Over the weekend, we had friends over for dinner. One of my favorite things to cook when we have a crowd is pulled pork.
Cooking pulled pork simply means taking a tough cut of meat and cooking it at low temperatures over a long time so that the meat becomes tender and falls apart.
I usually serve pulled pork with caramelized onions and buns and people put together their own pulled pork burgers at the party. Folks in the US usually add coleslaw to pulled pork burgers but I find that too sloppy for a party. I have to say the flavor combination of pulled pork and coleslaw is amazing though!
I have used left over pulled pork to cook fried rice, noodles and pasta and they are delicious too!
There is really minimal cooking involved because the slow cooker does all the work. This is very similar to my recipe for slow cooker barbecued ribs, which, incidentally, is another fantastic dish.
You have to start with a piece of uncut pork shoulder. You need some fat on the meat because the fat will break down as the meat cooks, thus keeping the meat moist.
Start by combining brown sugar, smoked paprika, salt and black pepper in a bowl. Rub this onto all parts of the meat.
Wrap with cling film and place this in the fridge until you are ready to cook.
Since the meat needs to be cooked for about 10 hours, I like to cook it over-night.
Line the bottom of a slow cooker bowl with sliced onions.
Place the pork on the onions.
In a bowl, whisk together cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, sugar, dry mustard, garlic salt (I used a combination of garlic powder and salt), crushed red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper. You can adjust the quantities of each ingredient according to your preference.
Pour this over the meat.
Cover loosely with a piece of baking paper.
Cook, covered, on the low setting for 8 hours, remove the baking paper and cook (covered) for a further 2 hours.
By this time, the meat should be very tender.
Allow the meat to cool a little. Transfer onto a bowl and pull the meat apart using two forks.
Use a fork to mash the onions that remain at the bottom of the slow cooker bowl. Skim away most of the fat and pour the liquid and the onions onto the meat.
That is it!
Try making this for your family.
- 2 onions, sliced thinly
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons paprika - I used smoked paprika
- 4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1.5kg boneless pork butt or shoulder - I used shoulder
- 1 1/2 cup (360ml) cider vinegar
- 8 teaspoons (40ml) Worcestershire sauce
- 3 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt - I used garlic powder and salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
- Combine brown sugar, smoked paprika, salt and black pepper in a bowl. Rub this onto all parts of the meat. Wrap with cling film and place this in the fridge until you are ready to cook.
- Line the bottom of a slow cooker bowl with sliced onions. Place the pork on the onions.
- In a bowl, whisk together cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, sugar, dry mustard, garlic salt (I used a combination of garlic powder and salt), crushed red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper. You can adjust the quantities of each ingredient according to your preference. Pour this over the meat.
- Cover loosely with a piece of baking paper.Cook, covered, on the low setting for 8 hours, remove the baking paper and cook (covered) for a further 2 hours. By this time, the meat should be very tender.
- Allow the meat to cool a little. Transfer onto a bowl and pull the meat apart using two forks.
- Use a fork to mash the onions that remain at the bottom of the slow cooker bowl. Skim away most of the fat and pour the liquid and the onions onto the meat.
- Serve hot or cold.
God bless you, Diana! I have two pork shoulders in the freezer and was thinking of pulled pork but too lazy to google for the recipe. And this morning, I see your pulled pork recipe! Will do it this weekend!
Hi Diana,
Yes that I’m back to my kitchen!!! I have started cooking but still feeling tired from the 3hrs difference. hmmm…
Now, I’m thinking it is lunch time and feeling very hungry looking at your pulled pork sandwich. I must have gone cuckoo with timing :p
Zoe
This sounds absolutely delicious, thanks for putting this up.
Simon
Can I replace cider vinegar to rice vinegar?
Yes you can. The flavour will be different though.
Hi, what is liquid smoke and where can i get it?
Hi Liquid smoke is a substance produced from smoke passed through a tube from a combustion chamber filled with select wood chips to a condenser. In the condenser, the smoke cools and forms a liquid, aided by the addition of water. You can get it at Cold Storage or Jason’s. Usually where the bbq items like charcoal are sold.
Hi, Cooking a batch of the pork in the slow cooker, after 6 hours it have a lot of juice in the cooker, so different from you picture above, is it correct? Now I removed the juice out, continue for another 2 hours. Thank you for sharing!
Hi, would I be follow your recipe using a rice cooker? If not, what variation is required? Thanks.
Hi Mel I honestly have no idea!! Maybe you can google on how to use RC instead of SC for cooking? Good luck!
Hey Diana!
I am going to try this recipe! If I don’t have a slow cooker how do I cook this in an oven ?
Gail
Hi Gail place in a baking tray, cover with foil and cook at 80C for about 3-4hours, or until tender and fall apart!
Hi Diana, is cider vinegar same as Apple cider vinegar?
Hi Yes it is!
Hi Diana.
Can I omit liquid smoke in the recipe? Will it affect the taste very much?
You can omit it – it will just not have that BBQ flavor.
Diane – can you share what settings you used on your Meyer for this recipe ?
Diane – can i use this recipe with a pressure cooker?
sure you can!
Do I have to change the recipe at all?