Pulled pork sliders are great ANYTIME, but if you're looking to up your Game Day Menu, nothing beats these easy-to-put-together sandwiches. You can make the pork a day in advance and then reheat to put the sliders or sandwiches together just before kickoff.
These recipes are enough for a 5 lb. boneless pork shoulder roast, but you can adjust accordingly depending on what you need.
Make the Dry Rub
First, make the dry rub for the pork. You can head on over to my post for the Ultimate Dry Rub for Pulled Pork, but I've re-posted it here, too, for convenience:
INGREDIENTS:
- ⅓ cup salt
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
- 2 tsps. ground cumin seeds
- 2 tsps. espresso powder
- 3 cloves minced garlic (you can use garlic powder instead - ⅛ tsp. per clove of garlic)
DIRECTIONS:
- In a small bowl, combine the salt, brown sugar, paprika, ground cumin seeds, espresso powder and minced garlic.
- Rub the mixture all over the pork and then wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours.
- TIP: place the wrapped meat on a rimmed baking sheet because the rub on the meat will create a lot of juice - and you won't want that all over the inside of your refrigerator!
- No need to rinse or wipe the rub off the meat before cooking.
Cook the Pork
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Unwrap the pork and place it in a roasting pan. Cook in the preheated oven for 4 hours, basting with the rendered fat and juices every hour.
- If your meat is lean, don't be surprised if you don't have much (or any) rendered fat to baste with. Just let it cook for the 4 hours, uncovered.
- After 4 hours, or when an instant-read thermometer registers an internal temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit, remove the pork from the oven and cover the roasting pan tightly with aluminum foil.
- Return the wrapped pork to the oven and cook for 4 more hours.
- Carefully take the pork shoulder out of the oven and let it rest until cool enough to handle.
- With 2 forks, shred the meat into thin strands.
- Pour ½ cup of the pan juices over the pork and stir in ¾ to 1 cup of Bourbon BBQ Sauce. Taste for seasoning and add more sauce or pan juices, as desired.
Make the Pulled Pork Sliders
Finally, put the pulled pork sliders together. You'll need:
- 24 mini brioche buns, halved
- Butter (softened) for toasting the brioche buns (optional)
If you're toasting the buns, spread a little bit of the softened butter on each brioche bun half. Heat a skillet over medium heat. When skillet is ready, place each brioche bun half, butter side down, and allow the buttered-side to get a little brown (toasted).
Pulled Pork Sliders
Ingredients
- 1 5 lb. boneless pork shoulder roast, or picnic roast
- 1 recipe Ultimate Dry Rub for Pulled Pork
- 24 mini brioche buns, halved
- butter, softened, for toasting the brioche buns
Leave a Reply