Pulled Lamb Shoulder Recipes

Steps:

• Place the lamb on a rimmed sheet pan and set aside.
• For the dry rub, combine the sugar, salt, ground espresso beans, black pepper, garlic powder, cinnamon, cumin and cayenne in a mixing bowl and stir well to combine. You should have approximately 2 cups.
• Use half of the dry rub to coat all sides of the lamb, making sure to rub it into all the cracks and crevices in the meat. Reserve the remaining dry rub.
• Heat a smoker to 225 degrees, or set up a grill for smoking, leaving half of the grill area free of coals for wood, or one of the burners off for gas.
• Place the lamb into the smoker or onto the grill and cook, maintaining a temperature between 225 and 250 degrees, replenishing wood chips or chunks as needed.
• After approximately 4 hours, begin to check on the lamb every 20 minutes or so. You're looking to be able to tear off a chunk of the meat easily, beneath a thick crust of what's called "bark." The interior temperature of the meat, measured in a thick part not touching bone, will be approximately 185 degrees. The process can take up to 6 hours.
• Remove the lamb to a clean rimmed sheet pan and set aside to rest.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce: In a medium sauce pan set over medium heat, combine 1 1/2 cups of water with the rest of the ingredients and stir well to combine. Allow the sauce to come to a boil, then reduce heat and let thicken slightly, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
• Using tongs or two forks, begin to pull the lamb apart into pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. When all the lamb has been pulled, taste it, add extra dry rub to taste, and stir to combine. Serve with potato rolls or hamburger buns, with the sauce on the side.

Steps:

• Place pork shoulder on a large parchment-lined baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, 2 tablespoons salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, paprika, dry mustard, cumin, and cayenne. Rub pork with spice mixture, being sure to cover all sides. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours and preferably overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Remove pork shoulder from refrigerator and bring to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels. Heat a large Dutch-oven over medium-high heat and add vegetable oil. Add pork shoulder to Dutch-oven and sear, turning, until golden brown all over, about 4 minutes per side.
• Add 2 cups of water to Dutch-oven and position pork shoulder fat-side up, and cover. Transfer to oven and cook until meat shreds easily with two forks, 5 to 6 hours. Baste with pan juices every hour.
• When cooked, remove from Dutch-oven and shred meat with two forks. Serve meat on buns with barbecue sauce.

Steps:

• Put the garlic, cinnamon, cumin, oregano and lemon in a blender with 1 tsp salt and 2 tsp black pepper. Blend until smooth. Put the lamb in a large roasting tin and tip the marinade over the top. Massage all over the lamb and leave for 24 hrs in the fridge, or up to 2 days.
• Remove lamb from the fridge 1 hr before cooking. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/ gas 3. Scatter the onions around the lamb, tucking some underneath, then pour over the pomegranate juice. Cover the lamb with foil and cook for 4 hrs.
• Remove the foil, carefully pour the meaty pomegranate juices from the tin into a large saucepan and add the honey. Increase oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7, re-cover the lamb and continue cooking for 30 mins. Meanwhile, bubble the cooking liquid over a high heat until reduced, thick and syrupy - this may take up to 30 mins.
• Pour the sticky pomegranate glaze over the lamb and onions and return to the oven for another 30 mins, uncovered, until the glaze is bubbling and just starting to char, and the lamb is really tender. Mix the yogurt, most of the pomegranate seeds and mint leaves in a small bowl. Shred the lamb at the table and serve with the sticky onions and the minty pomegranate yogurt. Scatter over the remaining pomegranate seeds.

Steps:

• Stir together the brown sugar, chile powder, paprika, garlic powder, salt, black pepper and cayenne in a small bowl. Rub the mixture all over the pork shoulder. Wrap the pork in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or preferably overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Place the pork in a large pot on a bed of the onion halves. Roast until fork-tender and falling apart, about 7 hours. Remove the pork from the pot and set it on a cutting board. Slice some of the onion.
• Place the pot on the stove over medium-high heat and add 1/2 to 1 cup of hot water. Scrape the pan to loosen up the bits and cook for 5 minutes to reduce. Pour in the barbecue sauce and stir to heat.
• Shred the meat with two forks, add the sliced onions to the pork and then toss in the barbecue sauce until it's coated to your liking! Serve on hamburger rolls.

Steps:

• Place the pork shoulder into the ceramic bowl of a slow cooker. Pour enough water and white vinegar into the slow cooker to assure the pork is completely covered, maintaining a 2-to-1 ratio of vinegar to water. Add the salt. Put the ceramic bowl in the refrigerator and allow the pork to marinate at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours.
• Drain enough of the liquid from the ceramic bowl until about 1/2-inch of pork is left exposed. Add the onion to the remaining liquid. Season the exposed surface of the pork with the cumin, mustard, chili powder, and brown sugar. Place the bowl into the base of the slow cooker and cook on High until the pork is tender and falls apart easily, 8 to 10 hours.
• Carefully remove the pork to a cutting board; shred the meat into strands using a pair of forks. Remove and discard any excess fat.