East Carolina Barbecued Pulled Pork
For the East Carolina fans in the house that moved far away from North Carolina. I have worked on creating some good East Carolina barbecue. While I didn’t grow up knowing this kind of barbecue. I have to say its a nice light alternative to what my dad believes is the best barbecue. That his own of course. I’ve learned in traveling, barbecue has different tastes for different towns and regions. Of course the best is always the local favorite.
My dad’s barbecue was spicy and hot. My mom loves the sweet barbecue sauces. While growing I didn’t care for the taste of either parent’s favorite sauces. I have found I like both of my parents tastes in barbecue and more. East Carolina barbecue has a nice light taste with the vinegar being at the base versus the standard tomato sauce base. Enjoy this recipe and plan to experiment with it to get your heat to the your favorite temperature. First the pork:
- 2 lb pork loin
- 1 beer of choice
- 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
- 2 - 3 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Place pork loin in roasting pan fat side up. Pour beer in pan and add liquid smoke directly to beer. Place a couple of cuts into the pork loin. Pour salt and pepper on top of pork. Cook covered at 350 degrees until pork reaches 160 degrees. This typically is about 2 hours.
If you don’t have a meat thermometer that you can leave in while cooling get one. Its a live saver and shouldn’t cost more than 20 bucks. You set the temperature to what you want and not have to constantly open the oven to check the temperature. It saves time and money.
Barbecue sauce
Prepare the sauce a day or up to a week in advance. The extra time allows the flavors mesh together.
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce (Tabasco)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
This should have little heat but can be hotter by just doubling the cayenne pepper and hot pepper sauce quantities.
Ready to print recipe: East Carolina Barbecued Pulled Pork