Sauce for pulled pork?

CornyKegs 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Homercidal

Homercidal

Licensed Sensual Massage Therapist.
HBT Supporter
Joined
Feb 10, 2008
Messages
33,269
Reaction score
5,708
Location
Reed City, MI
Making pork shoulder in the crock pot want to get a good recipe for some sauce to go with it. Not that thick really sweet BBQ stuff from the store. I remember having a thinner sauce down south before. Of course I'd settle for something from the store if it's good. I just don't have time to spend smoking and cooking today.
 
If you want something quick and easy, just take the store bought sauce and add apple cider vinegar. Another option is to do the same thing with mustard, also adding worchestershire and cayenne pepper.
 
Ed's vinegar sauce from the thread linked above is awesome for pulled pork. The Naked Spur smoked porter bbq sauce that's there too is also stupid good. Both of them combined defies logic and reasoning with how ridiculously good pulled pork can be.
 
I always use a vinegar based sauce. Its amazing and super easy.

1 Cup Cider Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning
1 Teaspoon Course Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

Warm up the vinegar on a stove until the sugar disolves and then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer. Put it in a clear ketchup bottle and apply it liberally to the pork before eating.
 
I really like this sauce. Spicey and tangy. Right out of my fave cookbook. I've used this twice.

  • 1c ketchup
  • 3/4c apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4c brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp Worchesterchire sauce
  • 1 tsp hot sauce (+/- to taste)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp dry mustard
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper ground

Simmer for 5 minutes (or until thick). Stir occasionally. This is good for about 5# pulled pork.
 
+1 for the vinegar base

We like to make something with a little spice to it..

Saute chopped onions, rough chopped garlic, and sliced chili peppers until soft. Add salt, pepper, and a bit of sugar. Pour in some vinegar and add ketchup until you get the consistency you like.

Strain the sauce and mix it with your pork. When you assemble your sammies top them off with a spoonful of the onions/garlic/peppers. :mug:
 
I've done this recipe (that I found online) before and it was really good:

Ingredients:

1 cup prepared yellow mustard
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon liquid smoke (hickory flavoring)
Preparation:

Mix all except soy, butter and smoke. Simmer 30 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 more minutes.
 
Wow, thanks for all the responses! It was too late this time. I had a fever friday night and all day Saturday and felt fine on Sunday, but was feeling pretty tired and sore again by the afternoon, so I just poured in a bottle of whatever we had and put mustard on top.

I think that link above was the one I was searching for and will have it printed out before I make Pulled Pork again. It was the Apple Cider Vinegar that I couldn't remember that I wanted to try. I don't have any, so I'll grab some tonight if I can remember to.

I poured a bottle of Sam Adams Winter Lager into the crock pot with the pork and it wasn't very good. I think it just had too much hops and stuff. I probably should have gone with my homebrew stout instead. Most everything else I have is also too hoppy.
 
Pork butt has too delicate a flavor to stand up to braising in roasty, hoppy, or otherwise strong flavored beer. Use apple cider, white wine, cider vinegar, or a very light beer instead. Dilute any of those liquids with a fair amount of water.

FWIW, Sam Adams Winter Lager is one of few beers I've ever poured out. It has a funk that I just can't get past. I highly doubt that cooking with it would tame that flavor.
 
my buddy gave me a few skunked bottles of grolsch. i figured that they'd still be ok to cook with-wrong. that was pretty bad.
 
Yuri_Rage said:
Pork butt has too delicate a flavor to stand up to braising in roasty, hoppy, or otherwise strong flavored beer. Use apple cider, white wine, cider vinegar, or a very light beer instead. Dilute any of those liquids with a fair amount of water.

FWIW, Sam Adams Winter Lager is one of few beers I've ever poured out. It has a funk that I just can't get past. I highly doubt that cooking with it would tame that flavor.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I actually enjoy Winter Lager, but have learned to stay away from the hops when cooking. I didn't think it was that hoppy in a glass.

And I forgot the Dammed Apple Cider Vinegar last night! Luckily I can always pick it up at the store. I need to stop by on the way home since I ate the last of the chip dip that my little one bought chips for. I have to replace it before she finds out.

My wife had the pulled pork for lunch and dinner last night and I mentioned mixing some malt vinegar with it and topping with some mustard, but she said she liked it just the way it was. I guess it wasn't too bad after all then.
 
I love vinegar based BBQ. However, what I do is to put the "sauce" in a small bowl, and I dip the sandwich into it. That way the BREAD gets the sauce, but the meat stays the same way. Good pulled pork doesn't really need any sauce :D

M_C

xsists said:
I always use a vinegar based sauce. Its amazing and super easy.

1 Cup Cider Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning
1 Teaspoon Course Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

Warm up the vinegar on a stove until the sugar disolves and then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer. Put it in a clear ketchup bottle and apply it liberally to the pork before eating.
Click to expand...
 
We compete at BBQ competitions and through the years have found that it is not the smartest thing in the world to re-invent the wheel. At a competition we have found that we have a lot of things to worry about and don't want to waste time making a sauce when there are so many exceptional commercial sauces available. I swear that I have tasted them all. In competition I think you will find that a lot of teams use Blues Hog, Head Country and Smoking Guns on pork. These sauces have been tried and true by many competition teams. It would be next to impossible to concoct a sauce that is better than those mentioned above. Give them a try.


