So my husband has come home from a conference in San Fransisco, raving about the pulled pork sandwiches he ate. My understanding of the pork is that it’s slow cooked and therefore very tender, so I’m assuming I could do it in the oven at home? I know you American folks like your 'erbs and spices, so I was wondering if anyone had a killer mix they would share as well? Is that all these is to it, you put the rub on the pork then slow cook it, or is there more to it?
250 degrees for 10-12 hours (depending on the size of the roast).
A crock pot works well too.
A brown sugar based rub is most common. I like to use kosher salt, paprika, brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin powder, chipotle powder, and a drop or two of liquid smoke.
Take it out of the oven when it’s falling apart, pull it apart with two forks, slather with BBQ sauce. Put on buns. Eat.
For a crockpot just rub the roast, put it in the crockpot for like 12 hours on low, pull, sauce enjoy.
Oh yeah - it’s easy. And yummy! I change the spices a little bit every time, but this was my jumping-off point. I was just thinking about making it this weekend, too!
It makes a ton, BTW - be prepared to eat it for a week or freeze half of it.
Cheers for your recipes, I’m going to give this a go this weekend I think!
If I was going to serve it on bread, sandwich style, what sort of bread should I go for? Something crusty?
Don’t forget the cole slaw.
Is it a legal obligation? 
It is, hence the name.
For Memphis style, use a hamburger bun, tomato based sauce, and cole slaw on the sandwich.
I always sear the roast (3 minutes per side) before throwing it in the crock pot.
You may want to consider a lower temp like 225. BBQ folks smoke those shoulder joints at 200 and 225. Figure about 1.5 hours per pound. You want it to hit 165 degrees F. After about 6 hours you may want to wrap your port shoulder in aluminum foil for the last hour or so, to let it braise in it’s own juices. Make sure to save all the cooking juices and that juice that comes out when you pull it. Pour it all back over the pork. Plain old cheep white buns are common but it also goes well with potato bread.
You actually want the internal temperature to hit somewhere between 190 and 200.
I am going to have to be ‘that guy’ here. You can cook a pork shoulder in the oven. You can slow cook it in a braise so it is falling apart tender. You can dress it with a rub of spices, put sauce on it and make it into a sandwich. None of those things are bad, and can be very very good. My concern is that it will not be Barbecue. Your husband dined in San Francisco so I’m not sure what kind of pork he was eating there, the kind of recipes you’ve been given may be exactly what he had and that would be fine. If he had true pulled pork shoulder barbecue of the kind that originated in the southeast of the US he might be disappointed with an oven or crock pot recipe. The key thing about barbecue is balance, it is a balance of seasonings, meat and smoke. You must have the smoke. Without all three you won’t really have barbecue. It takes time and effort and there isn’t a shortcut. It is a dry cooking method using woodsmoke and low heat over many hours and the variations go from there. Real barbecue is a thing of beauty, the end product is far greater than the parts that go into it… it’s kind of amazing IMO.
Okay, I want to try this, but I need clarification.
Don’t you usually put some sort of liquid in a show cooker with the meat?
What should I use?
It will provide its own liquid. A large amount of juice will render out of it. You can pour in some BBQ sauce, but the juices will only water it down.
You can buy smoke in a bottle. It’s not as great as real BBQ, of course, but my assumption is that those who are slow cooking pork in an oven or crock pot are doing so because they don’t have access to grill or a pit. The above methods and recipes provide more than passable facsimiles.
Wonderbread. BBQ is the only known use for it.
No plates, just butchers paper on the table with four slices of Wonderbread in a square in front of you. Then dish out the pork.
And if he loved the pork in SF, he has to wangle himself a trip to North Carolina some time.
If he got it in San Francisco, it probably wasn’t real barbecue anyway. 
Seriously, I’m from the South and have a smoker on my back patio, but I think that pork cooked in the oven will still taste wonderful if rubbed and cooked slowly. I’m not as big a fan of the crock pot for pulled pork sandwiches, but that’s just me.
…where he will never find a barbecue sandwich made with Wonderbread.
If he had BBQ in SF, it likely wasn’t “BBQ.” I’d lay good odds that what he had was made in an oven, not smoked in a pit. So the home-made version will probably do just fine.
The cheater’s way of doing it, if you just want a sandwich without turning into a bbq guru: pork shoulder in a covered crockpot on low with a cup or two of water, some kosher salt and a few peppercorns for at least 6 hours. Drain the liquid, pull the pork apart, and toss any leftover fat globs. Put the pulled pork back in the crockpot with a bottle or two of your favourite bbq sauce, leave it covered on low for another couple hours. Enjoy.