Pulled pork - how to?

[di reston]

Please could you tell me how to do pulled pork, and what cut of pork I should do, what you serve it with and anything else I need to know.

Many thanks

di reston

Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde

[Kayelle]

Hi di. While you're waiting for responses to your question, you might enjoy this thread from a couple of years ago.
Pulled Pork in Slow Cooker help please

[GotGarlic]

Hi, di. I posted my pulled pork recipe a few years ago, with serving suggestions: Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

If you don't have a slow cooker, you can put it in a 300F oven for a few hours, till it's tender and easy to pull apart with two forks. It can also be smoked.

[medtran49]

Pulled pork traditionally is done over a low and slow fire in a BBQ pit. The slow cooker and oven methods are newer, convenient ways to get an end product that is similar to but, IMHO, just cannot match a piece of pork spice-mixture dry-marinated at least overnight and then cooked in a pit at low temps, using wood for fuel, for hours. My DH also uses a wet mop when he smokes ours.

Don't get me wrong, the convenient methods are fine, especially if you don't have access to a pit smoker, just wondering which method you are inquiring about.

[di reston]

I've never done pulled pork, so all advice is most welcome. What cut of pork do I get? My husband sometimes gags on fat, so I would have to take that into account when buying the meat.

Thank you for the replies so far

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde

[Cheryl J]

Hi, di. I usually buy a bone-in pork shoulder, it's also called butt or picnic cut. It does have a heavy fat cap, but you can cut that off. Usually I quickly sear it in a dutch oven, then slow roast, covered, at 300 for several hours. It takes quite a while to become tender enough to shred, but boy is it worth it.

There are lots of seasonings out there, depending on what you like. I'm cooking for one so I like to keep the seasonings simple, usually just kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. That way I can portion it up and re-season for how I want to use it - pulled pork tacos, added bbq sauce for sandwiches, etc.

It'll give up a lot of fat as it cooks - if you have the time you can refrigerate it overnight, and then just scoop off the solidified fat. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

[lyndalou]

I do mine in a slow cooker and it's great! I serve it on a bun with cole slaw in the sandwich and baked beans on the side. I always use a pork butt, also known as pork shoulder. Barbecue sauce as well in the sandwich.

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Here's a Mexican version of Pulled Pork:

Pork Carnitas

Ingredients:

• 1½ Tbs kosher salt
• 1½ tsp chili powder
• ¼ tsp dried oregano
• ¼ tsp ground cumin
• 2 Tbs vegetable oil
• 2 lb pork shoulder
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1½ tsp lime juice
• 1½ cups vegetable broth
• 1 orange, halved

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400oF

Put the first 4 ingredients in a small bowl, whisk to combine and rub the spice mixture evenly over the pork.

Heat a Dutch oven over high heat. Pour the 2 Tbs of oil into the Dutch oven and heat to shimmering. When the cooking oil starts to shimmer, add the pork and brown it on all sides. Add the juice from the orange, the broth, the onion and the garlic to the Dutch oven and deglaze it to loosen the browned bits. Add the orange halves, cover, and place it in the oven at 400°F for 3 hours, until the pork is very tender. Cool to room temperature.

Remove the pork from the Dutch oven and pour the liquid into a fat separator. Shred the pork with 2 forks. Return the pork and the defatted liquid to the Dutch oven. Bring the shredded pork and liquid to a simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid evaporates. Reduce the heat to medium, and sauté the pork until it is crisp on the edges.

[jennyema]

As others have said, use a pork butt which is a BONE-IN SHOULDER

I HATE

[Addie]

If you choose a shoulder, leave that fat cap on as it cooks. It helps to keep the meat moist and keeps the flavor in also. Then when it is done, you can almost just roll it off. It separates very easily from the meat.