Cooking with Platypus - Winter Warmer Series 3: Pulled Pork with Barbecue Sauce

I've got a shoulder joint in the fridge for tomorrow with a dry rub of smoked paprika, cumin, coriander seed, garlic and onion powder, cayenne, brown sugar and S&P. Never tried a dry rub as in the past I've just added BBQ sauce to the cooked pork, and didn't have the mustard powder, thanks for posting i'm looking forward to this tomorrow, hope my girlfriends family do too.
 
Walkerie said:
It's on 140c fan assisted looks pretty good. Been in three hours how can I ensure that I don't over cook it and ruin it

It's been in three hours 20 and thermometer reads 75c I'll leave it for the full four?
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we used to do 6-8 hrs

really does want low heat and longer time
 
A couple of weeks ago I cooked pulled pork for 10 of my friends, below is the result.

The piece of pork is a boned and rolled shoulder, it weighed 6.2kg and cost £25 from my local butchers....a few people ask why i always choose to have a boned and rolled shoulder and the reason is simple....i like the extra fat around the meat, it seems to keep the meat moister than when ive done it with a bone in joint.

I made my own rub, ingredients were:

Light brown sugar
Paprika
Ground black pepper
Cumin
Coleman's mustard powder
Chilli Powder

The meat was rubbed on all sides, wrapped in cling film and left over night in the fridge.

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I cooked this joint for 7 hours at 150 degrees, on a bed of sliced onions with apple cider in the bottom (the meat was covered with baking parchment and then covered in foil.

Before Cooking
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After cooking
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I forgot to get an "after pulling" shot, but I did manage to get a mid eating shot.

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It went down really well, and there wasn't hardly any left at all, I used the remainder of the cooking juices to pour over the pulled meat to add even more moistness.

All served up in breadbuns with jalapeno coleslaw.
 
I've got some pork shoulder covered in spice rub and in the fridge for 12 hours. Tomorrow morning I'm going to stick it in the oven at super low for a few hours and then finish it with some mop and bbq applewood smoking in the evening. Not the most optimal way to do things but I think it should turn out nice :)
 
This inspired me last weekend, sorry no pictures as it all got eaten but turned out really really well.

Smaller piece of boneless, fat on shoulder (1kg).
Dry(ish) rubbed it with ingredients mentioned in first post - had no mustard powder so used a spoon of colemans instead and left overnight.

Baking tray had chunkily cut onions that the meat was placed on (to keep it off the bottom) and kept a cm deep with cider for the duration. Pork was covered in foil and left to cook for 6-7 hours at 120c.

Found recipes for BBQ sauce and Coleslaw on the interwebs that were great. Will dig them out. Was delicious.

Had to improvise on a few ingredients.

Buttermilk: 80% milk 20% cider vinegar and leave for a few minutes to curdle.
Molasses: Treacle

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/...cole-slaw-and-fried-pickles-recipe/index.html
 
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Just put mine in the oven reading this thread I've covered in foil and put an inch of orange juice in the pan all at 140 degrees
 
ok then folks. this pulled pork looks delicious and i wanna try it. the thing is i will be making it for myself as the mrs is on another of those diets.

obviously the recipe makes a good chunk or pulledness so what do i do with the rest, do i store it in the fridge? can it be frozen and reheated? do i put the bbq sauce on before storing?
 
Making this again on Sunday with all the homemade trimmings :).
I read this article and was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the last comment:
Use two forks, or your fingers to pull into shreds, cutting up the crackling too, and then add the rest of the seasoning, and any meat juices from the tin, and stir in. If possible, leave to soak for 24 hours before reheating in a warm oven to serve.
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I would have thought it would taste better fresh rather than left for 24 hours and then reheated?

Also, I'll be making this for 7 adults. What weight of meat would be suitable? Last time I used 2.5Kg bone in, but because of my wine/beer intake, I can't remember how much meat there was.
 
molinari said:
Making this again on Sunday with all the homemade trimmings :).
I read this article and was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the last comment:


I would have thought it would taste better fresh rather than left for 24 hours and then reheated?

