Easy-Peasy Oven Pulled Pork

Boom. I love it when a new recipe wins a permanent spot at my table. After digging through a dozen pulled pork recipes, I finally developed my own—and this one’s a keeper. It’s one of those things I often think to cook but then get distracted by something more saucy. Also, I am not a slow cooker person, and so many recipes call for a Crock-Pot. Not my jam.

So I had never bothered to perfect a recipe, until now.

It was planning my menu for the week and I always check sales on huge slabs of meat for my giants. This week I came across a big beautiful pork butt. Talk about a deal! $14 for 5 pounds. So I put the roast in my digital cart and had that baby delivered to my doorstep.

I considered probably a dozen different methods and recipes for pulled pork before coming up with this one. Some browned the meat first. I just wasn’t in the mood for that kind of effort. So I borrowed a little from here, a little from there and put together an oven version that required very little of me. And it is dynamite. One of the easiest things I have made in my kitchen in a long, long time.

Literally all there is to it is slathering the butt with yellow mustard, patting it all over with a simple but flavorful dry rub, adding some liquid to the pot and letting it cook for hours. My 5-pound roast took about just under four. In that time, I cleaned the kitchen, made salsa, went to lunch and took a nap. I woke up to a house filled with a deeply savory-sweet aroma and a fall-apart tender roast that just needed to be shredded and devoured.

The result was a fall-apart-tender roast that just needed to be shredded and devoured.

Recipe

Ingredients

For the pork

1 boneless pork shoulder or pork butt, about 5 pounds
3 tablespoons yellow mustard

For the dry rub

4 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional

For the cooking liquid

1 cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup apple juice or beer, such as a lager
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon honey

For serving

Barbecue sauce, optional
Sandwich buns, slaw and pickles, optional

1. Prepare the pork.
Heat the oven to 275°F. Remove any butcher’s twine or netting from the pork. Pat dry with paper towels and trim away any thick, hard exterior fat, leaving a thin layer.

Spread the mustard in a thin coating over the entire roast to help the seasoning stick.

2. Add the rub.
Combine the brown sugar, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder and optional cayenne in a small bowl.

Coat the pork generously on all sides, pressing the rub into the mustard.

Get in there and get messy with your rub!!

3. Add the cooking liquid.
Place the pork fat-side up directly in a Dutch oven large enough to hold it comfortably.

Whisk together the apple cider vinegar, apple juice or beer, Worcestershire sauce and honey. Pour around the pork, taking care not to wash the seasoning off the top. Cover tightly with the lid.

4. Cook until tender.
Transfer to the oven and cook for approximately 4–5 hours, beginning to check around 3 1/2 hours. The exact time will depend on the shape of the roast. My 5-lb. roast was fully done and fork tender at just under 4 hours.

The pork is ready when a fork twists easily and the meat pulls apart with almost no resistance. Its internal temperature will often be around 195–205°F, but tenderness is the deciding factor. If it resists shredding, cover and continue cooking, checking every 30 minutes.

Keep some liquid in the bottom of the pot throughout cooking. Add a splash of water if needed.

5. Brown the crust, if needed.
If the top already has a dark, browned crust, skip this step.

Otherwise, remove the lid and broil briefly until the top browns. Start checking after 2-3 minutes and watch constantly—the sugar in the rub can burn quickly. Use only a broiler-safe pot and follow its temperature limits.

6. Rest and shred.
Let the pork rest in the cooking liquid, off the heat, for 20–30 minutes.

Transfer to a cutting board. Shred with two forks, discarding large pieces of fat and any tough connective tissue. Mix the browned exterior pieces into the shredded meat.

7. Finish with the juices.

Pour the cooking liquid into a fat separator, or skim the fat from the surface with a spoon.

Return the shredded pork to the pot. Add the defatted juices a little at a time, starting with ¼ cup, and toss gently. The pork should be moist without sitting in a pool of liquid. Taste as you go—the juices will be tangy and well seasoned.