The Absolute best cut for pulled pork

Pulled pork is one of these magical dishes that look so complicated at first, but it is very easy to prepare. All you really need to do to create restaurant-quality pulled pork is to choose the perfect cut and make some good choices with your seasoning.

Then it is just a matter of cooking pork low and slowly until it is super tender and succulent, ideal for the ultimate burrito or a plate of drunken pig nachos and sandwich.

What is the best-pulled pork cut?

When it comes to choosing the right option for pulled pork cut, you will be looking at pork shoulders. You will specifically look at cuts from the front as the rear haunch is where ham comes from.

It’s the shoulder cuts you will look at for making the perfect pulled pork recipes.

Pulled Pork Shoulder Cut

The shoulder cut is a big cut that includes everything from the shank to the shoulder blade. Sometimes, you will find a whole shoulder cut in the butcher shop, often at a ridiculous price. Not the pulled pork at University Meat though.

The big downside is that you will be dealing with a huge chunk of meat. Alternatively, you can also use small cuts.

Both Boston Butt and Picnic roast come from the front shoulder. Most often Boston butts are sold either boneless or bone-in, while another roast is typically bone-in roast.

Most people who are making pulled pork at home will utilise butt roasts. Pork butts are the main cut that comes from the shoulder blade area and is a perfect pulled cut.

This cut is seriously marbled and is packed with several flavours. A picnic roast works very well but tends to be a little less flavoursome and is leaner than a pork butt roast.

You can make pulled pork with either boneless or bone-in picnic roast or Boston butt on that note, but we think the bone-in has much more flavour but then, it takes longer to prepare. Ready to try some pulled pork? Talk to us, the best online butcher in Melbourne.

Preparing the meat 

The preparation work to get the meat ready for the slow cooker or smoker is quite easy. The first thing to do is to cut the fat cap and any thick excess fat from the shoulder, picnic roast, or Boston butt.

The reason is that the additional fat will inhibit flavour from getting into the tender meat. Most of the excess fat just cooks off, while the fat cap is normally inedible after the cooking procedure.

With the fat removed, all that is left to do is get some flavour on the pork shoulder. Delicious pulled pork recipes are often easy because you can let the flavors of the meat shine through.

I love to cook my pork in the smoker to add depth of flavour. At the end of the day, there are few things better than a tasty pulled pork butt sandwich slathered in bearded butcher BBQ sauce or coated in Hollywood blend. If you would like to know more about preparing your meat talk to your meat suppliers Melbourne.

Cooking Like a Pro 

One of the main reasons that pulled pork is such a prominent recipe is because it lets you showcase the cuisine and highlights the taste combination that you can use.

The main trick to perfect the dish is cooking slow and low to break down the relatively tough pork shoulder meat for that delicious pulled pork.

When using the smoker for pulled pork, we typically aim for a target temp between 225 and 250 degrees.

Because this is a huge, tough cut that has lots of connective fat and tissue. You do not want to try and rush through the cooking procedure.

Instead, go for the lower end to stabilize the smoker at around 30 degrees. You will also want to cook Boston Butt to a higher temp than you would with a cut like a tenderloin.

This is because you need to render down as much muscle collagen, fibres, and fat as possible. As a general rule of thumb, the right internal temp for pulled pork is around 210 degrees or it will start to dry out.

Making Pork for Leftovers

One of the things that we often do when we make pulled pork is plan on having leftovers for other recipes.

It makes sense to do things this way because when you smoke a shoulder, you’re dealing with a pulled cut of meat those a lot more than 15 lbs.

That is another reason why we intentionally keep the flavours minimal on the butt – when we have leftovers, we can serve them in different ways.

One of my favourite methods to use leftovers is to reheat the pork in a shallow pan with a bunch of my favourite BBQ sauce so it is all juicy and drippy.

We also make Carnitas, or we’ll add in Mojo flavours and make delicious Cubano sandwiches. There are lots of different pulled pork cooking methods out there that are perfect for using leftovers when you keep your initial flavours simple.

A Super easy and well-loved meal 

Correctly making pulled pork at home is not a difficult procedure and it provides the home cook with a lot of opportunities to get a creative taste and to find interesting ways to use leftovers.

The biggest challenge with making pork at your home is being patient and allowing it to cook all the way slowly so that meat shreds and falls apart rather than requiring a cut or sliced.

Once you've got the hang of making super slow-cooked pork recipes at home, you will understand why it’s such a well-known meal on the pro-making circuit.

There are lots of variables that you can use to make unique and wonderful flavours while getting the most from this relatively tough cut of pork meat. Talk to your local meat wholesalers Melbourne.

FAQs

Why do pulled pork cuts shred when cooked?

The actual trick is to get temp high enough. Lower temp on shoulder cuts will outcome in meat that slices simply is chewy and tough.

You have to wait until the pork reaches at least 180 degrees, while 203 is the accepted best temperature to make tender pulled pork.

What is the difference between a Boston Butt, pork shoulder, and a picnic roast?

Pork shoulders are the whole cut, Boston butts are the upper part and the picnic roast is the bottom.

Is the slow cooker better than the smoker?

I prefer the smoker over the slow cooker, though both work well. I like the added taste and smoke ring that we get in the smoker.

How much time does it take to smoke a Boston butt?

Plan on smoking for one-end –a-half to 2 each pound of but roast, which means you might be smocking for anyplace from 8hrs for a small roast to 16hrs or more for a bigger roast. The only way to make pork is slow-cooked.

Do you need to rest the roast after cooking?

You’d rest but roast for at least thirty minutes after cooking. You can use a wrap or cook the pork shoulder in aluminium foil to rest it for up to 3hrs.

Difference between Carnitas and pulled pork

Pulled pork is what you get when you smoke or slow cook a pork shoulder and then shred it. To make Carnitas, you just have to use pulled pork, but add it to a cast-iron skillet on extreme heat with small lard or oil and crisp the shredded pork up a little. Carnitas is perfect on nachos, tortillas, or just on a palate.