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Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork

Pressure cooking pulled pork in less than an hour? Yes, indeed! The barbecue sauce is made "from scratch" in no time at all. The pork is incredibly tender, and is so easy to pull apart with two forks. You can definitely adapt this to a slow cooker, but it'll take at least 8 hours to achieve what my Instant Pot can do in less than an hour!
Course main
Cuisine American
Keyword Instant Pot Pulled Pork, Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork, Pulled Pork
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 43 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 13 minutes
Servings 8
Author Debby - www.AFeastfortheEyes.net

Ingredients

For the rub:

  • 3 Tablespoons brown sugar packed, plus extra as needed
  • 2 Tablespoons paprika
  • 2 Tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • salt and pepper

For the pork:

  • 4 pounds pork butt roast boneless, trimmed and cut cross-wise into 4 pieces

For the sauce:

  • 3/4 cup cider vinegar plus extra, as needed
  • 1/2 cup ketchup
  • 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
  • 6-8 hamburger buns

Instructions

For the rub:

  • Combine the sugar, paprika, chili powder, cumin, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper, then rub mixture evenly over the pork.

For the sauce:

  • Combine the vinegar, water, ketchup and liquid smoke in the pressure cooker pot.
    NOTE: I use an Instant Pot, and I like to select the "SEAR" mode to bring the sauce liquid to a hot temperature-- this makes the pressure cooker reach pressure much quicker, thus making the cooking time to even faster!

Pressure Cooker:

  • Nestle the spice-rubbed pork into the pot. Lock on the lid (be sure to check that the "ring" is correctly attached.  Using manual button, set the pressure to HIGH and 45 minutes.
  • NOTE;  Yes, you can adapt this to a slow-cooker. I would choose 8 hours of cooking time.
  • Once the cooking time is finished, use the QUICK PRESSURE RELEASE system and remove the lid.

Shred the pork:

  • Transfer the pork to a large bowl (or large cutting block) and using two forks, shred the pork. Cover and keep warm.
  • Skim off any excess fat from the remaining sauce and place into a sauce pan, onto the stove. Bring the sauce to a simmer, add extra brown sugar (I added 1/2 cup) and allow to reduce for 15-20 minutes.
    NOTE: I removed about one cup of sauce, carefully whisked in 1 Tbsp cornstarch and return back to the sauce pan.  The sauce thickened up beautifully. If desired, add a little more cider vinegar (1 Tablespoon) and season with additional salt and pepper, to taste.
  • Butter and grill the hamburger buns (keeps them from becoming soggy).
    To serve: Add a serving of pulled pork, a little extra sauce. We like to top ours with homemade cole slaw.

Notes

Recipe source: Pressure Cooker Perfection (America's Test Kitchen)
To make things more efficient, I make season the pork first, then make the sauce and bring it to a hot temperature (using the sear feature of my Instant Pot). Then I nestle in the pork, lock the lid on and set for 45 minutes of high pressure. Preheating the sauce helps the pressure cooker to start the cooking process faster.