South Carolina Mustard Sauce
• 1/2 cup Yellow Mustard
• 1/2 cup Packed Light Brown Sugar
• 1/4 cup White Vinegar
• 2 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tbsp. Hot Sauce
• 2 tsp. Kosher Salt (or 1 tsp. Table Salt)
• 1 tsp. Pepper

Instructions

Pork Rub

1

Whisk together dry mustard, light brown sugar, pepper and salt, cayenne and paprika. Dry the pork shoulder with paper towels, then generously coat all sides of the pork shoulder in the rub; press and pat the rub onto the meat and cover tightly with two sheets of plastic wrap. Set the pork shoulder on a plate or small sheet tray and set it in the fridge for 24 hours.

Smoker/Grill Set Up

2

Soak the wood chips in water for about 15 minutes, then create a packet out of foil with the wood chips sealed inside. Cut three vent holes in the top of the packet. Once your coals are ashed over, scoot them to one side of the grill and place the foil packet on top of the coals, when the chips begin to smoke (about 15 minutes), place the pork shoulder on the cool side of the grill for two hours, until the pork is a rosy color on top. If using a gas grill, you will place the foil packet directly on the primary burner. Turn all the burners on high and when the chips begin to smoke, turn off all but the primary burner and place pork on cool side of the grill and cover. Barbecue for about 2 hours, until the pork has a rosy pink crust on the exterior.

Mustard Sauce and Finishing

3

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.

4

Whisk mustard, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire, hot sauce, salt, and pepper in bowl until smooth.

5

Transfer pork to roasting pan and brush 1/2 cup sauce over meat. Cover roasting pan tightly with foil and bake until fork inserted into pork can be removed with no resistance, 2 to 3 hours.

6

Remove from oven and let rest, wrapped in foil, for 30 minutes.

7

Unwrap pork and, when cool enough to handle, pull meat into thin shreds.

8

Toss pork with remaining sauce.

9

Serve on potato buns and top with pickles.