Instant Pot- the Easiest Pulled Pork Ever!

After the boiled eggs, I was ready to get started on something a little more challenging and Garen had been talking about Brunswick Stew for months, so I had to have pulled pork for that to happen.  Back to Pinterest I went to find a recipe.

Skip back to yesterday though….While at Sam’s Club, we found this spice rub:  Weber Smoky Brown Sugar Rub.  For a little over $5, I figured it was worth a try, so we brought it home.  As I was looking at the recipes I found for Instant Pot pulled pork, I started to think that this rub might be just the right thing for us to try out rather than making my own from a ton of different spices.

And, let me tell you….I was right!  (I love being right- especially about cooking.)  It made amazing pulled pork and it was super easy.  That’s a win-win in my books.  Without further introduction….here it is:  the recipe for the Easiest Pulled Pork Ever.

Ingredients:

• 8 lbs Pork Butt (we used two 4 lb cuts with bone):  Garen de-boned it and cut it into small pieces for me.  We saved the bones to cook with later.
• 6 tbsp Weber Smoky Brown Sugar
• 1- 1/4 Cup Water

Instructions:

• De-bone and trim fat on the pork butt and cut it into smaller pieces.  They don’t have to be exactly the same size.
• Put the meat into the Instant Pot bowl.
• Sprinkle the Weber rub in the bowl over the meat and toss it around.  Using a pair of tongs works well to coat the meat.
• Add the water.
• Put the bowl into the Instant Pot and click the lid into place.  Set the vent to seal.
• Select Manual and set time to 110 minutes.  It will start with saying “On” until it is pressurized and then it starts the count down from there.
• When time is up, let it natural release for 40 minutes before opening the lid.  This ensures the meat is tender and juicy.
• Open the lid.  Transfer the meat to another bowl to shred*.  You may choose to save the juices to serve with it or use for other purposes.**
• This made a little over 8 cups of shredded pulled pork.  Using more or less meat will obviously yield a different amount.

Fantastic.  That’s what this recipe is.  I know it seems like I’m tooting my own horn but I can’t take all of the credit for it.  I attribute a lot of it to the Weber Smoky Brown Sugar (no, I’m not selling it or getting anything from this- not even free rub!)  The process of cooking and times I learned from Allergy Free Alaska.  If you can’t find the Weber rub, I’m quite sure that the rub in that recipe will work wonderfully as well.  Check their blog out because they’ve got lots of other great recipes.

Seriously, folks- don’t wait.  If you’ve not tried cooking pulled pork in your Instant Pot, DO IT.  You will NOT regret it!  Plus, pulled pork is so versatile that it can be used in a TON of recipes.  I’ll soon be posting the Instant Pot Brunswick Stew that was also sinfully good.

*I dare to say that I found the easiest way to shred meat today…..tender meat at least:  with my Kitchen Aid mixer.  Yes, I pulled the meat out of the Instant Pot and placed it directly into my mixer bowl.  Turned it on for a couple seconds and, wa-la:  perfectly pulled pork.  Better than I ever could’ve done myself and with WAY less time spent!  And cleaner, with less risk of being burned.

**1 Cup of the juice I used inside the Instant Pot Brunswick Stew.

Happy Instant Potting!  Stay tuned for more as I experiment….