Pulled pork is just absolutely delicious. Well seasoned pork shoulder that is slowly smoked until it can be shredded by hand. You can coat it with barbecue sauce or you can just go with the dry rub alone. It’s tasty either way. The only problem is, it takes a while to make. It can take hours to slow smoke even a small pork shoulder.
So, to speed this process up, I decided to cheat. A pork shoulder can be pressure cooked way faster. Where it takes many hours to slowly smoke a pork shoulder to break it down, it can be pressure cooked in a little over an hour. Do you get the same flavor profile as smoking? No. But the pressure cooked version is equally tasty.
After rubbing the pork shoulder well with the spice rub, it will be seared off and set aside. A barbecue sauce of sorts will be created in the pot and then the pork shoulder will be nestled in this sauce and pressure cooked. Once it is done, it will be removed from the pot and shredded while the remaining barbecue sauce is reduced until it thickens. The shredded pork will then be reigned to the thickened sauce and stirred through. Easy and delicious. Though not exactly the same as a more traditional pulled pork, it’s a fantastic, quick substitute.
Ingredients
3 lb pork shoulder
¼ cup Pork Barbecue Rub
1 cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup water
½ cup ketchup
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp liquid smoke
Salt and black pepper
Ingredients
3 lb pork shoulder
¼ cup Pork Barbecue Rub
1 cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup water
½ cup ketchup
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp liquid smoke
Salt and black pepper
Combine all of the ingredients for the pork rub into a mortar or bowl, and use a pestle or a spoon to grind and/or blend all of the spices into a cohesive spice mix.
Place the pork shoulder on a cutting board. Season all sides well with salt and black pepper. Then coat all sides well with the BBQ Pork Rub.
Set a pressure cooker over medium heat. Once warm, add one to two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Place the pork shoulder in the pressure cooker and sear for 2-3 minutes. Flip the shoulder to the other side and sear again for another 2-3 minutes. Sear each of the sides for one minute. Use a pair of tongs to hold the shoulder in place upright, if necessary. Once it is fully seared, reserve the shoulder on a plate.
Add the vinegar, water, ketchup, brown sugar, and liquid smoke to the pressure cooker. Stir to fully blend the ingredients and allow this sauce to come to a simmer, dissolving the sugar. This should take 3-5 minutes. In the meantime, use a spatula or spoon to scrape all of the brown bits off of the bottom of the pot.
Return the pork shoulder to the pot, place the lid on the pressure cooker, lock it into place and set it to high pressure. Turn the heat up to high and allow the pressure cooker to come to pressure. Once it does, turn the heat to low, and allow the pork to cook under pressure for one hour.
After an hour, remove the pot from the heat and allow it to slowly depressurize. This may take 10-15 minutes. Once the pot unlocks, remove the lid and remove the pork from the pot and place it on a clean cutting board or appropriate surface. Use a pair of forks to slowly shred all of the meat completely.
While you are shredding the meat, return the pressure cooker to the heat. Turn the heat to medium and allow the sauce to reduce and thicken, this may take about 10 minutes. Once the sauce has thickened, add the shredded pork back into the pot. Stir to fully coat all of the pork in the sauce. The pulled pork is ready.
You can serve it in a number of ways. You can serve it sandwich style on buns, you can serve it on Johnny cakes as I did, or you can just pile it on a plate with your favorite sides. You do you, and enjoy!