The pulled pork recipe demands careful, slow cooking in order to achieve the desired juicy nuggets of pork bliss. In other words, meat cooked gently and tenderly with smoky and juicy flavors gives you the best results.
An authentic pulled pork is typically a barbecue dish that is cooked for hours under charcoal or oven until it is ready to be shredded apart or pulled apart and then served with a signature sauce. The actual sauce ingredients of the pulled pork recipe, however, is debatable, since there are many versions to it.
Here are some ultimate tips to serving up an authentic pulled pork dish that is sure to make a lasting impression on your guests.
Choice of meat
Ideally, pork shoulder is touted to be the best for pulled pork recipes. It has the optimum mix of content that enables to create tender and juicy meat. Also, pork shoulder should be skinless in order to allow the flavors to permeate in the dish. So, ensure you remove the skin. Whichever part of the pork you use, it is up to your preference whether you like to retain the bone or not or get them boneless.
Marinate with choicest of spices
Dry rub the meat with sugar and salt before cooking. Let it marinate overnight in the fridge. This absorbs the moisture and enables easy cooking. Once ready for cooking, rinse it off thoroughly and marinate with your choice of spices, before putting it in the oven. Whether you want a classic flavor of salt, sugar, and paprika or ramp up the flavor with exclusive spices such as pepper, garlic, cumin, etc. Get under your creative hat to serve up a delectable dish.
Temperature and time matters
The recommended cooking time for pulled pork recipe is two hours per kilogram at a temperature of 140 degree Celsius. It is ready to be taken off when it is easily pulled apart using a fork. It is also a good idea to place the meat on a wired rack and then put it a baking tin. Pour water in the bottom of the tin and wrap it wholly in a thin foil. This will facilitate a steamy atmosphere for the meat to get cooked without drying it off too much.
Shred it right
Once the pork is ready, separate your cooked meat using two forks. Push the pork from the center in an outwards direction. Discard fatty bits and shred the meat carefully. If you want, you can leave some large chunks of meat as well.
Sauce it
If you have kept water in the bottom of your baking tin, it will serve as a good medium of cooking juice with porky flavors and you can add these to your sauces. Drain the water from the pan and cool it. Skim off the excess fat and mix it with your choice of sauce. Then pour the sauce over the shredded meat. Viola! Your pulled pork is ready.
Serve with buns
Most of the pulled pork recipes are best served with sweet and soft buns of your choice. A burger style serving is the best with the meat sandwiched between two layers of super soft bread and crunchy coleslaw. Yum!