Oooh, this was so good.
It was so good that Big Boy didn’t want to eat anything else.
“I’ll just have the pulled pork, thanks”…
. . . . .
Inspired by our recent Römertopf success, I thought I’d make an attempt at American-style pulled pork using the clay baker.
As you might have noticed, I’m a bit obsessed with clay cookware. Our Emile Henry Flame pots are in daily use on the hob, but for oven roasting, nothing beats the Römertopf.
For the uninitiated, these bakers are German-made from lead-free clay. They’re quite sensitive to thermal shock (so you can’t pour cold liquid into a hot pot) and they require pre-soaking before each use. The clay absorbs water, returning it to the dish as it cooks, thereby keeping the food moist and tender. I’ve written more about them here and here…
A photo of my old Romy – it’s a bit battle-scarred these days, but the inside glaze is still perfect!
Here’s our pulled pork recipe (*amended 19/2)…
- 1.75kg free range pork neck
- 2 tablespoons dark Muscovado sugar
- 1 tablespoon smoked salt (or Maldon flake salt)
- ¾ tablespoon smoked paprika
- ¾ tablespoon sweet paprika
1. Submerge the Römertopf base and lid in a sinkful of water. Allow to soak for at least 15 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, salt, smoked paprika and sweet paprika. Dry the pork with paper towels, then generously rub the spice mix into the meat.
3. Remove the base from the sink, and sit it on a towel. Pop the meat in, then place the wet lid on top.
4. Place the covered pot into a cold oven, then turn the temperature up to 200C with fan. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes. Then carefully remove the pot from the oven and place it on a folded towel (don’t put it straight onto a cold bench, or it will crack).
5. Remove the lid, then carefully pour two cups of hot water around the meat. Replace the cover and put the pot back into the oven. Turn the temperature down to 150C with fan and bake for a further 2½ hours. (Amended 6/3) Halfway through the cooking time, turn the meat over to stop the top from getting too dry. If you’re using a small or larger cut of meat, you might need to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
6. After the cooking time, transfer the meat to a plate, cover with foil and allow to rest. De-fat the cooking liquid, and pour into a sauce boat to serve with the meat.
We pulled our pork apart with two forks, then served it on annatto-flavoured beans and rice, topped with caramelised onions and chipotle sauce…
This was a huge hit – all three of my men loved it, especially Big Boy. The pork was moist, tender and deliciously flavoured without being overly fatty. It was surprisingly good value too – we managed to get two dinners and a lunch out of our $20 piece of pork. And as always, the Römertopf pot and lid went straight into the dishwasher!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Would this work in a tangine? Maz.
Maz, I don’t know I’m sorry. The Romertopf absorbs water as it soaks, then returns it to the dish as it cooks – not sure how that would translate to a tagine?
Hmmm, I’ll try it tomorrow and let you know. :-)
Hand me the pulled pork, and no one gets hurt. No need for any sides, just the pulled pork. I repeat, no one gets hurt, but hand me the pulled pork. No tricks. No tricks…
Hahaha…yep, that’s what Big Boy was like too.. :)
Oooooo. Now you’ve done it. I will have to find a place in my kitchen for one of these. We love pulled pork. I’ve used my slow cooker the last couple of times, but yours looks even better. The neck cut might be the key, though. Australian pork is leaner than American pork and that makes it a bit trickier to get tender. Thank you!
Ardys, sounds like lots of folks use the slow cooker, but I don’t own one anymore – never liked the way it cooked, so I gave it to my mother. The Romy worked a treat! :)
Still too hot to have the oven on for 4 hours here, but am noting all this. I had no idea there was so much meat on a pigs neck!
Amanda, the neck is one of our favourite cuts – the meat is incredibly tender when cooked properly, and there’s very little fat on it!
Is yours a medium or large? Not sure what 3L equates to… Peters of Kensington has sold out so looking elsewhere…
Ardys, I have two – a Rustico (4L) which is the one in the top photo, and a Classic (3L). The photo with the meat in it is actually the smaller pot, which is this one currently on sale at Peters of Kensington…
http://www.petersofkensington.com.au/Public/Romertopf-Classic-Medium-Casserole-Dish-3L.aspx
Wow! This looks so good, Celia! I have had a craving for pulled pork and now this has popped up… Thankyou for the inspiration!
