Pulled Pork with BBQ Sauce

This Pulled Pork made in a slow cooker may well be the most tender, moist, and flavourful you’ve ever had in your life! High returns for minimal effort, pork is rubbed with a secret spice mix, slow cooked until the meat pulls apart effortlessly then tossed in a simple-yet-flavour-loaded homemade BBQ Sauce.

Super economical, makes loads, freezes 100% perfectly and insanely moreish. Make sliders or a big Southern BBQ dinner plate complete with classic sides like Mac and Cheese, Cornbread and Coleslaw!

Pulled Pork

No self respecting BBQ Shack would cook pulled pork in a slow cooker. They do an overnight smoke, with a pork babysitter on duty all through the night to stoke the coals, monitor and maintain the temperature, and occasionally give the pork a good spray with their secret-formula spritzer.

I do not do that.

I need my beauty sleep.

(Also, I don’t have a smoker).

So here’s how I make pulled pork in a slow cooker. Simple. Totally hands off. Makes loads, super economical. Amazing result for minimum effort!

What you need for pulled pork

Here’s what you need for pulled pork made in a slow cooker – a spice rub and some kind of liquid for a braising liquid to infuse with flavour, add a touch of sweetness and keep everything nice and moist.

I like to use beer – any beer other than dark brown beers like stout or Guinness. Apple cider – alcoholic or non alcoholic – or similar fruit ciders (like pear) are also terrific. For non alcoholic, apple juice works really well. Emergency fallback: water!

Best pork for pulled pork?

The best pork for pulled pork is bone in Pork Butt – also known as Boston Butt – or pork shoulder. It’s well marbled with fat so it’s juicy, and it’s a tough cut of pork so it needs the long cook time to become tender enough to shred – which means more flavour infusion time!

Difference between pork butt and pork shoulder

While both are cut from the shoulder of pig, the pork shoulder comes from the lower end (upper leg) whereas pork butt is the upper part near the back which is why the shape is more rectangle block-like. Here’s an excellent diagram from Cooks’ Illustrated!

Homemade barbecue sauce

And here’s what you need for the homemade Barbecue Sauce. It’s my base recipe for all things barbecue sauced – from pork ribs to chicken (yes, yes, coming soon!), to brisket.

Sometimes I change it up a bit – depends on the protein and purpose of the dish, but fundamentally the same ingredients!

How to make pulled pork

We’re bypassing the step to sit by a smoker through the whole night, and just opting for a simple home version here. So all I need you to do is:

• rub pork with spice mix;
• plonk in slow cooker with beer, set and forget;
• brown in oven – optional step, but totally worth it for that extra little edge of flavour (besides, you need to use a pan for shredding anyway, so you may as well throw it in the oven for a bit!);
• shred, douse with BBQ sauce, devour.

PS I slow cook it with the thick layer of fat on it so it looks blubbery and unappetising when you pull it out of the slow cooker but it does all sorts of wonderful things to the pork as it slow cooks – imagine the spice rubbed layer of fat slooooowly dripping down the pork and basting it for hours!

Pulled pork should be tender…but not mushy!

When I see pork being shredded with a food processor and vigorously mixed with sauce until it resembles baby food, it makes me want to cry.

We want tender, juicy pork that can be pulled apart effortlessly, but still has the texture of meat – we don’t want mush! To achieve that, you just need to cook it for the right length of time (10 hours on low is long enough) and toss with the sauce gently rather than vigorously stirring it like it’s a pot of soup!

How to serve pulled pork

The two classic ways to serve pulled pork are:

1. Sliders – stuffed in soft rolls with Coleslaw. Terrific way to serve loads of people – this recipe will make around 20 sliders;

2. Southern BBQ Dinner Plate – complete with classic sides like Baked Mac and Cheese, Corn Bread, steamed corn slathered with butter, Coleslaw and a side of something green (pictured: simple steamed greens drizzled with butter, salt and pepper).

This recipe makes loads of pulled pork. Pork butts are BIG – so there’s no getting around that!

If you use shoulder you can get smaller pieces. But actually, you don’t want to make this with much less than 2kg / 4 lb because otherwise the pork will cook too quickly and lack the time it needs for the flavour to infuse.

Besides, it freezes 100% perfectly. And imagine how smug you’ll feel knowing you’ve got a stash of this in your freezer??? Shove it in a bread roll for a quick meal anytime! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Pulled Pork with BBQ Sauce

Author: Nagi

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 10 hrs

Mains

BBQ, Southern, Texas, Western

5 from 4 votes

Servings12 - 20

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Recipe video above. This may well be the juiciest, most flavourful pulled pork you ever have in your life! Homemade BBQ Sauce totally makes it. And there's no denying that using a slow cooker yields the juiciest pulled pork! BIG BATCH recipe, 100% perfect for freezing, ideal for entertaining!

