Pulled Pork Under Pressure

Jan 08, 2012
Jan082012

Pulled Pork Under Pressure

Jan 08, 2012
Comments
food

I've been thinking about using my pressure cooker, since it's been quite a while, and Joy happened to buy some pork butt a few days ago; so I thought, what better than pulled pork?

Update! I have updated the recipe with a fully visual guide. Enjoy!

Ingredients

  • ~4 lbs Pork Butt (also called shoulder)
  • 1/2 stick of butter
  • 1 large onion (I used 3 small ones)
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp salt (I used MSG)
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning

Hardware

  • 1 Medium-Sized Pressure Cooker
  • 2 Large Bowls
  • Colander
  • Frying Pan
  • Utensils and small bowls for holding items

Directions

Combine the salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne, cumin, and Old bay into a small dish and set aside:

The Seasonings! A 1/2 tsp each of: chili powder, ground cumin, black pepper, Old Bay seasoning, cayenne pepper, and MSG (or other salt).

Get your onions, garlic, and butter together:

Approximately 2 cups of onion and a tablespoon of garlic, along with half a stick of butter.

Chop your onions:

CHOP!

Gather all of your veggies into a bowl then set aside for a few:

Ready to cook

Get the cooker on the stove and set to a medium or medium-high heat. Melt the half-stick of butter:

Melt the butter at the bottom of the cooker

Once the butter has melted, sauté the veggies:

Sauté the veggies.

While the veggies are sautéing, get the meat out. I pre-seasoned mine the night before with sea salt, coarse ground pepper, and chili powder:

Get the meat ready; just under 4 pounds here.

Once the veggies are cooked, remove them and set aside:

Remove veggies and place aside.

Put the meat in the cooker and brown both sides:

Brown each side of the meat.

Add your veggies back in. Lookin' good!

Mmmm, lookin' good!

Remove the cooker from the stove and fill approximately halfway with water. Most, if not all, of the meat should be covered:

Fill the cooker approximately halfway with water. Most, if not all, of the meat should be covered.

Return to the stove and mix in your seasoning:

Mix in the seasoning.

Close the cooker and set your heat to high. Cook for 60 to 90 minutes:

Close it up, set it on high, and cook for 60 - 90 minutes.

Dance!

Waiting for him to dance!

When your time is up, remove the cooker from the stove and place under cold running water. This helps reduce the pressure faster so you can open it:

When your time is up, remove the cooker from the stove and place under cold running water. This helps reduce the pressure faster so you can open it.

Open the lid and smell the awesome!

Open the lid and smell the awesome!

Remove the cooker from the stove and pour the contents into a colander placed in a large bowl. You're going to want keep those juices:

Pour into a colander placed in a large bowl. You're going to want those juices.

Look at how perfect that is:

Perfect

Transfer pork into a large bowl or a large clean surface; you can now start the pulling/shredding process:

Time to start pulling! If you let your meat cook for over an hour, this phase should be very easy.

After pulling, pour some of the juice onto the pork to moisten it a bit more. Here's a protip if you have more time: transfer pork into a slow cooker, pour juices to cover the meat, keep cooker on low for a few hours; the flavor is amazing!

I like to take some of the juice and pour it over the meat once it's been pulled.

Now that our pork is done, we can make a gravy to use as an optional topping. Pour some of the leftover juice into a frying pan, heat to high, then mix in cornstarch mixed with cold water. You can follow this guide for additional help.

Optional, pour some of the juice into a frying pan, heat to high, then mix in cornstarch mixed with cold water to create a gravy.

We're ready to make our sandwiches!

All setup and ready to make sammiches!

Additional Tips

  • Coleslaw: I love coleslaw on these types of sandwiches (I love it in general, too). If you happen to live near a Meijer, their coleslaw is excellent.
  • Mashed Potatoes: If you want a hearty, filling sandwich, I recommend making some mashed potatoes to layer on top of the bead.
  • Pretzel Buns: if they're on sale, Joy and I normally pick up pretzel sub buns for pulled pork. Awesome bread to eat it on.
  • Sauces: we already made some gravy, but you can also add a line or two of BBQ sauce.
  • Preferred Stacking Order: open faced bun, layer of mashed potatoes, layer of pulled pork, layer of coleslaw, topped with a little bit of gravy and BBQ sauce.

Enjoy!

And as a note, as with all of my recipes, this is give or take.