Pork Picnic Barbecue Oven Recipes

When it comes to feeding your hungry picnic crowd, nothing is as delicious or satisfying as pork barbecue. This is probably why a particularly flavorful cut of pork is referred to as “picnic shoulder.” Widely available at grocery stores and specialty meat shops, picnic shoulder contains a higher amount of fat than other cuts of pork, thus it lends itself particularly well to oven roasting and making barbecued pulled pork.

Picnic shoulder consists of the front and top of the hog’s foreleg. A good butcher should be well-trained in removing the bone and excess fat from the meat. The remaining pork can become a very rich, tender roast. Excellent picnic sandwiches can be made with slices of the roasted pork, some zesty barbecue sauce, iceberg lettuce leaves, and thick slices of toasted sandwich bread. No one will complain that they are still hungry after eating one of these sandwiches.

Another excellent use for picnic shoulder is a Southern favorite known as barbecued pulled pork. The meat is simmered in spices and slow cooked until it becomes so tender that you can literally pull it apart. Barbecued pulled pork can be served at a picnic on large sandwich rolls and served with the traditional accompaniment of coleslaw.

Oven Barbecued Picnic Pork
Yields 6 servings

1 picnic shoulder cut of pork
1/2 cup liquid smoke
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 yellow onion sliced
1 bell pepper sliced
1 small can diced green chilies

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Combine ¼ cup of the liquid smoke, salt, and pepper, and pour over roast. Wrap entire roast in aluminum foil and place in baking pan. Bake for 2 ½ hours. Remove from foil and strip meat from bone. Place back in baking pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add slices of onion, pepper, and the chilies. Pour remaining liquid smoke over meat. Place back in oven for 1 hour at 300 degrees. Slice roasted meat for sandwiches.

Barbecued Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Yields 8 sandwiches

1 picnic shoulder cut of pork (about 3-5 lbs.)
1 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
3 cups of barbecue sauce
8 large sandwich rolls
Coleslaw

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large roasting pan with aluminum foil. Place the pork into the pan and coat the entire piece thoroughly with the Worcestershire sauce. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour. Turn meat over and bake for another 2 hours. When the meat is done, it should be very tender and easily pierced with a fork.

Let meat cool for ½ hour. In a large frying pan, add the barbecue sauce, Tabasco sauce, and the pan drippings. Cook on medium-high heat until beginning to boil. Using your fingers, shred the pork into pieces and strands and stir into sauce. Let simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve on toasted sandwich rolls with a side of coleslaw.

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