An easy and delicious barbecue recipe to make is classic pulled pork, which remains a favorite food for many even beyond the summer months. While it may seem difficult to cook on a gas grill, it can actually be quite easy, even if you don’t have a lot of grilling experience. It’s okay if you’re not typically good at cooking things on the grill. Pulled pork is very easy to make and it’s long cooking time makes it easy for even beginners. To get the meat as tender as possible, it is very important to make sure you cook it slowly on a low heat.
To get started, you will first want to decide what cut of meat to use. For most people, a simple pork shoulder roast which you can find relatively easily is the perfect cut for making tender pulled pork sandwiches. If you do not have a lot of time and are not worried about the price you can also opt to choose a pork tenderloin cut, which is generally much more tender naturally
There are countless pulled pork recipes available to choose from, but most of them are pretty similar in what spices are used to season the meat. The most common way to season pork is to make a rub made with sugar, salt, pepper, ground mustard, onion powder, and garlic. Rubbing the seasonings into the meat will help flavor it while you let it sit in the fridge over night marinating. Some people will let it marinate longer or shorter depending on their individual preferences, but generally 8-12 hours is a good rule of thumb to follow.
Once the pork has had time to marinate, now you’re ready for the best part – cooking it. Although smokers and charcoal powered grills are considered the “best way” if you are new to grilling, you will typically get better results using a gas grill which allows you to keep a steady temperature. You’ll want to keep in mind some important tips for grilling with gas before you get started to grill.
Pork requires a long time to cook, so it’s important to learn how to properly set up the grill. The secret to getting juicy and tender pork when grilling is to set up your grill to heat the food indirectly so it does not dry out. This can be set up rather simply by using the top rack to place the pork and then putting a pan of water on the bottom rack so it is between the pork and the grill burner. Once the grill is set up to use indirect heat to cook the pork, the only thing you’ll need to do is light it and set it for a temperature of 225 degrees. The pork will take between 6 to 8 hours to fully cook, so you’ll want to be sure you check on it every hour or so to make sure there is still water in the pan. You’ll want to let the meat cook for about 6 to 8 hours until it is done and then you can start getting ready for pulling it and adding the barbecue sauce.
Tearing the pork apart shouldn’t be too hard, especially if you have cooked it long enough. You can either use two forks or choose to use your hands while wearing gloves. Just be careful you don’t get burnt, since the pork will likely be very hot. Then you can decide to cover it in your favorite barbecue sauce and let it cook for another 10-15 minutes, stirring it and checking to make sure the sauce is still evenly coating it and not drying up. Then it’s ready for you to serve on buns with your favorite side dishes.
It isn’t difficult to make your own pulled pork and you don’t need to be a professional BBQ chef. If you can keep it simmering at a constant temperature for several hours you can make delicious and tender pulled pork without a lot of effort. Happy cooking!
Comments on this entry are closed.