Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork
A delicious and juicy pressure cooker pulled pork recipe that makes shredded pork tender and flavorful. Ready in under 2 hours.
A delicious and juicy pressure cooker pulled pork recipe that makes shredded pork tender and flavorful. Ready in under 2 hours.
- Carbohydrate 0.966482666631603 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.0324693333315696 g
- Fiber 0.0490666647449809 g
- Protein 0.602919999994076 g
- Saturated Fat 0.0104413333328031 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (208g)
- Sodium 108.33421333331 mg
- Sugar 0.917416001886622 g
- Trans Fat 0.00473733333325759 g
- Calories 6 calories
Step-by-step
- Quarter the pulled pork shoulder (working around the bone as best you can). Score the fatty layer with your knife. If you cut into the meat, don't worry about it! Liberally apply salt and pepper to all sides of each quarter.
- Warm your pressure cooker over high heat. Add in the bacon fat or other cooking oil. When it is shimmering in the pan, add in the first quarter of shoulder, fat side down. Brown nicely for about 2 minutes. If you want, brown the other sides as well. Remove from the pan and set aside when browned. Repeat with the remaining pieces.
- Turn the heat down to medium-high and add in the sliced onion with a pinch of kosher salt. The onion will start to release its liquid and deglaze the bottom of the pan. Cook, stirring well, for five to six minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more.
- Turn the heat back to high. Add in the stock and fully deglaze the bottom of the pan, scraping up any browned bits. Add the pork back in and secure the lid of the pressure cooker. When the pressure has built (on mine a little yellow button pops up), turn the heat down gradually until it continues to hold the pressure.
- Cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
- Release the pressure (however appropriate with your pressure cooker).
- When the pressure has fully released, remove the lid and remove the pork pieces with some tongs. Lay them on a rimmed baking sheet or something where you can use forks to shred the meat. Start shredding the meat. Make sure you taste some as you go- it's yummy.
- Now we need to defat the pan juices. You can use a gravy separator to do this or wait until the juices cool a bit and the fat rises to the top. When the fat has risen, use a ladle to skim off as much as you can.
- Turn the heat back on under the pressure cooker at medium-high. Reduce the liquid by half. When it has reduced, add in the apple cider vinegar. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Pour the pan juice over the shredded pork. When the pork has absorbed as much as it will hold, it's ready to eat. Keep any extra pan juice on the side if you decide to reheat leftovers!
- Serve hot and happy eating!
Attempting to crowd an eight-pound pork shoulder into a standard six-quart electric pressure cooker results in uneven browning and trapped steam that prevents the rendering process from working properly. Quartering the cut into roughly two-pound blocks allows each piece to make direct contact with the hot metal surface, creating the Maillard reaction necessary for deep flavor development. When working with large quantities of meat in a confined vessel, thermal mass matters immensely; adding cold protein lowers the internal temperature of the pot drastically, so searing must occur in batches over high heat with rendered bacon fat or ghee acting as a high-smoke-point transfer medium. If the cooking vessel lacks adequate capacity for the entire roast, reduce the stock proportionally while maintaining a minimum liquid threshold of one and a half cups to ensure the sealing gasket builds sufficient steam pressure without triggering safety valves. Slicing the Spanish onions thickly prevents them from dissolving into mush during the ninety-minute pressure phase, leaving behind distinct textural layers that melt down only when the heat is adjusted downward during the final reduction stage. Defatting the remaining cooking liquid requires patience, as pork shoulder releases a substantial volume of rendered grease that must be skimmed off before reducing the broth by half over medium-high heat. Apple cider vinegar added at the very end brightens the heavy pork fat and balances the salinity provided by the initial kosher salt application. Leftover pulled pork retains its moisture remarkably well when stored directly inside its strained pan juices, freezing safely for up to three months without losing structural integrity or drying out during the eventual reheating process.
