I can't help you on the sauce, as I have a favorite brand I buy and it tastes great - Sweet Baby Rays.
Here is the way I do my pulled pork and ribs: both are fairly similar.
- 3-5 pound pork shoulder or butt. This can be the cheapest cut as it will cook for a really long time and inadvenrtently turn really tender
- I dry rub it with a large quantity of spices: mesquite, cajun, paprika, sea salt, sage, pepper. Let sit in fridge for around 12 hours.
- Put it in a crock pot with one large onion and apple juice. I also put in some canned chipotle peppers. Lots of apple juice. Let is cook until it is litterally falling off and separates by itself.
- drain all the liquid; you can keep some for dipping if you want. Seperate the meat into little pieces, getting rid of the fat.
- throw it back into the crack pot and add a bit of your favorite BBQ sauce.
- nice bun and some good slaw and baked beans and you have an awesome meal.
I make pulled pork once a month.
Ribs are very similar. I used to buy different cuts of ribs, but nothing beats a baby back. I also experimented with many different methods of making ribs, but below is by far my favorite. And I can tell you that once folks tried my ribs they can't get enough.
- start by dry rubbing the ribs. I do the same spices as on the pulled pork but additionally I add brown sugar and garlic.
- let sit covered in fridge for at least 12 hours. I try to do 24 hours if possible.
- I grill my ribs, so I cut the slabs into half and put them into tin disposable pans. Each pan holds a slab.
- cover completely with apple juice
- cover the pans with tin foil
- cook at about 350 degrees
- cooking time is about 3 hours. You need to check every 30 minutes because the juice will evaporate. add more.
- at about hour three, don't add more juice, lower the temp to 275-300 and baste with your favorite BBQ sauce. Not too much.
- let it carmalize and add some more.
- you don't want to add more juice now so that the little outsice leyer of the meat becomes a bit crispy.
- and you're done!
I usually cook three slabs. Always do one on charcoal and it is much better. I assume it would taste even better on some fruity wood.
Enjoy. I will post some pictures when I get home if I can find them.