Pulled Pork - plucked pig
(BZfE) - Pulled Pork? - English "to pull" also has the meaning of "plucking". And that's exactly what is meant here: pork cooked so tender that you can easily pull it apart with two forks. There is hardly a large sports or other open air event without a snack stand offering pulled pork. It seems that this all-American barbecue specialty is becoming more and more popular in this country too. Pulled pork is cooked using the "low & slow" method, i.e. at a low temperature over a long period of time. This doesn't work over an open fire on the grill, but in a barbecue smoker: a fire is kindled with wood or coal in a separate fire box. The hot, dry smoke is fed through a connection into the cooking chamber, where the meat is located. The hot smoke flows around it and cooks for 100 to 110 hours at 12 to 18 degrees Celsius.
For Pulled Pork pork shoulder with bones and pork neck without bone are suitable. These cuts are on the one hand well with fat, on the other hand they contain more collagen than about short pieces of meat. This structural protein of the connective tissue dissolves slowly during the cooking process, which makes the meat particularly soft and tender. The bone in the pork shoulder is considered by many smokers as an additional taste-giving, while the pork neck is more uniform and easier to work with. Incidentally, the aroma barely suffers during cooking.
Speaking of flavor: 24 hours before cooking - even 36 hours are no problem - the meat is generously covered with a spice mixture, wrapped in cling film and stored in the refrigerator. There are ready-made spice blends; homemade peppercorns, pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic, onion, salt and sugar would be classic.
Pulled pork can also be made in the oven. The preparation is the same. At 110 degrees Celsius top / bottom heat, the meat on the grid on the middle rail (drip pan on the floor), the cooking process takes about 10 hours. Then you should give the meat an hour's rest before you pluck it. Typically, Pulled Pork is eaten in a hamburger bun with coleslaw and a barbecue sauce.
Pulled pork is more celebrated than prepared. The ambitious barbecue friend puts a lot of creativity into the sophisticated preparation and preparation. This and not least the extremely long cooking time make the plucked pig the king discipline of barbecues.
Rüdiger Lobitz, www.bzfe.de
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