Debby, most welcome – Sydney weather has just turned cold, so I’m thinking of making this again!
Sally’s comment made me laugh… I’m with her. Love the sound of this, Celia. Pulled pork is on my list of things to add to my repertoire this year. Thanks for sharing, love.
Liz, it’s easy to make, providing you don’t mind the oven being on for four hours – which I guess could be a problem mid-Summer! :)
Pulled pork is very high on my list to try once the weather cools. Do you think you can achieve a similar result in a slow cooker?
Tania, it sounds like lots of folks who have left comments here use the slow cooker. I don’t own one! :)
I *just* made pulled pork 2 nights ago in the slow cooker!
I did a dry rub first, and then braised the meat with a little liquid and aromatics. When it was ready, I tossed it with homemade bbq sauce made with a touch of peach preserves for flavor. We ate it on sweet dough rolls topped with crunchy coleslaw (can you tell I miss summer?). Now I’m intrigued by your clay bakers… I’m sure the flavor and texture is incredible :)
Sounds delicious, Em! I can see from yours and Maureen’s comment below that we’re going to have to get coleslaw happening as well! xx
I want Sally’s leftovers. She always takes more than she can eat. I also want cole slaw, is there any? :)
that is a wild, wild assumption!… Celia, hand Maureen some cole slaw, I have a couple of Jack Russels growling at me, apparently no bueno for leftovers…..
Hahaha…ok, I’ll add coleslaw to the menu, give us six months to grow a cabbage first… :)
Perfect timing for us lot in the grotty northern hemisphere! And I brought back both sweet and smoked paprika with me so it’s meant to be.
Nancy, I’m smiling about the fact that you needed to take paprika back to China with you – I take it it’s not easy to buy there? :)
Love the spice combination Celia :)
Thanks Tandy – it’s a very basic one! :)
This looks very moist and delicious. I usually use two forks to tear the meat apart, but my niece uses the dough hook on her KitchenAid and it works very nicely indeed!
Your spices sound like a good mixture- you don’t use any smoke liquid?
Heidi, the mixer is a great idea! No liquid smoke – it’s hard to buy here, and Pete has a limit on how much smoke flavour he’ll tolerate.. :)
Wow, nothing better than moist, sweet well cooked pork. Once the weather cools down (not any time soon) I’ll try this out. Thanks for the inspiration and recipe!
Most welcome, thanks for trying it! :)
Oh yummmmmm. how lovely. I don’t care about hot ovens if this is what you get.
Tania, it was hot on the day we made it, but then it gave us two more meals, so I figure it was worth the heat! :)
Scrumptious meal Celia.
:-) Mandy xo
Thanks Mandy! The boys fell on the meat like wolves! :)
That looks just so very very good, and I haven’t had breakfast yet… and have now spent a good fifteen minutes on the German romertopf site as well. Then to Amaz and reading about people baking their bread in them too and wondering about glazed vs unglazed and different brands…. oh oh dear, and I am still hungry. Better go and have porridge xx
Jo, I’ve baked bread in the Romertopf loaf pan…
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2012/06/23/romertopf-white-sourdough-loaf/
…but the one time I tried baking in my first Romertopf pot, I soaked it, heated it in the oven, then put the dough in…and the glaze cracked! It didn’t like the cold dough on the hot clay. So we can’t use it in a similar way to the cast iron pot in the no-knead recipes…
I had a few baking in pot experiments way back, but it seemed a lot of faff for me. I guess if my oven was less reliable or couldn’t get up to a good heat it would be a useful method. Several bakers tell me they put cold dough in a cold pot in cold oven and then just turn it on and it works for them. I would rush out and buy a topf, but I am not sure if I have room, something large would have to go… xx
Oh my, Celia – that looks good. I’ve still never made pulled pork. I really must! We have a giant Romertopf garlic jar at home (well, my mum does) – it’s always sat proudly on our windowsill.
