Pulled Pork Recipe
Looking for some true American dish or just longing for some roast? Let’s make pulled pork even when the BBQ season is toast!
It’s interesting to see how the world changes. Or rather how people change in the world. Quite recently the world or rather the Western world started to turn more inside perhaps in a need to understand what they were in the past and what they want to be in the future.
Of course, not many of us are sitting on the porch half of a night, wondering about years almost forgotten and times that may never arrive. It’s more likely our society unconscious defense from the unknown that surrounds many of us today.
We may not even realize but we live at times when the fate of human race is going to change irreversibly. It’s not just because soon enough we will be able to watch cat videos on Facebook in virtual reality but because we will be able embark on interstellar voyage.
Our isolation therefore may not be other than just reflection on ourselves before a great journey long planned that finally arrived. We can visit one last time our favorite places saying goodbye to the corners and nooks, we have seen so many times. We stir up old memories of the well-known pavement, toying with the idea of not plunging into the unknown.
Yet, if some of us have not taken the boats in front of us, where would we be? So many things wouldn’t have happened if Columbus haven’t had been such an outgoing type of guy.
It’s scary to even think about it but thanks to Columbus and the Spanish who went after him, we have pulled pork today.
Spaniards were the first who observed the native Americans using a framework of green wooden sticks to slow cook meat over a fire pit. The Spanish spelling of that device was “barbacoa” which quickly made into the English language in some form or the other.
But not only the word comes from Spanish but the pork itself too. As native Americans were rather fan of fowls, given their abundance in nature, Spaniards thought to be a good idea to introduce hogs to the new continent.
Pigs liked the environment and soon became the principal meat of the South and at barbecues, too.
Early barbecues were a little bit different from the ones we have nowadays in our porch. They were held at the open mostly, but it needed a fire pit to be dug and a pit master to turn the pork over the slow heat for at least 12 hours before guests were able to pull the meat off the carcass.
At the time when 100% of households lacked refrigerators or little means to preserve food, making a barbecue required many mouths to be justified. So, barbecuing became a social event until some guys in Lexington, North Carolina thought of selling open pit barbecued meat at the town square on Saturdays.
Not surprisingly people were receptive to the idea of having a bit of pulled pork without working for it half a day and the first barbecue joint were born.
Many years have passed since but pulled pork is still going strong in many places in the South or thanks to the advance of technology in our kitchen too.
We may not be able completely replicate the complex flavor portfolio that an open fire could provide, but we won’t fall short on the tender texture that a modern oven or slow cooker accomplish. Complete that with some of the favorite herbs and spices of our kitchen and we have a perfect pulled pork that can be enjoyed at any time of the day.
Ingredients
Brine
Brine is optional but brine makes meat taste better so highly recommended. If short on time use stronger brine while longer time allows the meat to develop more refined flavors. Dry brine can also be used with similar success. Check out How to Make Brine – Brine Recipes.
Soft Brine 5%
- 1½ tablespoon / 25g Salt
- Herbs of choice (Bay leaf, black pepper, mustard seed…)
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 15 oz / 500ml Water
Pork
- 4lb / 2000g Pork shoulder
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Paprika
- Optional
- 1 tablespoon Black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Hot powder (chill, cayenne, paprika…)
How to make Pulled pork
- Place the meat into a big enough bowl then add the salt, herbs of choice and garlic.
- Fill it up with water then let it sit for a day in the fridge.
- Take the brined meat out onto a high walled baking tray. Spread some cooking oil or lard underneath.
- Coat it with mustard, paprika and any other optional spices. Cover it with a lid or tin foil. Place it into the oven and roast it for 5 to 6 hours at 300°F / 150°C.
- Checking on the meat during this time is not essential but we can check it every now and then. When the meat doesn’t offer much resistance and the knife or fork just slides in easily, it’s done.
- Take the cover off, put the sheet onto a higher rack and roast the outer layer to the desired color. Some like it golden brown others go for darker shades. Use the highest temperature in the oven and only the top heating if available. In 15 minutes it should show some results.
- Take the pork out, then use forks to pull them apart.
Enjoy!
Pulled Pork Recipe
Ingredients
Soft Brine 5%:
- 1½ tablespoon Salt
- Herbs of choice Bay leaf, black pepper, mustard seed…
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 15 oz Water
Pork:
- 4 lb Pork shoulder
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Paprika
Optional:
- 1 tablespoon Black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Hot powder chill, cayenne, paprika...
Instructions
- Place the meat into a big enough bowl then add the salt, herbs of choice and garlic.
- Fill it up with water then let it sit for a day in the fridge.
- Take the brined meat out onto a high walled baking tray.
- Coat it with mustard, paprika and any other optional spices. Cover it with a lid or tin foil. Place it into the oven and roast it for 5 to 6 hours at 300°F / 150°C.
- Checking on the meat during this time is not essential but we can check it every now and then. When the meat doesn't offer much resistance and the knife or fork just slides in easily, it's done.
- Take the cover off, put the sheet onto a higher rack and roast the outer layer to the desired color. Some like it golden brown others go for darker shades. Use the highest temperature in the oven and only the top heating if available. In 15 minutes it should show some results.
- Take the pork out, then use forks to pull them apart.
Notes
Pin now, Enjoy later!
Looks like one straight from the pit