One more thing.....Consider smoking your pork shoulders. You loose so much flavor in a crock pot it is almost a sin. Try it one time, I bet you will love it. Just think of that yummy golden brown bark created by a good pork rub when smoking the shoulder. It's making my mouth water.
 
I make (IMHO) a really good crock-pot "pulled pork." I start by sauteing a bunch of onion and garlic, for a nice base. Never shy with those. I'll usually saute the pork, too, just to get it started and to add some color. I'll then cook the pork in the crockpot with a whole bunch of chopped apples (like, four or five apples, don't even bother removing the skin) and a ton of apple cider vinegar. Add a little store-bought BBQ sauce, salt, pepper.

Right before the pork starts to fall apart, I'll take it out and set it aside. Then, everything in the crockpot gets strained. I push it all through a fine-mesh strainer to get rid of all of the apple skins and anything else like that. Then, add back the pork and let it finish cooking until it starts falling apart.

Cooking the cider that long, it loses a lot of the real aggressive tang.

I know it's not a traditional way to make pulled pork, but it's pretty easy and it's damn tasty.
 
the_bird said:
I make (IMHO) a really good crock-pot "pulled pork." I start by sauteing a bunch of onion and garlic, for a nice base. Never shy with those. I'll usually saute the pork, too, just to get it started and to add some color. I'll then cook the pork in the crockpot with a whole bunch of chopped apples (like, four or five apples, don't even bother removing the skin) and a ton of apple cider vinegar. Add a little store-bought BBQ sauce, salt, pepper.

Right before the pork starts to fall apart, I'll take it out and set it aside. Then, everything in the crockpot gets strained. I push it all through a fine-mesh strainer to get rid of all of the apple skins and anything else like that. Then, add back the pork and let it finish cooking until it starts falling apart.

Cooking the cider that long, it loses a lot of the real aggressive tang.

I know it's not a traditional way to make pulled pork, but it's pretty easy and it's damn tasty.
Click to expand...

I am not criticizing you. My feeling is to each his own. If you ever get the chance, try smoking your pork butt. The rub, when smoked, will create a beautiful bark and another layer of flavor. You will be rewarded for your efforts. I am sure your crock pot pulled pork is delicious but if you decide to give it a try and you will not be dissapointed. I can promise you that.
 
Oh, I know, I just don't really have a proper smoker. The crock-pot method is also a lot easier to handle in the middle of winter when it's -15° outside.

Besides, the original post was looking for sauce ideas for crock-pot pork!
 
Here's another twist for pork in the crockpot. Put the roast in the crockpot, add about a cup water and some black pepper. Cover and cook over low heat for about 2 hours. Mix a can or two of sauerkraut, a can of applesauce and about 1/4 cup brown sugar together & pour it over the pork roast. Cover and simmer until it's tender. MMMMMM! Darn good stuff!!! The sauerkraut sauce it excellent on mashed potatoes too. Cheers!!!
 
the_bird said:
Oh, I know, I just don't really have a proper smoker. The crock-pot method is also a lot easier to handle in the middle of winter when it's -15° outside.

Besides, the original post was looking for sauce ideas for crock-pot pork!
Click to expand...

We certainly agreed on that! When it's -15° outside the only BBQ I am going to have is from a BBQ Joint. I don't mind the cooking in the cold on the egg but -15° is a little too extreme for me. At that temperature I am sipping homebrew in front of the fireplace.:)
 
the_bird said:
Oh, I know, I just don't really have a proper smoker. The crock-pot method is also a lot easier to handle in the middle of winter when it's -15° outside.
Click to expand...

Granted,i live in the Mid-Atlantic. But I've smoked in the middle of winter and would rather do that on my Big Green Egg than babysat a crock-pot.

Not to belittle the crock-pot. My wife makes some incredible pulled beef in it. I just won't permit her to call it "BBQ"!
 
... notice that I never once referred to the crock-potted pork as "BBQ," and in fact specifically used quotation marks when describing is as "pulled pork." It's not BBQ, it's good (damn good, the way I do it), but it ain't BBQ.

There's very little babysitting, anyway.
 
Crock pot Pulled pork is just what I do in the winter when messing with the smoker is too darn hard. Even Crock Pot pulled pork is pretty good. not the same as a smoked shoulder, but very quick and easy and tasty. Did one last weekend and the wife made me buy another one this weekend. Just pulled the meat and ready to put some sauce together.
 
My favorite pulled pork is so easy. I season up a butt heavily with a spice blend from the store. I like Rub with Love: Chicken and Grill Masters: Pork. It sits in the fridge for a day or so like that. Then I throw the butt in the crock with a sliced onion and about half a head of garlic. Two bottles of stout and I forget about it. In the morning, I shred the pork and leave it in the crock without a lid until the liquid cooks down. No additional sauce needed.
 

Similar threads

H
Pork with added phosphate solution?
Replies
2
Views
342
passedpawn
passedpawn
D
🔥 Smoking cured sausage to IT 152F within 4h without rendering fat (?)
Replies
7
Views
582
beren
beren
Agent
Tomato Serum Wine Adventure
Replies
14
Views
1K
Agent
Agent
T
First try at hot sauce
Replies
8
Views
1K
mashpaddled
M
R
Ph meter calibration time
Replies
21
Views
1K
tracer bullet
tracer bullet

Latest posts

Back
Top