2010 Cooking Club Week 48: Pulled Pork

Faith

Sparks wrote: »

Don't happen to have a sweet tooth, do you Faith?

I do, and I don't enjoy vinegary tastes at all!

conor052001

made this yesterday after meaning to for a lonnnnnnnng time. Had it for lunch in a bap with homemade coleslaw.. delicious
seemed odd at the start to put so much effort into marinading, and slow cooking in a bunch of different ingredients but then to cover it in bbq sauce and vinegar at the end but turned out great.. thanks op

Sparks

Glad you enjoyed it conor, looks excellent!

sandy_c

5 pork shoulders in the fridge! Have three slow cookers! All for my dads 60th on Saturday. I've already have people inviting themselves over tomorrow to "collect" something......in the hope of getting some before the party.

Im doing half of it withe the sauce in this recipe and half from a recipe I got from the easy food magazine. Both have been given big thumbs up.

BBQ mustard sauce:

400ml cider vinegar
200g of mustard
100g ketchup
90g brown sugar
2 crushed cloves of garlic
One tsp salt
One tsp chilli powder
Pinch of black pepper

Combine in saucepan and simmer for 15 mins until thick

I did add more ketchup as it was a little too vinegary. Kind of similar to the sauce they have in Bison Bar and Grill for their pulled pork sandwiches.

link_2007

In relation to the question in the OP of what to do with the pork fat - pop it in the oven on high until it crisps, let it cool, cut it into strips and it makes a great treat for your dog

RATM

Just tried this recipe and have to pay homage to Sparks for one of the most amazing meals I've ever had, it was absolutely delicious and now I'm feeling really smug about it as there is a kilo of yumness in the fridge to carry me well into next week:)

Mr. CooL ICE

Made this over the weekend (sat evening spice rub and finished today). It was amazing. I bought a slow cooker just to try it and considering how little effort went into preparation, it should be a regular. I am a low-carber, but I ciabatta'd the fcuk out of this for lunch.

Btw, I used a shoulder. I was on my way to Tesco to buy a leg but noticed a new butcher beside it, so I went in and they had shoulders vacuum packed. It was a nightmare to de-skin it but next time I should be better at it. Also needed elbow grease to fit it into my 3.5l slow cooker

Honey-ec

LordChessington wrote: »

Btw, I used a shoulder. I was on my way to Tesco to buy a leg but noticed a new butcher beside it, so I went in and they had shoulders vacuum packed. It was a nightmare to de-skin it but next time I should be better at it. Also needed elbow grease to fit it into my 3.5l slow cooker

I leave the skin on during cooking. Just slides right off afterwards, then.

Loire

Hi Sparks,

Faith referenced this recipe in a different thread and I'm glad she did. Thank you so much! It's a super recipe and very well explain and presented.

Thanks again,
Loire.

Malari

Alright, having read through the entire thread to see how people without slow cookers fared, I am ready to give this a go with the other half of my shoulder from the carnitas recipe!

Just realised I'll have to take it out of the freezer now if I want to be eating pulled pork lunchtime on Saturday!

Mellor

I'm in a similar position in that i'll have some pork shoulder from the carnitas recipe too.
Obstacles for me include no slow cooker and no cast iron roasting pot or similar. At the minute best option looks like a shallow ceramic dish (like a lasagne dish) :(

Malari

I'm using a cast iron pot (like le Crueset) and my gas oven actually has a slow cook setting so hoping that will work!

Would a metal roasting dish be an option Mellor?

Malari

Are onion granules the same as onion salt? What do they look like?

BaZmO*

Malari wrote: »

Are onion granules the same as onion salt? What do they look like?

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=251621831

Malari

That's what I figured, but none in stock in my local Tesco. Maybe I'll substitute with garlic salt? It's only a tsp so I'm guessing it won't make a huge difference.

Sparks

Better just to leave it out really Malari; it's not a major component in the rub anyway, more a supporting note. The paprika, salt and cumin are the major parts of the rub.

Malari

My pork is not quite pulling apart easily :-/ It's been in the oven 9 and a half hours now and I was hoping it would be ready to eat soon. Any suggestions? I'm thinking throw the temp up a bit for a while?

Sparks

Sorry Malari, but no, probably not - it's a low-and-slow gig, and if it ain't done yet, you have to leave it for longer. Make sure there's enough fluid so it stays braising and doesn't start roasting, but without the long low moist cooking, the collagen won't convert to gelatin and you'll get a drier, stringier mouth feel and it just won't be as good as it could be.

