Oven-roasted Boston Butt

Too beautiful to pull apart. It took 7 hours to roast but it was worth the wait. This is a perfect rainy day dish. I prepared the pork day before and then roasted it pretty much all day. It was worth it.

Oven-roasted Boston Butt (recipe from Bobby Flay)
Dry Rub:

* 3 tablespoons paprika
* 1 tablespoon garlic powder
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon dry mustard
* 3 tablespoons coarse salt
* 1 (5 to 7 pound) pork roast, preferably shoulder or Boston butt

Mix the paprika, garlic power, brown sugar, dry mustard, and salt together in a small bowl. Rub the spice blend all over the pork and marinate for as long as you have time for, as little as 1 hour or up to overnight, covered, in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Put the pork in a roasting pan and bake for about 6 hours. Basically, roast the pork until it's falling apart and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 170 degrees F.

After baking...
Remove the pork roast from the oven and transfer to a large platter. Allow the meat to rest for about 10 minutes. While still warm, take 2 forks and "pull" the meat to form shreds. Using 2 forks, shred the pork by steadying the meat with 1 fork and pulling it away with the other. Put the shredded pork in a bowl.

Note: don't add the BBQ sauce if you are not eating everything. Package using freezer bags and save it for another day.

Homemade Cider Vinegar Barbecue Sauce (from Bobby Flay)
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup yellow or brown mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To make the barbecue sauce: combine the vinegar, mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, salt, cayenne, and black pepper in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer gently, stirring, for 10 minutes until the sugar dissolves.

I didn't like breaking the meat. It took me a while but it was so worth it. The whole Boston butt made so much pulled pork I actually froze three bags.

1st bag - made some pulled pork sandwich
2nd bag - made some pulled pork quesadillas
3rd bag - still in my freeze and ready for me when I need a quick meal

Oven-Roasted Pulled Pork Sandwiches