Nick, we have a baby Romy garlic jar – I didn’t know they made a giant one! :)
Really and truly? That easy to do? Well I’ll do it Celia, you’ve never let me down yet, I’ll find a cool day next week and put it on the menu plan.
Rose, just be careful not to put the hot pot or its lid on a cool surface when you take it out to add the hot water. Hope you and Tony enjoy this as much as my family has.. :)
Pulled pork was on the menu here, too ~ but cooked in the slow cooker. It really is the best meat going!
Pat, so many people use their slow cooker for this, it must be the tried and tested method! :)
OMG!!!
That looks so good!!!
I think Mr GG would say exactly the same thing to me, just the pork!
Thanks Jules! Not sure you’d want the oven on for four hours in the middle of a Qld summer though! :D
Cripes Celia! Talk about a blast from the past! I bought a Romertopf back in about 1985 and used it up until I moved overseas in 2000. No idea who I gave it to now, but I’m thinking I might buy another one – what a great natural and healthy way of cooking hey??
Lorelle, we love our Romertopf pots – I own several (a 4L Rustico, a 3L Classic and a Multi-Functional baker). The cheapest we’ve found them is at Peters of Kensington online (occasionally Victoria’s Basement has them as well, but they’re out of stock at the moment).
Hi Celia, this looks so delicious I could start eating pork again! :)
Stefanie, it really was incredibly tender! And so much meat – it just kept going and going! :)
No wonder the boys love it Celia, what a wonderful and economical meal indeed. Pork neck is such a great cut of meat, nice and juicy and tender. What a great job your Romy does to be sure- yummo xox
Becca, the boys were so happy! Our Romy is getting a regular airing these days – I can always tell when we’re busy, because that’s when we use it the most (AND it goes into the dishwasher). :)
YUM!
Thanks Misky! :)
I’m with big boy. Pulled pork for me please
Hahaha…no problem, I’ve set a spot at the table for you.. :)
I’m there :)
I’ve always wanted to make pulled pork but for some reason thought I’d need some weird and unobtainable spices – not so! Need to give this a go as it looks and sounds amazing :)
Chica, you made me smile – nope, just paprika, and I reckon you’ll have no trouble getting that in Spain! :D
We all seem to be on the same page with making pulled pork lately. I just made some last week in the slow cooker with a barbeque sauce & the caramelized onions, then Karen at Back Road Journal made a pulled pork taco with a braised beer – http://backroadjournal.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/pulled-pork-tacos/, and now you’ve got one that looks scrumptious. Did you use the Cuban bread for the leftovers or is that long gone? Unfortunately, since I’ve made a couple of pulled pork meals my husband doesn’t want any other pork recipes because he thinks they’re too dry. I have a feeling we’re going to overdo it and I’ll not be able to took a pulled pork in the face (neck?) for a long time. My husband on the other hand has eating habits quite like my dog – inhale everything until it’s gone & the ability to eat the same thing night after night after night.
Oooh, thanks Di, I haven’t checked out Karen’s recipe yet! Yep, we used this for the Cuban sandwiches, and I’ve just uncovered another piece of pork in the freezer (it’s like an Arctic expedition every time I rummage through the drawers), so I’m defrosting it to bake up tonight! :)
LOL, looking through my freezer is more like an expedition into outer space & getting caught up in a black hole.
I love pulled meats! We’ve been doing a lot more since the arrival of our slow cooker. I love how versatile the meat is.
Clare, so many people are making this in their slow cooker! It must work so well! :)
I frequently see this casserole dishes in op shops. I’m going to start looking (probably won’t see one now). Clare – you might also find one in your neck of the woods.
Fiona, look for one with a glazed interior – it works much better, I think!
Big Boy definitely has good taste. Looks utterly delicious. Wish I had a romertopf – may have to try it with your flavourings, covering the pork in foil on a roasting tray and with some sort of liquid (cider?) added.
Andrea, the clay pot is just an easy way to make it – I don’t have to worry about it drying out, and cleaning up afterwards is a doddle! :)
I want a Romertopf! These sound fantastic and I like how soaking them allows the food to stay moist. That pulled pork looks fantastic and I just know it will be a huge hit here too xx
The 3L Romys are on sale at PoK at the moment, Charlie! That’s the one I used for this dish, but the bigger one (the 4L one shown in the top photo) will fit a leg of lamb!