Malari

I pulled part of it, then left the rest another couple of hours. But it was only when I reduced the cooking liquid down to a sauce and added it to the pork that I realised how much more tasty it was!

I'd love to try this if (when) I get a slow-cooker one day.

unkel

Malari wrote: »

I'd love to try this if (when) I get a slow-cooker one day.

They're only about €20 for a massive 6.5l one when they come up in Lidl / Aldi or when they are half price in Argos (regularly)

Very cheap on electricity too, compared to using an electric oven. It will have paid for itself well within a year if used regularly

Malari

unkel wrote: »

They're only about €20 for a massive 6.5l one when they come up in Lidl / Aldi or when they are half price in Argos (regularly)

Very cheap on electricity too, compared to using an electric oven. It will have paid for itself well within a year if used regularly

Thanks but cost is not the limiting factor, space is! I have a new food mixer that's still in it's box, due to my tiny kitchen!

Sparks

I had the same problem Malari, so I bought the cheapest smallest one that Tesco had - 1.2L and the same size as a medium sized pot. It gets stashed inside my pressure cooker when not in use But while the slow cooker's the easiest way to cook this, anything that'll maintain low even heat for a long time and which lets you keep the meat in a moist environment during that will do just fine. A dutch oven or even a cassarole dish with a good lid in a low oven, for example.

The Sweeper

Just made this. Naturally, didn't follow instructions, so here's my experience...

Buy piece of pork. Forget about it that weekend. Remember during the week. Marinate piece of pork, place in plastic ziploc bag, return to fridge. Forget about it for four days. (Busy life.) Return to piece of pork. Four days marinating has done wonders. Place in pot with onion and chili and thyme. Don't have rest of ingredients. Substitute a can of pear cider and a tablespoon of black treacle. Add some fennel seeds.

Cook for hours in the oven on a very low heat. Then place a lid on the cast iron pan, turn the oven off and close the door. Leave overnight. The next morning realise it's in the oven and put it in the fridge, pot and all.

Tonight, get home from work. Put pot from fridge on stove. Heat slowly and gently. Simmer for an hour. Drain. Shred. Eat.

This dish is officially INDESTRUCTIBLE, FOOLPROOF and REALLY BLOODY TASTY.

unkel

Haha, yeah I think you're right. No matter what rub you use, in what or how long you marinate or how long you cook (as long as it as very long), this will always come out good

Sparks

Holy hell. And you still haven't spent three hours counting the tiles in your bathroom floor Sweeper? I'm impressed!

Loire

Thanks again Sparks...made this the weekend before last (first time using the slow cooker too) and it was sensational.

Gauge

I have 1.5kg of piggy shoulder massaged and marinated waiting in the fridge for tomorrow. Looking forward to this!

Gauge

Drool...



Took about 7 hours on high + 1 hour on low and it was falling apart. That's me sorted for lunch all this week

Only downside- I dropped and spilled an entire jar of molasses on the kitchen floor. I wouldn't wish that clean up job on my worst enemy!

Sparks

I do love posts like that. Or as herself put it, "Between this recipe and my son, my legacy is complete"

The Sweeper

Sparks wrote: »

Holy hell. And you still haven't spent three hours counting the tiles in your bathroom floor Sweeper? I'm impressed!

Hah, on that note, it needs to be said I'm a firm believer in (a) my nose and (b) the ability of high heat to decimate everything but anthrax and that bacilius cereus in cooked rice (or however you spell it).

The amount of salt and spice in the marinade ensured no bacteria could flourish on the surface of the pork while it was marinating. The heat in the cooking (because I oven cooked instead of slow cooked) was sufficient to destroy anything else, and I still got the same falling-apart effect.

And no, there was no ill after-effects.

Tony

Stage one complete but can't find molasses in Dunne's or Aldi , guess I'll have to go with honey.

Edit:Great butcher I found in Belgard heights Tallaght, cut the shoulder straight off the carcass on the spot and trimmed off the fat and scored it.

BaZmO*

Tony wrote: »

Edit:Great butcher I found in Belgard heights Tallaght, cut the shoulder straight off the carcass on the spot and trimmed off the fat and scored it.

I've made this loads of times but this is the first time I'll be using shoulder. Like you I got it from the butchers. He trimmed it down to size for me. Too lazy to start it tonight so I'll start it early tomorrow.