Ingredients

• 3.5-4.5kg/ 5-7lb pork butt / pork shoulder , bone in, fat cap on (Note 1)
• 1 cup (250ml) beer , apple cider or apple juice (Note 2)

RUB:

• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp paprika powder
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

BBQ Sauce:

• 1 cup (250ml) apple cider vinegar (Note 3)
• 3 cups (775g) tomato ketchup (or Aussie tomato sauce)
• 1 cup (250ml) water (or use remaining beer!)
• 3 tbsp (85g) molasses , orginal (not blackstrap, Note 4)
• 2/3 cup (140g) brown sugar
• 4 tsp mustard powder
• 3 tsp garlic powder
• 4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp Tabasco or cayenne pepper (optional, for spiciness)

Instructions

• Mix the Rub together, then rub all over the pork.
• Place in a slow cooker, pour over beer. Slow cook on low for 10 hours. Pork should be tender enough to easily shred.

Browning in oven (optional, recommended):

• Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F.
• Transfer from slow cooker into a roasting pan (reserve liquid).
• Scoop fat off surface of juices in slow cooker and drizzle over pork (about 1/3 cup), then roast pork for 20 minutes.
• Remove from oven, cut thick layer of fat off top and discard. Spoon over 1/4 cup fat from slow cooker juices, then roast 15 minutes.

Shredding:

• Shred pork using 2 forks. Pour over BBQ sauce, toss gently.
• Serve stuffed in sliders with Coleslaw, or make a Southern dinner plate with Coleslaw, Mac and Cheese, Corn bread, steamed corn & green beans tossed in butter, with Margaritas to quench your thirst!

Barbecue Sauce:

• Place all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes or until thickened.
• Add 3/4 - 1 cup of juices from slow cooker until sauce is syrup consistency.
• Adjust to taste: sweetness with brown sugar / honey, salt and sour with vinegar. Use per recipe.

Recipe Notes:

1. Pork - Pork Butt (aka Boston Butt) or pork shoulder are the best for this recipe. They are nicely marbled with fat and need to be slow cooked in order to become tender enough to shred with little effort. Get bone in (pork butt almost always is, shoulder is sometimes not). Leave the thick layer of fat because it does all sorts of wonderful things to the meat as it slow cooks (it self bastes!).

If it's got skin, best to remove if you can (so spice can infuse better) BUT not the tend of the world if you don't.

Smaller pork - use recipe scaler if your pork is much less than 2.5kg/5lb.

Will also work well with pork scotch fillet roast (aka pork neck) - 8 hours slow cook on low. Recipe will also work for leaner cuts of pork like loin and tenderloin but will require shorter cook times and end result not as juicy (because the meat isn't fatty enough).

2. Liquid - Braising liquid for flavour infusion. Any beer other than dark beers like stout and Guinness. Hard or non alcoholic cider is also terrific (or pear cider). For non alcoholic, apple juice is my favourite. Emergency fallback: just use water!

3. Vinegar - white wine or champagne vinegar also works well here. Plain white vinegar can also be used but reduce by 1 tbsp as it is a bit sharper.

4. Molasses adds an extra richness to the Barbecue Sauce and also deepens the sauce colour to the dark brown we know and love about barbecue sauce!

5. Other cook methods:

• Pressure cooker / instant pot - With a slightly smaller pork (2-2.5 kg/4-5lb), I make this in my pressure cooker, 1 hr 20 minutes on high.
• Oven - 7 to 8 hours at 130C/270F, covered with double foil in a roasting pan with 2 cups of water (plus the beer per recipe). I rarely do this simply because of logistics - I don't like to leave the house or sleep with the oven on! But by roasting, you do get an amazing crust which I compensate for by roasting the pork briefly after slow cooker. Note: slow cooker yields juicier pork.

6. Servings - This recipe makes a LOT! Partly because pork butts are BIG anyway, also because if you make this with a smaller piece, it cooks faster = less flavour.

A 3.5kg/7lb bone in pork shoulder will comfortably feed 12 people if making a plate with sides.

If making sliders with Coleslaw, it will easily make 20.

7. Storage - freezes brilliantly, even after tossing with sauce. Or keeps in fridge for 4 days. Best reheated in microwave to keep things juicy and moist!

8. Nutrition per serving, pork and sauce only. Calories are quite overstated. A lot of fat gets discarded with the slow cooker juices you don't use. But I have no way of calculating how much! So just know that the actual calories is less than shown below.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 416.01kcal (21%)Carbohydrates: 37.65g (13%)Protein: 36.87g (74%)Fat: 11.34g (17%)Saturated Fat: 3.84g (24%)Cholesterol: 113.4mg (38%)Sodium: 1666.14mg (72%)Potassium: 991.51mg (28%)Fiber: 0.61g (3%)Sugar: 31.94g (35%)Vitamin A: 307.8IU (6%)Vitamin C: 2.8mg (3%)Calcium: 69.45mg (7%)Iron: 3.34mg (19%)

Keywords: BBQ pulled pork, pork butt recipe, pork shoulder recipe, pulled porkl

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Life of Dozer

This is how my post-trip reunions with Dozer go down…..

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This is how a post-trip reunion with Dozer goes down. . If this were a movie, a clean, fluffy Dozer would bound joyfully towards me and leap gracefully into my arms, and I would look bright eyed and dewy fresh off the plane, instead of bloated, greasy and seedy. . The reality of my life is the polar opposite of that. 😂 . #AllClass #LifeofDozer #Dozerfoodbloggerpuppy #recipetineats

A post shared by Nagi & Dozer – RecipeTin Eats (@recipe_tin) on Nov 7, 2019 at 1:02pm PST