Perfecting Pulled Pork
April 5, 2010
•Le Cordon Bleu
•Atlanta
• 0 Comments
Perfecting Pulled Pork
There’s nothing quite like a great pulled pork dish. Using your slow cooker / crock pot is an easy way for anyone to make a savory pulled pork, and actually doesn’t require too much effort. Above all, ensuring that the meat turns out moist and succulent is the most important key to any good pulled pork recipe. Below you’ll find some great tips for cooking the perfect pulled pork dish.
Some General Tips on Cooking Pulled Pork
Pulled pork is traditionally cooked by smoking the meat (usually a pork shoulder or pork butt) for many hours at a low temperature. This helps to infuse the meat with a nice, smoky barbeque flavor, and creates the ideal tender texture, where the meat seems to just fall apart. If you have access to a smoker, this is the best way to cook the meat.
Unfortunately, most everyone doesn’t have a smoker with which to cook pulled pork. And while it’s difficult to get the smoky flavor with a slow cooker, you can easily replicate the long, low-heat cooking process with fantastic results.
Recipe for the Perfect Pulled Pork in the Slow Cooker
Ingredients:
5-6 lb. pork shoulder/pork butt
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 cup ketchup
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup tomato paste
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons mustard
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
A of pinch cayenne pepper
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground black pepper
¾ cup water
Place the onion at the very bottom of the slow cooker. Then put your pork shoulder (trimmed of any obvious excess fat), into slow cooker over the onions.
In a big mixing bowl, stir together all remaining ingredients to form the barbecue sauce. As with any recipe, adjust salt and pepper to your preference. Next, add half of the sauce over the pork and cover, setting aside the remaining sauce.
Cook at low heat for about 8 hours (or according to your slow cooker’s presets).
Remove the pork to a large bowl and then use two forks to shred it. Transfer the meat back into the slow cooker and simmer for a few more minutes, this helps the meat to soak up the sauce.
After this is done, the pulled pork can be held on the “warm” setting in the slow cooker for serving. You can eat it on sandwich rolls, and top it with extra barbecue sauce (and even mixed cheese) for added flavor.
Save Time and Money
In these financially difficult times everyone is trying to save where they can. One of our largest monthly expenditures is groceries, so finding dishes on a budget that the whole family will love is relatively difficult.
One of the best aspects of this dish is that not only is it affordable to make, but it also keeps well for leftovers. We all have a tendency to unnecessarily spend money on lunch at work, but pulled pork makes for a series of delicious next day lunches.
Another beneficial aspect of cooking pulled pork in the crock pot is that it doesn’t require much effort. Depending on your schedule, you can prepare the dish the night before, and set the timer in the morning.
This article is presented by Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Atlanta. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Atlanta offers Le Cordon Bleu culinary education classes and culinary training programs in Atlanta, Georgia. To learn more about the class offerings, please visit http://www.chefs.edu/Atlanta for more information. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Atlanta does not guarantee employment or salary.