Scarred kitchen utensils are sacred – they’d have such stories to tell. I love the sound of your Romertopf, but there is no room at the inn for more cooking equipment. Your pulled pork looks great – caramelised and flakey and moist – the holy trinity.
If there’s no room for a Romertopf, I’m not sure where you’ll fit a tandoor.. ;-)
G’day and yum…can almost smell it from here Celia, true!
Yum, yum, yum…wish I could taste some right now too!
Cheers! Joanne
Joanne, it went down so well with the boys that we’ll definitely be making it more often in the future! :)
I lived in the States for 20 years and fell madly in love with pulled pork. :-) Your recipe sounds and looks fantastic. :-)
Thank you! We were so happy with how it turned out! :)
This would work in the Le crussett? Im sure. Am making it. Stat! Thanks for the tip
Vita, I gave away all my cast iron pots, so I don’t know, but I imagine it would! You might want to drop the heat a bit more for the final few hours.. :)
D-licious as usual, and I missed reading your blog xo
Thanks Dakota! Nice to hear from you! :)
If I thought that it would deliver me a taste, I’d lick my computer screen :P
Hahaha…maybe one day someone will invent that. Hmm. Maybe not, it could be too gross.. ;-)
Really delicious looking Celia and how economical too – I’d probably have to break the pot over my Peter’s head to stop him eating the lot – he does get excited by meat!
Jan, my boys ate this until they were stuffed, but I refused to cut the whole thing up at once, or they could have demolished it! :)
Celia I’ve been wanting to have a go at pulled pork for ages but wasn’t really sure about any recipes I came across so thank you for yours I plan on making this on my days off this week coming it looks delicious, many thanks.
chris
Chris, hope you like it. I think it will adapt well to other cooking methods if you don’t have a clay pot!
That looks so mouthwatering! Discovered you while searching for pulled pork :) We have pulled pork here in Southeast Asia but of course with a very different set of spices. Never thought of doing it with paprika before – is that what makes it American? Looks delish!
Lara, I think I came across the basic spice blend on an American website, although they add liquid smoke as well, which I don’t have. I don’t think it needs it, and the leftover meat went really well into sandwiches and burritos, all things American and Tex-Mex! :)
I like how simple this is. Spice rubs here have about 300 ingredients, not that I mind! This looks wonderful.
Greg, I’ve just bought a Paul Prudhomme book, and some of his recipes are fantastic! :)
I’ve wanted a Romertopf forever, this is definitely going on the Valentine’s/birthday/anything list. Your pulled pork sounds like the perfect feed-so-called meal for winter!
Saucy, the 3L ones are currently on sale at PoK. Perfect size for two people! :)
Cooked this last night (with minor changes- couldn’t get pork neck), huge success. My daughter doesn’t usually like pork, came back for 2nds, would have gone for 3rds but there was none left. Thank you Celia
That’s fabulous, thanks so much for letting me know! :) My neighbours tried it as well with pork shoulder, and were really pleased with how it turned out!
Dear Celia,
I pop by your blog but have never left a comment, although I’ve wanted to on many occasions. Just to say how amazing you are! Is there anything you can’t make??? You’re one of those souls who are equally good at baking and cooking, and all sorts of cuisine too. Also you seem to juggle a very full schedule with family and cooking, not to mention blogging. And you don’t do things in half measures, do you? :)) You make things in big batches, and buy lots of stuff. I’m sure your family and friends are very happy to be at the receiving end! And your garden and vegetables!! Each time I see a sunshine-filled photo of those beautiful bountiful herbs and vegetables, I wish I could reach out and smell them :)
i’m finally writing in because of this post on the rompertopf pots. I’ve tinkered with the idea of buying one, so you might be pushing me close to the dangerous edge… Just wanted to ask if you think it’s better to get a glazed or unglazed one. I should think glazed for easier cleaning? So gravy doesn’t stick to the bottom at all??? Cool! I have a cast iron Staub but food tends to stick, and one has to be careful with the cleaning. It doesn’t go into the dishwasher for example. How heavy is the Romertopf and how easy or difficult is it to handle a hot lid. I would like to use it for bread baking, and I wonder if it’s easy to lift a very hot lid (since there are no handles) without dropping it…
Speaking of baking bread in it, I saw in your previous post that you baked bread directly in it (I read it quickly, hope i got it right). Do you think i could soak the cold romertopf, add a cold dough to it, then place it in a very hot, preheated oven? Or must the romertopf be placed in a cold, or at least, not too hot, oven? What if I were to not soak the romertopf at all??
