Pulled Pork for Many Uses

• Whether you make barbecued pulled pork sandwiches, served on a hamburger bun with plenty of barbecue sauce, or Mexican carnitas, served on tortillas with avocados and sour cream, you first need to cook the shoulder a long time over low heat, either in the oven or on the stovetop covered with liquid. After two to four hours, depending on the size of the roast, the meat falls off the bone, ready to be pulled apart by hand and transformed into delectable main course sandwiches.

Soups and Stews

• Chili with or without beans, sausage and pork soup, or vegetable and pork stew with ale are a few of your soup and stew options with a stewed pork shoulder. Cut the pork into cubes, brown it and then simmer it covered with liquid, adding additional ingredients during the last 20 to 45 minutes of cooking. Spices and other ingredients that work well in pork soups and stews include European-style allspice, mace and apples; Indian flavors of curry, garlic and yogurt; and Asian-inspired green chilies, garlic and peanuts.

Stir-Fries With Pork Shoulder

• Pork shoulder stir-fries include those with Asian-inspired flavors of Chinese five-spice powder and hoisin sauce, to those with German flavors of bacon, mustard and sauerkraut. In either stir-fry, begin with the pork cut into a bite-sized dice and browned until it's cooked through. Set the pork aside, cook any vegetables, stir in liquid and finally, add the pork back to the skillet to reheat. Serve an Asian stir-fry in lettuce cups and a German-style dish over roasted potatoes or noodles.

Roasting the Shoulder

• While a tenderloin roast cooks more quickly than the shoulder, the shoulder has more earthy pork flavors, especially if you cook a bone-in roast. Cook the roast for about 30 minutes per pound until the meat begins to fall off the bone when you pull it with a fork -- it will be well past the recommended safe cooking temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Serve the roast with carrots and potatoes that have cooked alongside or glaze the roast as you would a ham.