South Carolina Mustard BBQ
intro
Tangy golden mustard-based sauce coats tender slow-smoked pulled pork, the iconic South Carolina summer cookout staple.
Ingredients
Steps
Prep and season pork
Trim the 1800g bone-in pork shoulder of thick, hard external fat, leaving a 6mm (1/4 inch) fat cap. Rub all surfaces with 1 tsp kosher salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper, then let rest at room temperature for 45 minutes while you preheat your smoker.
Preheat outdoor smoker
Preheat your charcoal or wood-fired smoker to 110°C (225°F), adding hickory or oak wood chunks for mild, smoky flavor. Fill the smoker’s built-in water pan halfway with cold water to maintain a moist cooking environment.
Slow smoke the pork
Place the seasoned pork shoulder fat-side up on the smoker grates, close the lid, and smoke for 6 hours, maintaining a consistent 107–121°C (225–250°F) internal smoker temperature. Add small amounts of charcoal and wood chunks as needed to sustain steady heat and thin blue smoke, avoiding unnecessary lid openings.
Cook mustard BBQ sauce
While the pork smokes, melt 28g unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium-low stovetop heat (135°C/275°F). Whisk in 240ml yellow mustard, 120ml apple cider vinegar, 75g packed light brown sugar, 2 tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp onion powder, remaining 1 tsp kosher salt, remaining 1/2 tsp black pepper, 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, and 1 tbsp hot sauce. Simmer for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens to a pourable consistency, then remove from heat and set aside.
Wrap and finish pork
After 6 hours of smoking, when the pork exterior is a deep mahogany color, remove it from the grates and wrap tightly in two layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Return the wrapped pork to the smoker, increase the smoker temperature to 135°C (275°F), and cook for 2 additional hours until the pork’s internal temperature reaches 93°C (200°F) when probed with a meat thermometer in the thickest section, away from the bone.
Rest, pull, and serve
Remove the wrapped pork from the smoker and let it rest, still sealed in foil, for 30 minutes at room temperature to let juices redistribute. Unwrap, discard the bone and any remaining hard fat, then pull the pork into soft shreds using two forks. Toss the shredded pork with 3/4 of the prepared mustard BBQ sauce, serving the remaining sauce on the side for extra drizzling.
Tips
2.If you do not own a smoker, you can replicate this recipe in a 110°C (225°F) home oven; add 1 tsp of high-quality liquid smoke to the BBQ sauce to mimic the wood-fired smoky flavor.
3.Resist the urge to turn up the smoker heat to speed up cooking—low, slow temperatures break down the pork’s tough connective tissue to create the signature melt-in-your-mouth tender texture, while high heat will result in tough, dry meat.
OMG y’all, I made this for our neighborhood block party potluck last weekend and people were lined up for seconds! I was a little nervous about the mustard base since I grew up on tomato-based BBQ, but that tangy, slightly sweet sauce is a total game changer. My 7 year old even asked if we can have this every Sunday for family dinner. Only note: make sure you budget enough cook time! I almost cut it short and the pork wasn’t fall-apart tender yet. 10/10 will make again!
Tried this for the first time yesterday for game day. Cook time was spot on, but I felt like the sauce was a little too vinegary for my taste? I ended up adding an extra tablespoon of brown sugar to mellow it out and it was perfect. Otherwise, the pork itself came out so juicy, no dry bits at all which I usually struggle with!
SO good! I made a big batch on Sunday and portioned it out for lunches all week. Piled it on sliders, tossed it with roasted veggies, even ate a bit straight out of the container no shame. The mustard sauce holds up so much better in the fridge than regular tomato BBQ, no weird sogginess. Will be a monthly meal prep staple for sure!
Wait, hold up — do you really need a smoker for this? I only have a regular dutch oven and my apartment complex doesn’t allow charcoal grills, would this still turn out okay if I do it low temp in the oven? I’ve loved every other pulled pork recipe I’ve tried from this site so I’m ready to give this a 4 already, just don’t want to waste a big pork shoulder on a flop!
My kids are so picky about BBQ sauce, they usually turn their nose up at anything that’s not the sweet neon orange store bought stuff. I made this last night fully expecting them to complain, and they both ate two full sliders each! Win for dad dinner tonight. Didn’t have any yellow mustard so I used spicy brown, still slapped.
This was solid! I’m from South Carolina originally so I’m super picky about mustard BBQ, and this is the closest I’ve gotten to the sauce they serve at that little roadside spot off I-26 outside Columbia. Only reason it’s not 5 stars is I wish the recipe had a note about how much sauce to set aside for serving vs tossing with the pulled pork — I tossed all of it and it was a little saucier than I prefer, but still delicious.
Made this for my dad’s birthday since he’s a huge SC BBQ fan, and he said it tasted exactly like what he ate when he was stationed down there in the Army! I did accidentally use Dijon mustard instead of yellow the first go round and it was way too sharp, so definitely stick to the classic yellow mustard like the recipe says. Whoops. Second batch was perfect though.
Game. Changer. I’ve been making pulled pork for years with the standard vinegar-tomato sauce from Eastern NC, and my husband has been bugging me to try a mustard version forever. Finally caved and made this, and he’s already put in a request to make it for his annual fantasy football draft party in a few weeks. Quick question — can I make the sauce a day ahead to save time the day of?
Whoa, that cook time is no joke! I started this at 7am thinking it’d be done by 2pm for our early dinner, and it didn’t finish until almost 4pm. My whole house smelled incredible all day though, so the wait was 100% worth it. The bark on this is unreal when you follow the rub recipe exactly, don’t skip the paprika!
Added a tablespoon of hot sauce and a pinch of cayenne to the sauce to give it a little kick, and wow, that’s the perfect balance of tangy, sweet, and heat. This is way better than any BBQ joint pulled pork I’ve gotten within 30 minutes of my house, and I live in a state that thinks it knows BBQ! Saved this recipe to my permanent rotation.
I’m a total beginner at cooking meat, I’ve only ever made chicken breast and ground beef before, so I was intimidated by an 8+ hour pork shoulder recipe. I followed every single step exactly, and it came out perfect! My roommate thought I ordered it from a fancy BBQ place, I was so proud. I will say, it’s a lot of food for two people — how long does this keep in the freezer?
Brought this to my office potluck today and it was the first dish gone! People were scraping the bottom of the crockpot to get every last bite. I served it with hawaiian rolls, coleslaw, and pickles on the side, and people were making little sandwiches left and right. Only bummer was I didn’t save enough for my own dinner later, ha!
This is perfect for high protein meal prep! I calculated the macros and it’s like 35g of protein per serving, super low sugar if you cut the brown sugar a tiny bit, and it doesn’t get boring after eating it 4 days in a row. Way better than my usual plain chicken and rice, I look forward to lunch every day now that I have this in my rotation.