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North Carolina-Style Pulled Pork Sandwich

If you find yourself traveling through North Carolina and come across a BBQ joint, do yourself a favor and try one of their pulled pork sandwiches. The North Carolina-style BBQ sauce here is vinegar-forward and pairs perfectly with the pulled pork.

Ingredients

For the North Carolina-Style BBQ Sauce:

  • 3 cups apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup ketchup
  • 2 Tbsp hot sauce of choice--Texas Pete is fairly popular in NC
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp kosher salt or more to taste

For the Pulled Pork:

  • 1 bone-in pork shoulder like Boston Butt, roughly 6 lbs
  • 2 Tbsp freshly-ground black pepper
  • 4 Tbsp kosher salt
  • 2 Tbsp smoked paprika

For the Vinegar Coleslaw:

  • ¼ head red cabbage finely shredded
  • ½ head green cabbage finely shredded
  • 1 cup carrots finely shredded
  • ¼ cup scallions finely sliced
  • ½ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
  • 2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp celery seed
  • 1 tsp poppy seeds

For the Additional Sandwich Components:

  • 6 Fresh brioche burger buns
  • 6 Tbsp softened butter, for buttering buns
  • Sliced dill pickles for serving

Instructions

  • For the North Carolina-style BBQ sauce, combine apple cider vinegar and brown sugar in a sauce pot and bring to a simmer.
  • Reduce heat to low and add remaining sauce ingredients.
  • Simmer for 5 minutes and remove from heat.
  • Cool sauce down in fridge and reserve for later.
  • For the pulled pork, set up your smoker and heat to about 245F.
  • Smoke the pork in the smoker for 8-10 hours, or until the internal temperature of the pork hits 195-200F.
  • While the meat is smoking, gently mop the meat with some of your BBQ sauce every hour.
  • *This will help ensure that your meat does not dry out while smoking.
  • Allow the meat to rest for roughly one hour before shredding the pork.
  • For the Vinegar Coleslaw, place cabbage, carrots, and scallions in a large bowl.
  • Prepare the vinegar coleslaw dressing by combining the apple cider vinegar with the water, brown sugar, kosher salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, celery seed, and poppy seeds.
  • Mix coleslaw vegetables with the dressing and reserve in fridge for later.
  • When you have shredded your pork, mix pork with BBQ sauce until you have the desired ratio of pork to sauce.
  • Butter the brioche buns and toast them gently on a griddle.
  • Assemble sandwiches with the griddled brioche buns, pulled pork, vinegar coleslaw, sliced dill pickles, and additional BBQ sauce, if desired.

Notes

Any extra pulled pork can be reheated gently in some sauce and served on sandwiches the next day.