Am I the only one in the world who doesn’t have a slow cooker? How on earth did people make pulled pork BEFORE the invention of the crock pot? Or did they not know pulled pork back then? I mean that’s like 1970, back in the old days when there were still dinosaurs walking around…I still kind of had that feeling that people must have known pulled pork from much earlier and since I didn’t want to experiment cooking pork over an open fire I gave the oven a try and it turned out AMAZING!!! This is a recipe for pulled pork made in the oven alone, no searing before, no grilling, no mess.
Yes, it does take an eternity and I get why people would prefer cooking it in a slow cooker which they can leave unattended but come on, let’s do this old school for once because…ummm…I don’t have a slow cooker and for now I don’t intend to buy one. You know, it’s not like I don’t want one. I’d LOVE to have one but that would probably be kitchen gadget number 593293 on my kitchen counter and I really need space for chopping vegetables way more urgently than yet another gadget. Besides, it’s so much cooler to make pulled pork in the oven. Only the cool cooks use the oven for everything instead of fancy slow cookers and microwaves and all that modern stuff. Tssss.
Pulled pork made in the oven requires frequent basting to become super soft but I can assure you, you don’t even need a timer to remember the basting. The smell in the house becomes more and more and moooore amazing every half an hour and makes you happily jump to the roast and baste it even more often. I have to admit it was more fun than I had thought it would be to slow roast the pork shoulder like that. It created an atmosphere of suspense. Will it turn out? Will it pull apart? Will it be soft? Will it taste as amazing as it smells? YES!!! All capitals YES to all those questions.
Make sure you have abundant corn tortillas at home and make some Homemade Mexican Salsa to smother on your pulled pork tacos, drizzle fresh lime juice over it all and accompany with deliciously ripe salted avocado. I ate so many “tacos de carnitas” I almost exploded this afternoon. My kids devoured them and my man is the lucky one who still gets to eat them once he’s home from work…..if I can contain myself and not finish it all up before he walks through the door. Uh oh!
Pulled Pork Made In The Oven
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs higher welfare pork shoulder - (1.2 kg, out of fridge for at least 1 hour prior to roasting)
- 1/2 Tbsp avocado oil - (or other high smoke point oil)
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- salt
- 200 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500 F (260 C).
- Mix oil with cumin, coriander and salt.
- Score pork skin with a sharp knife and rub in cumin, coriander, salt and oil mix until the whole shoulder is evenly covered.
- Place pork shoulder in oven proof dish and add 1/2 of the orange juice to the bottom of the pan.
- Put in the oven and immediately reduce heat to 300F (150C).
- Roast for 4.5 hours basting with remaining orange juice and juices collecting in the oven proof dish every 20-30 minutes.
- Take out of the oven, cover loosely and let rest for at least 15 minutes.
- Take two forks and pull apart.
- Enjoy with tortillas, Homemade Mexican Salsa, avocado and lime juice.
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Carmen says
Can I use pork loin if I don’t have shoulder? I have been looking all over for a pulled pork recipe that doesn’t require a slow cooker. Thanks!
Lorena says
I don’t think pork loin would work. Pork Loin is low in fat as opposed to pork shoulder and you need the fat to “soften” the meat. Usually you can find pork shoulders at a butcher shop or with a local farmer that delivers to your house or sells at a farmer’s market. I haven’t seen many pork shoulders at regular super markets or even health food stores here in Montreal. I buy them over a local farmer and buy all my meat for 2-4 months at once and freeze that way they don’t charge delivery. The meat is EXCELLENT quality.
brita says
YUM!! I’m from Tennessee so pulled pork is a rather regular dish around here. I don’t make it at home often enough though!
Lorena says
Pulled Pork was sort of new to me when I moved to Mexico for a couple of years. In Germany we eat a lot of pork but not this way. It was missing in my life though I noticed when I first tried :P
Regina says
I LOVE that avocado rose you made there <3 impressive!
I also love pulled pork like crazy. We also currently don't have a slow cooker, but I am really eyeing an instant pot (since it has like 7 functions it would eliminate a few other small appliances). Good to know that until then I can also make it in the oven. Would have to wait for a cool day though. We would die from having the oven on for so long on a hot day here ;)
Lorena says
Haha, I can imagine. It was a cold day here and still I had to open all the windows because the basting obviously doesn’t help, you open the oven all the time and the heat spreads to the whole apartment. Maybe choose a day you can spend on a balcony or terrace ;)