Description
My go-to for casual BBQs and lazy weekends. Pile tender pulled pork onto soft buns with slaw, pickles, and melty cheese — it’s summer on a plate!
Ingredients
Scale
- 2kg boneless pork shoulder
For the Rub
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
- 1 tsp chipotle powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp sea salt flakes
For the braise
- 300ml apple juice
BBQ Sauce
- 1 brown onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3/4 c apple cider vinegar
- 2 c tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp liquid smoke
- 1 c apple juice
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 1 tsp chipotle powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
Instructions
- Combine all the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl and mix to combine. Rub all over the pork shoulder and leave to marinate for at least an hour or better still, overnight.
- Preheat your oven to 150°C (300°F).
- Put the pork into your Dutch oven, fat side up, and add the apple juice around it. Pop the lid on and slow cook in the oven for 3 hours or until the pork pulls apart easily with a fork.
- Make the BBQ sauce. Place the finely chopped onion, along with the remaining BBQ ingredients, into a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook it for 1 hour, stirring (and skimming off any scum that forms on the surface) every so often, until the sauce thickens, darkens, and turns glossy.
- Remove the pork from the pot and discard the fat cap and braising liquid. Shred the pork meat using two forks, then return the shredded meat to the Dutch oven.
- Coat the meat in the homemade BBQ sauce, then return to the oven for 20 minutes (lid off) to caramelise the top.
- Remove from the oven. Pile the pork onto buns, add a slice of cheese (let it melt a little), top with slaw and pickles, and eat! Don’t forget the napkins – it can get messy!
Notes
- In Australia, our boneless pork shoulders, either come in netting or rolled with string at the butcher. Remove all string before getting started.
- If after 1 hour, your pork meat isn’t pulling apart easily, give it another 30 minutes.
- Love your chili? Add more by either adding more chipotle powder. I’ve made this quite family friendly, however feel free to amp up your chili if you love it as much as I do!
- If you prefer a smooth sauce to my chunkier version here, you can blend the sauce until smooth, so there’s no chunks of onion visable.
- I use my 29cm oval cast iron enamel Dutch oven for this recipe. You could also use a 26/28cm round Dutch oven or even a 30cm shallow casserole.
- Please note all recipes on this website are in US measurements. Eg, 1 cup / 240ml, 1 tablespoon/15mls. Oven temperatures refer to a fan-forced oven.