Oven-baked Pulled Pork (Recipe)

After experimenting several times with pulled pork, I've finally found a formula that works perfectly and I would like to share. In my opinion, the seasonings used isn't that important since you can always use whatever sauces you want after the pork is cooked to flavor it in any way you want. I also think the more plain it is after cooking, the more variety you'll have when serving later and the most important part is that it's tender and succulent. But I digress. Here's what I did.

I used a 6.67 lb. pork butt, and did not do any extra trimming of the fat. I started off making a brine. In a one-gallon zip lock baggie, I mixed 4 cups of water, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 cup salt, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp. garlic powder, 2 tbsp. onion powder, 2 tbsp. chili flakes, 2 tbsp. ground cumin, 2 tbsp. ground coriander and mixed until the salt and sugar dissolved. I then carefully put the whole butt in the bag, squeezed out as much air as possible and sealed it. I then placed that baggie into another one-gallon zip lock baggie and sealed that as well for extra leak-proof assurance. Then I left the whole thing in the fridge for 24 hours; turning once to make sure the whole butt got properly brined.

After 24 hours, I removed the butt from the brine, patted it dry with paper towels and placed it into a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish lined with foil. Then I made the rub. In a medium bowl, I mixed together 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, 2 tbsp. ground cumin, 2 tbsp. ground coriander, 2 tbsp. garlic powder, 2 tbsp. onion powder, 2 tbsp. paprika, 1 tbsp. cayenne pepper, 1 tbsp. salt and 1 tbsp. fresh ground pepper.

I poured half the rub on one side of the butt and massaged it in, turned it over, poured the other half of the rub on the other side and massaged it in. I preheated the oven to 225 degrees and made sure the fat layer was facing up in the casserole dish. Using this formula: 1.5 hours for every 1 pound of butt, I then placed the butt in the 225 degree oven and let it slowly cook for 10 hours, plus an extra 45 minutes just for good measure. When I took the butt out of the oven, my meat thermometer read 180 degrees from the thickest part of the butt. I think anything between 180 and 200 degrees make for good pulled pork.

After letting it rest for 30 minutes, I tore into that piece of meat. It was so juicy and so easy to shred with two large forks. Here were some of the dishes I made with it.


The butt out of the oven and resting.



Pulled pork slider with extra sharp cheddar cheese, sweet pickles and topped with bbq sauce.



Lavosh pizza with pulled pork, bbq sauce, cheddar cheese, salami and sweet pickles. Pickles were added after the pizza was baked.



Pulled pork taco with salsa verde on a corn tortilla.


I think I did pretty well with the variety of dishes. Especially since it was just my boyfriend and I eating this all week. Although next time I have a party, I will know what to make.