Also, I'll be making this for 7 adults. What weight of meat would be suitable? Last time I used 2.5Kg bone in, but because of my wine/beer intake, I can't remember how much meat there was.
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It will definitely taste better freshly made.

Amount per person is kind of subjective..depending on how much you like to gorge yourselves and how many other things you'll have with it. I often aim for 200g per person pre-cooked weight and that's usually far too much food :p
 
FrenchTart said:
It will definitely taste better freshly made.

Amount per person is kind of subjective..depending on how much you like to gorge yourselves and how many other things you'll have with it. I often aim for 200g per person pre-cooked weight and that's usually far too much food :p
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Well I have been known to eat too much on occasion. So, 200g*7=1.4Kg. The bone must be at least 1Kg which would mean 2.5Kg should be ok. I may go up to 3Kg to be safe, I know I won't complain if I have to have it in sandwiches for lunch next week :).
 
Made my pulled pork yesterday and I was disappointed with it. For some reason, I couldn't get the temperature of the meat up to the magic 89 degrees for it to pull. I had my BBQ thermometer in it telling me the temp of the over and the meat, and whilst the oven was at 120 degrees, the meat rose to 74 (after about 5 hours) and just sat there for close to an hour. I turned the oven up, and even when it was at 140 degrees, the meat only rose another few degrees :confused:. I moved the thermometer to a different part of the meat and it gave me the same reading. It came out after 7 hours in the oven, cooked but didn't pull properly :(. It was still tasty, just not as good as it could have been. No complaints from the guests but it wasn't as good as the last one I made.

On a positive note, the BBQ sauce and slaw were both fantastic. I use Heston's BBQ sauce recipe (recipe here) and it makes a lovely sticky sweet sauce. The slaw is a variation on Platypus' recipe from the first post (no chilli, sugar or celery).
 
When cooking meat like this it's normal for it to get 'stuck' at a temperature for a while whilst the 'good stuff' starts to occur. It probably just needed more time. Covering it in foil for the last hour or two with the heat off (though it needs to have reached a bit over 80C (maybe 85?) first) is also a good thing to do.
 
molinari said:
Made my pulled pork yesterday and I was disappointed with it. For some reason, I couldn't get the temperature of the meat up to the magic 89 degrees for it to pull. I had my BBQ thermometer in it telling me the temp of the over and the meat, and whilst the oven was at 120 degrees, the meat rose to 74 (after about 5 hours) and just sat there for close to an hour.
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That's called "The Stall". At a certain point the water starts to vaporise, then condense on the surface bringing the temperature of the joint back down. It can do it for a couple of hours, then once the water is gone the temps start going back up. As mentioned a bit of tinfoil can help pile through it.

More info: http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/the_stall.html
 
sports_brah said:
Quick couple of questions:

Will it be tastier done in a slow cooker or an oven?

What size a joint should I get for feeding 8 people?
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A 2kg shoulder would be enough for 8 people with leftovers, assuming you're serving with bread/salad/etc.

If you're inexperienced then I'd recommend using a slow cooker. Far easier. Personally, of the two I'd always cook in an oven though (I think it tastes better). Obviously smoking it low and slow is the best way but just go with whatever is most available/easiest for you initially.
 
FrenchTart said:
A 2kg shoulder would be enough for 8 people with leftovers, assuming you're serving with bread/salad/etc.

If you're inexperienced then I'd recommend using a slow cooker. Far easier. Personally, of the two I'd always cook in an oven though (I think it tastes better). Obviously smoking it low and slow is the best way but just go with whatever is most available/easiest for you initially.
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The oven one does look very tasty indeed! The oven here is fairly average and I don't have a thermometer, so I will probably slow cook it. :( (shame as you don't get the crisp.

I'm presuming it's fine to use the rub and sauce mix that the OP used? Or is it different for slow cooking?

Also the 2Kg joint, is that with bone or without a bone? (I know nothing about meat).

Was thinking of serving it with wedges, colesaw and buns. Maybe sweet potato.

Thank you very much for your help, really helps take the stress out of cooking and with lots of money tied up in it. (can't wait til I'm rich and can try and cook everything :D)
 
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