You can get molasses in Tesco normally, in the baking section.

sandy_c

Aldi this Sunday ---- https://www.aldi.ie/en/specialbuys/sunday-15th-september/products-detail-page/ps/p/slow-cooker/

Mr. CooL ICE

Tony wrote: »

Stage one complete but can't find molasses in Dunne's or Aldi , guess I'll have to go with honey.

My local Dunnes has the molasses in the whole foods section, of all places. Happens to be the same aisle as the baking stuff. Kelkin, orange label.

Tony

Found them, thanks for the tip

LordChessington wrote: »

My local Dunnes has the molasses in the whole foods section, of all places. Happens to be the same aisle as the baking stuff. Kelkin, orange label.

Tony

3 hours in

Tony

And now finished (with a touch of Jack Daniels )

casio4

Tony did you have it with a roll and coleslaw?:D it looks delicious

Tony

Nope not yet

casio4 wrote: »

Tony did you have it with a roll and coleslaw?:D it looks delicious

Star Lord

Tony wrote: »

Nope not yet

You mean it's just sitting there? How've you not gotten stuck in yet?

Tony

Just sampled it on its own , i'm not big on coleslaw

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

You mean it's just sitting there? How've you not gotten stuck in yet?

ilovespudss

Hi lads/lassies

Just got a slow cooker this week and pulled pork is being done this weekend.

As it will be the first time buying this cut off meat, I was looking for some advice.

What weight of shoulder will fit in a 3.5 L slow cooker?
Better to have the bone in our taken out?

I know the recipe is for 1.2 kg cut, but I'm presuming I can just scale up the rest of the ingredients?

Thanks for your help.

unkel

ilovespudss wrote: »

What weight of shoulder will fit in a 3.5 L slow cooker?
Better to have the bone in our taken out?

About 1.5KG would fit comfortably in your cooker. Don't buy your meat in the supermarket, go to your local butcher and order shoulder of pork with the bone in. 1.5KG should cost you around a tenner

Best of luck, and we want pictures

Tony

Does "bone in" give more flavor ?

unkel

Always!

ilovespudss

unkel wrote: »

About 1.5KG would fit comfortably in your cooker. Don't buy your meat in the supermarket, go to your local butcher and order shoulder of pork with the bone in. 1.5KG should cost you around a tenner

Best of luck, and we want pictures

Thanks for the reply.

I was thinking along the lines of what's The biggest shoulder I could fit, but maybe better to try a smaller one for my first attempt!!

I have to ring the local butcher now to see if he had any shoulders in stock... Fingers crossed!

Thanks again

Faith

I've comfortably fit 2kg of boneless shoulder in my 3.5L cooker.

I can't say I'd recommend leaving the bone in for this. It already has so much flavour that I'd consider the bone to just be wasting valuable time and space.

hairyprincess

Very excited to be making this for the first time today!! It's for the bf's birthday dinner on Sunday Yesterday I bought a loin in Tesco, and discovered last night upon reading through the thread that it wouldn't work. I suddenly remembered this morning that I have a pork suppliers right across the field from me so I headed there, 2.5lbs of shoulder, bone out and all the fat and skin removed for €8. Just about to put my rub together. It's the first time using the slow cooker as well, I bought it on Sunday in Aldi for €18.99, it's a 3.5 litre.

Wish me luck!

Edit: I took out the pork and thought it looked a bit big, done the rub, but ran out half way through so had to make another batch, finished rubbing and wrapped it up and weighed it........it's 2.5kgs, 5 and a half pounds! So we will be eating leftovers for a while!

redmissb

I have 2 pork butts in the slowcooker at the moment, couldn't find any pork legs in tesco so ordered these online.
I am feeding a crowd this evening, should I take it out now and shred it or will I leave it on low for another few hours? I'm guessing it won't overcook. Also got the Mississippi bbq sauce, has anyone tried it?

Sparks

redmissb wrote: »

I am feeding a crowd this evening, should I take it out now and shred it or will I leave it on low for another few hours?

Leave it on low but watch the liquid level. So long as it doesn't dry out, it won't overcook (or to be more accurate, it has already overcooked and it's supposed to - the reason it doesn't taste like it is that the collagen converts to gelatin during the braise and coats every single meat fibre, but if that gelatin wasn't there, this would taste like you were trying to eat shredded shoe leather!). Take it out and pull it whenever's convenient for you, then after saucing it, wash out the slow cooker's pot and put the pork back in there on the lowest setting and it'll act like a chafing dish and keep the pork warm for service. Just keep an eye on it so the bottom layer doesn't burn (if your slow cooker has some oomph to it, that is; mine doesn't but yours might...)