Portions: about 12 to 16 sandwiches
Preparation: 45 minutes
Cooking: 4 hours 20 minutes
THE SECRET REALLY IS IN THE SAUCE. CHEF MICHAEL ALLEMEIER HAS CREATED THIS RECIPE FOR PULLED PORK AND IT’S ALL ABOUT HIS EXTRA-SPECIAL BARBECUE SAUCE. THE SECRET INGREDIENT? VAN HOUTTE® ORIGINAL HOUSE BLEND COFFEE!
Combine all ingredients for the BBQ sauce (except the ketchup) in a large thick-bottomed saucepan.
Warm the mixture on medium heat and bring it gently to a boil, stirring regularly.
Add the ketchup and let it simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often.
This recipe yields a large quantity of sauce, but will keep well in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 weeks.
In a large bowl, combine the pork cubes, coffee BBQ sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, garlic powder and onion powder; mix well. Add salt.
Transfer the mixture to your slow cooker or Instant Pot, and follow the instructions on the appliance to cook pulled pork.
To cook in the oven, preheat oven to 300°F (150°C) and transfer the mixture to a Dutch oven. Cook for 4 hours while removing the pot from the oven to stir the mixture and check that it doesn’t dry out. If the meat seems dry, add a bit of water.
Once cooked, the meat should be extremely tender and break up easily with a fork.
Season with salt.
Serve the pulled pork on small hamburger buns or on the sandwich bread of your choice . Serve a bowl of coffee BBQ sauce on the side so that everyone can add sauce to their own sandwich.
This recipe yields a lot of pulled pork, but you can always freeze your leftovers for the perfect meal when there’s no time to cook dinner (or when your extended family shows up for a surprise visit).
To make this recipe fully gluten-free, swap bread made from ordinary flour for gluten-free bread. Better yet, why not try it out on corn tortillas?
With more than three decades’ worth of experience working in top Canadian kitchens, Allemeier has served in such lofty roles as Executive Chef at Vancouver’s Bishops Restaurant, at Calgary’s Teatro Restaurant, and at Mission Hill Family Estate Winery in the Okanagan Valley. The third Canadian to receive the title of Master Chef, Allemeier currently teaches over 500 burgeoning young chefs at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
