Pulled Pork with Crackling and Pineapple BBQ Sauce

I love to make pulled pork with crackling. Much as I love pork, I love crackling more! There's something about melt in the mouth hunks of pork and the delicious contrast of crunchy crackling that I just can't resist.

Whether you are enjoying the pork with salad, vegetables, in burgers or tacos, this recipe will leave you with perfect results every time.

Perfect for feeding a crowd or a treat for the family, I've included the recipe for my favourite pineapple bbq sauce that is great for casual eating.

Bon appétit!

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you will love this dish
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪 Instructions
• ⏲️ Cooking time
• 🥗 Side Dishes
• 🥙 Substitutions
• 🍣 Storage
• 🍱 Prepare in Advance
• More Slow Cooked Recipes
• 📋 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Pulled pork with pineapple barbecue sauce is one of my favourite recipes all year round. It's perfect for making for summer buffets, in baps with salad and perfect in the winter when you want the comfort of roasted meat, not to mention the whole house smelling amazing and tantalising everyone's taste buds.

The best thing about this recipe is that it's easy to do with simple ingredients. The worst thing is you need time and patience for the oven to do its work. 

Although I can't buy a a whole pork shoulder easily in the UK, I always buy a shoulder joint in preference to leg or loin as there is so much flavour packed into cheaper cuts of meat.

And, although there appears to be a lot more fat, the slow cooking renders the fat down slowly, which keep the meat moist and tender enough to be pulled apart with forks. Otherwise it wouldn't be pulled pork!

❤️ Why you will love this dish

• Budget friendly cut of meat.
• Fall apart tender meat.
• Perfect crackling.
• Versatile to use in many recipes.

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🥘 Ingredients

• Pork - 2 kg pork shoulder joint.
• Vegetable oil
• Flaked sea salt -
• Table salt - to be washed off. This helps to open up the skin.

For the rub

• Brown sugar
• Flaked sea salt
• Smoked paprika
• Ground cumin
• Ground black pepper

For the sauce

• Pineapple - pineapple chunks from a tin with juice.
• Sweet chilli sauce
• Ketchup
• Honey
• Worcester sauce
• Cornflour - or cornstarch for thickening.

The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.

🍽 Equipment

• large deep roasting dish
• aluminium foil
• sharp knife
• kitchen paper

🔪 Instructions

• If you want to turn the skin into amazing crackling score through the skin but not through the fat. Sprinkle generously with salt and massage all over the skin and fat.. Leave for 30 minutes. This will help the skin to open apart and produce brilliant crackling later.

⏲️ Cooking time

Preheat the oven to 150 C / 300 F / 130 FAN / Gas 2.

Mix together the ingredients for the dry rub. Wash the salt off the pork skin and dry the joint with kitchen paper.

Cover the flesh in the dry rub and place in a large roasting dish. Use a piece of kitchen paper to rub a tablespoon of vegetable oil into the skin  and then sprinkle with flaked sea salt. Add 2 cups of water to the dish then cover with foil and place in the oven.

It will take anywhere between four and eight hours, depending on how tender you want it to be.

After four hours you will be able to carve the pork into slices, but will also break into large chunks. By eight hours it will be easy to use forks to pull the meat into a string like consistency, perfect for mixing with a sauce to serve in baps.

If you are leaving this cooking for a long time you may need to top up the water. Use boiling water from the kettle.

When the pulled pork with crackling is cooked to your liking remove the foil and drain off the juices. If the crackling is looking good, put the tray under a hot grill to finish it off. If it looks very pale and soft still, cut it off the joint, place on a tray and under the grill. Remove the crackling and set aside to cool.

Of course, if you prefer, you can roast the pork without the skin on and cook the crackling separately. Salt and oil as before, place on a rack above a roasting tray and roast at 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4for an hour or so. When it looks like it is doing well increased the heat to 200 C / 400 F / 180 FAN / Gas 6 for 10 minutes or so to finish.

Pineapple BBQ Sauce

Drain the juices from the pork into a jug and carve or shred the meat in the roasting dish. Cover with the foil if you are intending to eat straightaway.

Skim any fat from the juices and place in a saucepan. Add the sweet chilli sauce, ketchup, honey,Worcester sauce and pineapple chunks. Brink to the boil and check the taste and consistency. Feel free to add the pineapple juice, if you are feeding a crowd or just want more sauce. You may also prefer to thicken the sauce slightly with a cornflour and water mix.

🥗 Side Dishes

• Honey Roast Carrots and Parsnips
• Celeriac Purée
• Chateau Potatoes
• French Peas
• Sarladaise Potatoes
• Potatoes Parisienne
• Braised Red Cabbage
• Broccoli Cauliflower Cheese
• Duchess Potatoes
• Pan Haggerty

🥙 Substitutions

• Honey - use maple syrup
• Smoked paprika - try normal paprika or chipotle paste.

🍣 Storage

• Refrigerator - cool, cover and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
• Freezer - pack in airtight bags or containers and freeze for up to 3 months.
• Reheat - wrap in foil and place in the oven at 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4, or add directly to stir fries.

I

🍱 Prepare in Advance

• If you are making the pulled pork with crackling for a gathering I recommend cooking it overnight, shredding, adding the sauce then leaving to chill until you want to reheat it. The flavours develop further and makes for fuss free entertaining! I love to have big pile of crackling on the side so that people can help themselves. It's irresistable!
• Make the pineapple bbq sauce a day or two in advance.

Let me know what you think in the comments or you can post a picture and tag me on Twitter @chezlereve, Instagram @chezlerevefrancais, or Facebook @chezlerevefrancais

More Slow Cooked Recipes

• Slow Roast Belly Pork with Perfect Crackling
• Slow Roast Lamb Shoulder
• Lamb Kleftiko
• Confit Duck Salad with Grilled Pineapple
• Confit Duck with Redcurrant Sauce
• Confit Pork
• Beef Brisket

📋 Recipe

More pork recipes

🍲 Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

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