I've made pulled pork before in a smoker and the taste is traditional and to die for! But, there are some days and sometimes that you just don't want to spend hours on end manning a smoker or grill. Oven-braised pulled pork is a popular alternative for many home cooks and, even though the cook time is still 4+ hours, the prep is super easy and you don't have to babysit the meat. For this version, I've adapted Kenji Lopez-Alt's recipes for oven braised pulled pork and creamy coleslaw. I've adjusted the ingredient quantities and added some other spices for the coleslaw recipe and pork spice rub.
SOUTHERN STYE CREAMY COLESLAW:
1 large head green cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
1 medium red or yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 carrots, grated (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
Dressing:
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp. Dijon mustar
1 tbsp. black pepper
1 tsp. celery seed
3 tbsp. sugar
1. Combine the shredded green cabbage, sliced onion and grated carrots together in a bowl. Add the sugar and salt and toss to combine. Let sit 5 minutes.
2. Pour the cabbage mixture into a colander and rinse thoroughly with room temperature tap water, to remove the salt and sugar.
3. Gently squeeze as much water out of the cabbage mix and/or blot dry with paper towels. Place into a large bowl.
4. Combine the dressing ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add to the cabbage mixture and stir until combined. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Sprinkle sugar and kosher salt over the slaw mix and toss to combine; let sit for 5 minutes.
Rinse the cabbage mixture thoroughly to remove the salt and sugar.
Blot the cabbage mixture very well until mostly dry.
Make the dressing.
Mix the dressing with the cabbage mixture, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
PULLED PORK:
6-7 lb. bone-in or boneless pork butt
Spice Rub:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground fennel
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried mustard
1 tsp. black pepper
BBQ Sauce:
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup dark molasses
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. liquid smoke (Wright's Hickory)
1 tbsp. brown or Dijon mustard
2 tsp. hot sauce (Crystal or Tabasco)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 large onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup bourbon
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vinegar
1. Preheat the oven to 300F. Combine all the spice rub ingredients together in a bowl, cover, and set aside.
2. Combine all the BBQ sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Stir in 3 tbsp. of the spice rub mixture, cover, and set aside until ready to use.
3. Use as much of the remaining spice rub mixture to generously rub over the entire pork butt.
4. Heat 1-2 tbsp. vegetable oil over medium high heat in a large Dutch oven or enameled cast iron pot, until the oil starts to shimmer. Add the seasoned pork butt, skin side down. Let brown for 1-2 minutes. Turn and brown the remaining sides (1-2 minutes each side). Do not overbrown or let the sugar in the rub burn. Remove the pork to a platter or chopping board.
5. Add the chopped onions to the pot and cook for 1-2 minutes or until softened, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom. Add the pork, skin side up, back to the pot.
6. Turn off the heat, then pour in 1/2 cup of bourbon into the pot. Turn the heat back on to medium then carefully light the pan with a long match or lighter to ignite the bourbon (flambe!!!). Stand back and wait for the flames to die down, which may take a couple minutes. If you're averse to flames, then you can skip this part.
7. Once the flames have died down, add 1/4 cup of water and half of the BBQ sauce to the pot. Cover and place the pot in the preheated 300F oven. Let braise for 4 hours.
8. After 4 hours, remove the cover from the pot; stir the sauce slightly and pour a little over the top of the pork. Continue cooking, uncovered, for one more hour until the meat is super tender and the skin browned.
9. Remove the pot from the oven; carefully lift and remove the pork to a large bowl (tongs are useful, but pork may still break into pieces because it's literally falling apart tender - that's ok); set aside.
10. Add the remaining BBQ sauce to the reserved sauce in the pot; stir in an additional 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar. Pour the sauce through a sieve/colander into a bowl to strain out the solids; skim off as much oil as possible and set aside.
11. Remove the bones from the pork and, using two forks, shred the meat. Ladle 1 cup of the BBQ sauce into the shredded pork and stir gently to combine (gloved hands work well!). Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed.
12. To serve: plate the pulled pork as is on a plate with coleslaw and extra BBQ sauce on the side. OR, the most traditional way is to pile the pork pork on a bun (potato or onion buns work well), top with coleslaw, and serve with extra sauce on the side.
For the BBQ sauce.
Spice rub.
Rub the pork on all sides generously with the spice rub.
Brown the pork on all sides.
Remove the browned pork to a platter, then saute the chopped onions in the drippings until softened.
Return the pork to the pot, add bourbon, and light to flambe. When flames have died down, add water and half of the BBQ sauce. Cover and place in 3ooF oven to braise for 4 hours. After 4 hours, remove the cover and continue braising another hour until the meat is very tender and the top browned.
Voila!
Remove the pork to a bowl.
Add 1/4 cup cider vinegar and stir to combine.
Strain the sauce to remove the solids.
Skim off as much oil as possible from the sauce.
Shred the meat and add 1 cup of the BBQ sauce to moisten.
Traditionally, pulled pork is served as a sandwich on a bun (I used an onion bun here): sauced pulled pork topped with creamy coleslaw and some extra sauce on the side.
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