Eight hours in a slow cooker turns a $25 pork shoulder into enough pulled pork for fourteen people.
Why you should cook this
Eight hours in a slow cooker turns a $25 pork shoulder into enough pulled pork for fourteen people. The technique is famously hands-off, rub it Sunday morning, eat it Sunday night.
This is the Texan template (dry rub + low slow cook + pull + sauce after) not the bottled-marinade approach. Real pulled pork tastes like pork, smoked paprika, and time.
What to drink with it
A cold IPA, a bourbon Old Fashioned, or our Whisky Collins for a long lunch. Coleslaw and brioche buns are non-negotiable.
Notes from the kitchen
Pork shoulder, not loin. Loin will dry out. Shoulder (also called pork butt or boston butt) has the fat and connective tissue that turns silky after eight hours. Don’t add liquid. The pork releases plenty. Adding stock makes it watery. Sauce after pulling, not before. Toss the shredded meat with sauce in a bowl, never let the sauce simmer with the pork or the smoke notes vanish.
The recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Combine all dry rub ingredients in a bowl. Pat the pork shoulder dry with paper towel.
- Rub the spice mix all over the pork, into every fold. Rub Worcestershire on top.
- Place the pork in a slow cooker. Cover. Cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4-5 hours.
- Combine all BBQ sauce ingredients in a small saucepan. Simmer 5 minutes until thickened. Cool.
- When the pork is done, transfer to a board. The bone (if any) should slide out cleanly.
- Shred with two forks. Toss the shredded meat with half the BBQ sauce. Serve the rest at the table.
- Pile onto brioche buns with coleslaw, pickles, and extra sauce.
You might also like
Recipe
The Proper Aussie Beetroot Burger
Why you should cook this The Aussie burger is the only burger format that openly admits to being a structural disaster. Beef pattie, melted tasty cheese, fried egg,…
Read the recipe →
Recipe
Pork & Cabbage Dim Sims (Aussie Style)
The Australian-Chinese fish-and-chip-shop dim sim. Why you should cook this Dim sims are the Australian-Chinese fish-and-chip-shop classic that nobody outside Australia has heard of and that everyone inside…
Read the recipe →
Recipe · Baking
Vegemite & Cheese Scrolls
Why you should cook this The lunchbox classic that you remember as the highlight of grade four and that, when you make them yourself as an adult, you…
Read the recipe →
Recipe
Savoury Cheese & Bacon Muffins
School lunchbox classic, grown-up version. Why you should cook this The lunchbox muffin that actually holds together. Cheddar, crispy bacon, spring onion, a fold of self-raising and a…
Read the recipe →What to pour with it
Cocktail
Whisky Collins
Tom Collins's older American cousin. Why you are pouring this tonight Tom Collins's older American cousin. Sometimes called a 'John Collins'. Bourbon or rye in place of gin.…
Read the recipe →
Cocktail
Old Fashioned
The Old Fashioned is the cocktail equivalent of a well-cut blazer. Four ingredients, no hiding place, looks like a million bucks, takes thirty seconds. It is what you…
Read the recipe →
Buffalo Trace Bourbon
Buffalo Trace is the bourbon you recommend to friends because it is cheap, available, and flat-out better than bottles that cost twice as much. Rye grass, brown sugar,…
Read more →Two things that go wrong
Dry pork
You used loin or leg, not shoulder. Shoulder has the fat and connective tissue. Loin will dry out no matter how long you cook it.
Mushy pork
You added too much liquid. Don’t add stock or water. The pork releases plenty on its own and the dry rub clings better without dilution.
Variations worth knowing
Carolina vinegar style
Skip the BBQ sauce and toss the shredded pork with apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, chilli flakes. Tangier and lighter.
Chipotle pulled pork
Add 2 tablespoons of chipotle in adobo to the dry rub. Smokier with a slow heat.
Variation
Pork carnitas tacos with pickled red onion
There are dinners that come out of the kitchen on a big platter and the conversation in the room changes. Everyone stops what they are doing and stands…
Read the recipe →Leftovers and make ahead
Keeps a week in the fridge, three months in the freezer. Reheat in a covered pan with a splash of stock. Use in tacos, burritos, sliders, fried rice, breakfast hash, or piled on baked sweet potatoes.