BBQ Pulled Pork made with Rhubarb!

My family went crazy for this! Sweet and tangy rhubarb barbeque sauce slow cooked with pasture raised pork from All Grass Farms is a wonderful way to kick off the long days of summer!

Rhubarb grew wild in the back of my grandma’s house. All us kids would play “house,” and pretend to cook dinner, staring freshly harvested rhubarb. I love the sour, earthy taste. However, many people are stumped by rhubarb. The texture is similar to celery and the taste is a bit conflicting. It’s tangy, sweet with hints of earthiness. Probably the most popular way to enjoy it is baked in a pie or pummeled with sugar for jam. But rhubarb is made for more! It’s made for barbecue pulled pork!

I’m actually giddy thinking about this recipe. My dad is a tough critic and he said it was great. My sister gave it a 20/10. My mother-in-law said it was really good. Thank God for taste testers!

Rhubarbecue Sauce.

“Rhubarbecue” should definitely be added to the dictionary because it’s a thing. A really amazing thing. Just image tangy rhubarb, sweet honey, robust molasses all mixed together in a delicious sauce simmering away with a beautiful, bone-in pork shoulder.

If you want to get ahead, make the rhubarbecue sauce the day before. The yield is perfect for a quart size mason jar. Prep couldn’t get any easier. Just dump the ingredients into a stock pot and simmer away for around 40 minutes. After, blend until very smooth and then pour into a container or jar.

Let’s go over some of the main ingredients of this rockin’ barbecue sauce.

Rhubarb. Fresh or frozen works well. I bought mine from Harrison Market Gardens. They are an organic farm serving Rockford and Chicagoland.

Honey. I source my local honey from Willie’s Honey Company based out of Northern Illinois. I picked up a jar (with the honey-comb inside!) from All Grass Farms. Willie’s also sells their honey, along with other products, online.

Ketchup. I like the deeper flavor ketchup gives the sauce. I used Local Folks ketchup. The ingredients are simple and I really enjoy the taste.

Molasses. This is the ingredient that gives it that irresistible barbecue flavor. Molasses is sweet, complex, smokey and robust.

Aromatics. I should probably designate an entire field to garlic and onion considering the fact that everything I make calls for them. I harvested my garlic a month premature this year (because we are moving!) and that meant I had tons of spring garlic. Spring garlic is milder in taste, the cloves haven’t separated yet and the green stalk is still soft. 3 heads of spring garlic goes into the sauce, along with about 2 inches of each neck. It’s not an even conversation, but 5 large garlic cloves would be a suitable substitute.

Pork Details.

Rhubarbarbecue sauce screams for pork shoulder.

Pork shoulder is best cooked low and slow to break down the muscle fibers and connective tissue. Along with that, slow cooking allows some of the fat to render down, contributing to the irresistible flavor. Here are a few more tips to make sure your pork shoulder comes out super juicy and tender.

1. Salt your pork the night before. For a 3lb pork shoulder, rub 1 tbsp Redmonds Sea Salt. Then, leave it uncovered, overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Next day, rub it with the remaining spices to drive the flavors home.
3. Once in the slow cooker, pour the entire quart of rhubarbeque sauce on the pork and mix it around so it’s completely covered.
4. Don’t rush it. Low and slow is best. The meat will fall apart.
5. Once everything is tender, remove the excess fat. No one wants to bite into a chunk of fat.

Serving Suggestions

Serve this up on a bun with coleslaw or alongside cornbread. A light, vinegary coleslaw is recommended. I’ve also been known to eat this straight up. It’s that good!