North Carolina BBQ Pork

(American-Southern bbq pork sandwich)

Yield: 4-6 servings

Basic Steps: Marinate → Slow Roast → Shred → Boil → Mix

Rub pork with red pepper flakes, liquid smoke, salt, pepper and oil. Let marinate at least two hours.
Mix vinegar, sugar, pepper flakes, salt and pepper in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and set aside.
Heat oven to 250º. Put meat in a cast iron skillet or roasting pan on a rack. Roast the meat for anywhere from 3-6 hours, turning occasionally and basting with the barbeque sauce. Internal temperature of the meat should reach at least 185º and meat should begin falling apart. Remove the meat and cool somewhat.
Shred the meat well with your hands or two forks. If you like, chop the meat further with a knife.
Bring the remaining barbeque sauce to a boil again and then stir into the meat bit by bit until it is seasoned to your taste. Serve on hamburger buns and pass the remaining sauce at the table.

Cover the meat loosely with foil if it starts to dry out too much in the oven.
If you have a smoker attachment to your grill, that method of indirect heat will produce a more authentic barbeque. Use a mixture of hickory, oak and apple wood chips for maximum flavor.
A little Tabasco is sometimes added to the barbeque sauce. A teaspoon of celery seed can be added as well.

This form of barbeque comes from Eastern North Carolina. It is usually made at a barbeque joint with a whole pig over a slow hickory fire. This recipe makes a reasonable facsimile in your oven.
Barbeque sauce in North Carolina is divided into two types: Eastern with no tomatoes; and Western with a tomato base. There is constant bickering back and forth over which is the true Carolina barbeque. Barbeque in Eastern North Carolina originated in colonial times when it was thought that tomatoes were poisonous. So there should never be tomatoes in Eastern barbeque sauce.
Serve these sandwiches with coleslaw, baked beans, French fries and cold beer.