Pulled Pork Sandwiches For a Crowd

My husband and I have been having 4th of July open house parties for the last five years. Now that we live on a golf course with an excellent view of our local fireworks the party is better than ever. For the last two years I’ve served the makings for pulled pork sandwiches. I love making pulled pork because it is easy, tastes great, and relatively inexpensive. Our invitation states that we will provide pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, and baked beans. We ask people to bring their own beverages and a snack, side dish or desert to share. We had almost people 50 stop by between 4:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. The fireworks didn’t start until 9:20 p.m. Everyone loved the pulled pork. I think the secret is all the garlic in the rub. The following recipe is for one pork roast, you’ll need to scale it for each roast if you’d like to make more. You’ll see in the pictures that I tripled the recipe and I fed 50 people.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches For a Crowd
For the Rub
6 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
2 teaspoons of black pepper
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

For the Pulled Pork
8 – 10 pound bone-in pork shoulder

1) Squeeze the garlic cloves through a garlic press into a cup with olive oil.

2) Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.

3) Arrange meat tightly together in a roasting pan. The pan shouldn’t be too big or too small.

3) Spread the herb paste evenly over the top of the roast.  Note: this can be done up to three days in advance, and the pork can be kept in plastic wrap in the refrigerator.

4) Cover with foil and cook low and slow so the collagen brakes down slowly. This is the secret to fork-tender pork shoulder.  I baked the pork for a total of 4 hours and 20 minutes at 300 degrees.  I removed the foil after three hours, and cooked uncovered for the remaining time. Note: next time I try this I’m going to cook lower and slower because there were some parts of the pork shoulder that didn’t fall apart and really needed to be “pulled” apart.

5) Let the shoulder rest on a cutting board for 15 minutes and then start pulling the pork with a fork.  You can dig in with your hands when the pork is cool enough. Throw away the fatty portions.

6) When cooking for a crowd I fill a slow cooker with the pulled pork and ladle about two cups of the roasting juice over the pork.  At first I kept the slow cooker on low and eventually turned it down to warm.

7) Pile pork on a bun. For a party you can also provide gluten-free buns and baked potatoes (russet or sweet) for people to pile on the meat. This would be helpful for those that need other options for health reasons.

8) Drizzle barbecue sauce over the pork. Use Primal Kitchen or something similar for Whole30/Paleo compliance.

9) An optional side dish to this meal, coleslaw, can also be used to top the pork. Plus, I always serve this with Mom’s Potato Salad.

10) Corn on the cob would be another choice many guests would appreciate.

11) Enjoy the compliments and the fireworks!

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Pulled Pork Sandwiches for a Crowd

July 7, 2012

Servings: 12

Prep: 15 min

Cook: 4 hr 20 min

Total: 4 hr 35 min

Difficulty: Intermediate

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By: Michele Tedrick, NBC-HWC, A-CFHC, Holistic Chef

Ingredients

• For the Rub
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
• 2 teaspoons of black pepper
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• -
• -
• For the Pulled Pork
• 8 - 10 pound bone-in pork shoulder

Directions

• Step 1 1) Squeeze the garlic cloves through a garlic press into a cup with olive oil.
• Step 2 2) Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.
• Step 3 3) Arrange meat tightly together in a roasting pan. The pan shouldn’t be too big or too small.
• Step 4 3) Spread the herb paste evenly over the top of the roast.  Note: this can be done up to three days in advance, and the pork can be kept in plastic wrap in the refrigerator.
• Step 5 4) Cover with foil and cook low and slow so the collagen brakes down slowly. This is the secret to fork-tender pork shoulder.  I baked the pork for a total of 4 hours and 20 minutes at 300 degrees.  I removed the foil after three hours, and cooked uncovered for the remaining time. Note: next time I try this I’m going to cook lower and slower because there were some parts of the pork shoulder that didn’t fall apart and really needed to be “pulled” apart.
• Step 6 5) Let the shoulder rest on a cutting board for 15 minutes and then start pulling the pork with a fork.  You can dig in with your hands when the pork is cool enough. Throw away the fatty portions.
• Step 7 6) When cooking for a crowd I fill a slow cooker with the pulled pork and ladle about two cups of the roasting juice over the pork.  At first I kept the slow cooker on low and eventually turned it down to warm.
• Step 8 7) Pile pork on a bun. For a party you can also provide gluten-free buns and baked potatoes (russet or sweet) for people to pile on the meat. This would be helpful for those that need other options for health reasons.
• Step 9 8) Drizzle barbecue sauce over the pork. Use Primal Kitchen or something similar for Whole30/Paleo compliance.
• Step 10 9) An optional side dish to this meal, coleslaw, can also be used to top the pork. Plus, I always serve this with Mom’s Potato Salad.
• Step 11 10) Corn on the cob would be another choice many guests would appreciate.