Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork

Why Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork?

I love slow cooking – the meat is always tender and the flavour incredible. While I love slow cooking for both the flavour and ritual (the waiting game of checking on the dish, covering it with more juices and giving it lots of tender loving care), I like most of us do not have such valuable time.

Let me introduce the pressure cooker. A somewhat forgotten piece of kitchen equipment - that if used correctly will give tender and deliciously tasty results in record time.

One of my favourite dishes to cook in the pressure cooker is pulled pork. Perfect in winter mopped up with its own juices and just as tasty in the warmer months in a crusty bread roll.

Pulled pork is an America barbecue favourite. Traditionally a pork shoulder, bone in, that is brined for 8-12 hours and then cooked very slowly for up to 12 hours, regularly being brushed with a home made barbecue rub until the meat is tender and pulls apart with a fork.

Best eaten with its pans juices on a crusty white bread roll, pulled pork is dish to become obsessed with.

My pressure cooker version is just as good if not better because it marinates and cooks with 11/2 hours!

Ingredients
1 standard pressure cooker
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika powder
1 teaspoon mustard powder
¾ cup brown sugar
1/3 cup tomato ketchup
2 tablespoons cider or white vinegar
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 x 330 ml bottle beer
1 x 2 kilo boneless pork shoulder
white crusty bread rolls

Grind the spices together in a spice grinder until fine. In a large bowl mix together the ground spices, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons ketchup, vinegar, garlic and beer. Season well with salt and pepper.


Cut your pork in half to fit comfortably in your pressure cooker.

Place the pork in the marinade and rub to cover. Refrigerate and leave to marinade for 20 minutes.

Place a metal steamer or small wire rack on the bottom of your pressure cooker. This will prevent the pork stewing in the marinade and sticking to the bottom of the pot.

After the pork as marinaded add to the pressure cooker with all the marinade. Top with 1 cup of water and place over a medium heat.

When the liquid comes to a simmer cover with the lid and turn the heat to medium low ( or until your pressure cooker reaches medium high pressure.

Cook for 1 hour.

Turn off the heat and cool until pressure has reduced.

When safe to open the lid remove the pork and the metal steamer.

Skim off any fat from the marinade and return to a medium heat. Add the remaining tomato ketchup and simmer for 10- 15 minutes, stirring, until the sauce is a little thickened. (There will be more than enough barbecue sauce for all of the meat – for a quicker version reserve 2 tablespoons and reduce with a tablespoon of tomato ketchup until slightly thickened.)

Meanwhile remove the fat from the pork and discard.

Using two forks or your fingers shred the meat and place in a bowl. Pour over as much barbecue sauce as desired and serve in a crusty white bread roll drizzled with more barbecue sauce.

Divide left over meat in freezer bags with sauce and freeze for up to 1 month.


Will make enough pork for up to 8 medium bread rolls

Bon Appetite