BBQ (Pulled Pork) Paula Dean Style

In the South, there are a few things we take VERY seriously: faith, football, and food!  By "faith" I mean our relationship with God.  By "football" I mean college football, of course!  And by "food" I mean our great Southern Dishes: BBQ, ribs, potato salad, green beans, grits, boiled peanuts, pecan pie, Sweet Tea, and all the other glorious things that make the South, well, FABULOUS!  But for years after I was married, I only ate BBQ if someone else made it.  I though that it was "too complicated."  But its really not! A couple of years ago a friend introduced me to this great Paula Deen Pulled Pork Recipe and I've been thrilling my family with homemade BBQ sandwiches ever since!!!  Of course, like most recipes, I've "made it my own" - putting a little more apple juice, a little less vinegar - but I haven't really changed Paula's recipe much.  There's no need!

The first thing you need is a good, cast iron, Dutch Oven.  They're perfect for BBQ!

Then you need a pork shoulder/butt (4lbs or more).  I got this one on sale!  Its a 6lb beauty!  That means lots of leftover pork!  Woohoo!!!

First you're gonna rub this beauty with a dry rub.  You'll need: 2 TBS salt, 2 TBS black pepper, 2 TBS dark brown sugar, 2 TBS paprika, and 1 tsp Cayenne.

Mix that together and rub it all over the pork.  Place in a bowl or dish and cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for up to 24 hours.

When you're ready to start cooking, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grab your Dutch oven and pour in 2 cups of apple juice, 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, 2 TBS of Worcestershire, 1/2 TBS of liquid smoke, and 1/2 TBS of garlic powder.  Whisk that together.  Place the pork in the Dutch oven with the liquid, cover tightly with foil, place the lid on top, and place it in the oven.

Your cooking time will depend on the size of the pork.  Paula Deen's original recipe called for a 4lb pork shoulder cooked for 4 hours.  I had a 6lb pork butt and cooked it for 5 hours.  The key is to cook your meat until its easy to shred (falling off the bone).  That's gonna be about 45 minutes to 1 hour per pound.

After the pork has been in the oven for an hour, pull it out, carefully remove the lid and tin foil, and gently baste it with the liquid (being careful not to rub off all of the seasoning). Place tin foil and lid back on, put it back in the oven and continue cooking.  Baste every hour.

Remove pork from the bone and shred.  

Eat alone or make a sandwich.  Top with your favorite BBQ sauce or just some of the cooking juices.  Serve with cole slaw, potato salad, green beans, or any of your favorite Southern fixins!