12-23-2016, 09:59 PM
Oven-braised Pulled Pork
Since we've gotten to the oven, let's start impressing those who's idea of cooking starts with a box.
0. Purchase a pork shoulder roast. This can be a butt roast, sometimes called a Boston butt; a pork shoulder; or a pork picnic, sometimes called a picnic ham or picnic shoulder. The danger here is that some stores will call other cuts of pork a shoulder. But essentially what we're looking for is a big 4 to 8 lb. hunk of cheap meat. If you're paying more than $2 US per lb. it's the wrong cut. Hell, I won't pay more than $1.50/lb, usually waiting for a sale of $.99, grabbing two or three and placing the extras in the deep freezer.
0a. If the cut has skin or a lot of external fat, remove it. The object is not to remove all the fat, just the large chunks.
1. Preheat oven to 300
2. Season the pork generously with a seasoning blend (you can buy some or find a recipe easily online) or salt and pepper. Guess which I use.
2a. (completely optional) Heat some cooking oil in a Dutch oven large enough to hold the pork on the stove top and sear all sides of the meat 2 to 3 minutes each. Some idiots will tell you that searing meat "seals in the juices." This is complete bullshit. Study after study after study shows that searing meat makes for a 2% to 5% drier piece of meat. So why sear? One, because it looks good. You get this nice brown color to the meat that says, "cooked." Two, and this is the important reason: flavor. When meat is seared, it undergoes a chemical reaction that creates new flavors. Because searing occurs in a thin layer, you still have the original flavor of the meat. The combination of the two makes for flavor complexity, something that people who insist on eating each part of a meal separately (first the vegetable, then the potato, then the meat) cannot, will not, or are unable to understand.
3. Spread a sliced onion (or two) on top of the pork in the Dutch oven that may or may not have been used for searing.
4. Pour a cup of apple juice over the onions.
5. Place the cover on the Dutch oven and place in the now-heated oven for five hours or so, basting occasionally.
6. Remove the pork from the Dutch oven to a large cutting board. If the pork doesn't fall apart when trying to remove it, it's not finished cooking.
7. Discard the liquid in the Dutch oven, keeping the solids, i.e. use a colander to retain the onion and stray pork bits.
8. when the pork is cool enough to touch, start shredding with your fingers pulling the pork pieces apart, discarding any fat and bone.
9. Place the pulled pork and reserved onion mush back into the Dutch oven and mix. At this point you can add barbecue sauce (I usually use a hickory flavored sauce), mixing thoroughly.
10. Place the Dutch oven back into the oven for another 20 to 30 minutes.
Serve on hamburger buns or on a plate as an entrée. The pork keeps in refrigerator for a week and keeps for three months in the freezer.
Note: Apple juice is used for its acidity. The acidity is not for breaking down the connective tissue of the meat. It helps, but the relatively low heat and long cooking time takes care of that. Just like searing meat adds complexity to the flavor, so too does acid. If, for some reason, you don't want to, or can't, use apple juice, you can use wine, beer, a citrus juice, or vinegar. Note that each of these will bring different flavors to the meat. Apple juice is a fairly neutral flavor, so I'd best recommend a sweet, fruity wine or a cider vinegar if using a substitute. But definitely adjust the amount used. You can probably go 1:1 between apple juice and a Riesling, but you'll want to use less cider vinegar.
Recap of Note: Just buy some apple juice. You con go to the corner grocery or convenience store and grab a pint, using half and drinking the rest.
If you're feeling adventurous: Drop the oven temperature to 250 and place the meat in the oven before going to bed, taking it out in the morning. This is not a method I have used.
Since we've gotten to the oven, let's start impressing those who's idea of cooking starts with a box.
0. Purchase a pork shoulder roast. This can be a butt roast, sometimes called a Boston butt; a pork shoulder; or a pork picnic, sometimes called a picnic ham or picnic shoulder. The danger here is that some stores will call other cuts of pork a shoulder. But essentially what we're looking for is a big 4 to 8 lb. hunk of cheap meat. If you're paying more than $2 US per lb. it's the wrong cut. Hell, I won't pay more than $1.50/lb, usually waiting for a sale of $.99, grabbing two or three and placing the extras in the deep freezer.
0a. If the cut has skin or a lot of external fat, remove it. The object is not to remove all the fat, just the large chunks.
1. Preheat oven to 300
2. Season the pork generously with a seasoning blend (you can buy some or find a recipe easily online) or salt and pepper. Guess which I use.
2a. (completely optional) Heat some cooking oil in a Dutch oven large enough to hold the pork on the stove top and sear all sides of the meat 2 to 3 minutes each. Some idiots will tell you that searing meat "seals in the juices." This is complete bullshit. Study after study after study shows that searing meat makes for a 2% to 5% drier piece of meat. So why sear? One, because it looks good. You get this nice brown color to the meat that says, "cooked." Two, and this is the important reason: flavor. When meat is seared, it undergoes a chemical reaction that creates new flavors. Because searing occurs in a thin layer, you still have the original flavor of the meat. The combination of the two makes for flavor complexity, something that people who insist on eating each part of a meal separately (first the vegetable, then the potato, then the meat) cannot, will not, or are unable to understand.
3. Spread a sliced onion (or two) on top of the pork in the Dutch oven that may or may not have been used for searing.
4. Pour a cup of apple juice over the onions.
5. Place the cover on the Dutch oven and place in the now-heated oven for five hours or so, basting occasionally.
6. Remove the pork from the Dutch oven to a large cutting board. If the pork doesn't fall apart when trying to remove it, it's not finished cooking.
7. Discard the liquid in the Dutch oven, keeping the solids, i.e. use a colander to retain the onion and stray pork bits.
8. when the pork is cool enough to touch, start shredding with your fingers pulling the pork pieces apart, discarding any fat and bone.
9. Place the pulled pork and reserved onion mush back into the Dutch oven and mix. At this point you can add barbecue sauce (I usually use a hickory flavored sauce), mixing thoroughly.
10. Place the Dutch oven back into the oven for another 20 to 30 minutes.
Serve on hamburger buns or on a plate as an entrée. The pork keeps in refrigerator for a week and keeps for three months in the freezer.
Note: Apple juice is used for its acidity. The acidity is not for breaking down the connective tissue of the meat. It helps, but the relatively low heat and long cooking time takes care of that. Just like searing meat adds complexity to the flavor, so too does acid. If, for some reason, you don't want to, or can't, use apple juice, you can use wine, beer, a citrus juice, or vinegar. Note that each of these will bring different flavors to the meat. Apple juice is a fairly neutral flavor, so I'd best recommend a sweet, fruity wine or a cider vinegar if using a substitute. But definitely adjust the amount used. You can probably go 1:1 between apple juice and a Riesling, but you'll want to use less cider vinegar.
Recap of Note: Just buy some apple juice. You con go to the corner grocery or convenience store and grab a pint, using half and drinking the rest.
If you're feeling adventurous: Drop the oven temperature to 250 and place the meat in the oven before going to bed, taking it out in the morning. This is not a method I have used.
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