Pulled Pork Sandwich

This pulled pork sandwich is one of our favorites to make during the summer for picnics and during the fall for tailgating and game time. There is a process to create this sandwich (a 3-day long process to be exact) and involves smoking the pork to perfection.

First, my husband takes the pork and soaks it in a mixture of lemonade and water. He lets this sit in a bucket overnight and places it in our garage refrigerator where we have all of the interior racks torn out to allow for large containers.

On the second day, he removes the raw meat from the bucket and rubs it down with his BBQ Pork Rub that is also homemade. He spreads a generous amount over the piece of meat, wraps it tightly in aluminum foil, and places it back in the refrigerator for another day.

About an hour before he is ready to put the meat on the smoker, he removes the meat from the fridge and allows it to cool to room temperature. He then injects the meat with a mixture, such as apple juice or Coca-Cola, to keep the meat moist as it cooks.

He then throws it on the smoker, using hickory wood and cooks it for 10 hours at 225 degrees.

Once the meat is cooked, he then brings it inside and places it in a large warmer and starts to pull it apart. You can use a fork for this or a meatrake to make it easier.

He never adds BBQ sauce to the meat as he feels that this is a step for the guest to initiate per their own specific taste. Usually he creates 3-4 different sauces to choose from, or just purchases a great BBQ sauce like Cookies.

For the slaw, we usually purchase a pre-packaged slaw mix and mix it with Jimmy’s Pineapple Cole Slaw sauce. This sauce is our new favorite and tastes excellent!

I’m not sure when we started topping our pulled pork sandwiches with cole slaw, or even where we saw it done first, but we have done it for years. Maybe it’s a Midwestern thing? I’m not sure. You all will have to tell me if you do this where you are from!