And correct me if i’m wrong, to avoid cracking, one should not place a hot lid in liquid? What other pitfalls to avoid?
And finally, have you ever used one of those Asian or Japanese clay pots, and how do those compare?
so many questions, sorry! thanks in advance if you answer even half of them, and again, fantastic pantry, fantastic kitchen, fantastic cook :)
Thank you so much! I’m glad you finally left a comment, it’s nice to meet you. :)
So..about Romertopf pots…
– I think Romertopf pots made in Germany are all glazed, but the ones sold in the US (which are made elsewhere) aren’t. I’ve never used an unglazed pot, but the glazed ones are fantastic – the food just comes straight off them (mostly) in the dishwasher. The downside is that the glazing is even more thermal shock sensitive than the clay itself – on my first pot I cracked the glaze but not the pot itself (so it ended up as a flowerpot :)).
– I own Romertopf loaf tins which I use for breadbaking, but I wouldn’t recommend the pot. Baking in the Romertopf always necessitates putting the pot into a COLD oven. So you can’t preheat the pot, then take it out and put in cold dough – that’s how I cracked the glaze on my first one. With the loaf tins, I now put the dough into the tin, then sit it in a sink of water, then put it into a cold oven and turn it on. It works well, but you end up with a different sort of loaf – tender, but with a closed crumb. I wrote a bit about it here…
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2012/06/17/romertopf-loaf/
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2012/06/23/romertopf-white-sourdough-loaf/
– I’ve always soaked the pots before use – I’m not sure what would happen if you put an unsoaked pot in the oven (though I suspect it would be ok)
– Weight wise, the pots are MUCH lighter than cast iron (weight was a problem for us, so we got rid of all our iron pots and replaced them all with clay). You DO have to be more careful though when handling the pots – they don’t have side handles, so you need good oven gloves to take them in and out, and you also have to make sure not to sit a hot pot on a cold bench etc, or it will crack. I use a pair of leather welding gloves, and find it’s not too difficult to take the hot pot out of the oven, or remove the lid.
– the way the Romertopf and similar clay pots work is quite different to cast iron and brands like Emile Henry (which we also love). The R is unglazed on the outside, so it absorbs quite a lot of water during the presoaking, which it then releases to the food as it cooks. So it effectively cooks by both roasting and steaming.
– lastly, R can’t be used on the hob, only in the oven. On the hob, we use Emile Henry clay pots, which are absolutely fabulous as well. I haven’t used any Japanese pots, but I haven’t had the best of luck with Chinese sandpots – I always seem to crack them!
Sorry, got very longwinded, I do love my clay pots! :) Is there anything I missed?
Dear Celia, thank you so much for your detailed and speedy reply. I love clay pots as well, although i don’t own any…YET :) There’s just something I like very much about them. You might be interested in Paula Wolfort’s Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking, which I bought as soon as I saw it. Wolfort + Mediterranean + clay pot= how to resist :)
So you soak the R in hot water for as long as 30 mins! I’m supposing the dough inside remains dry though! Might the closed crumb of the bread you mentioned be due too to low hydration? I guess one needs to experiment.
In any case, the R sounds like a winning formula for cooking—the dual function of roasting and steaming as you say. And your description of meat on rice sounds very tempting.
I will start looking out for R pots. Here they even sell chicken-shaped ones, for nestling your roast chicken inside. Thank you!
I need one of these!
At first, sorry for my bad english. I’m at the first time making this pulled pork (in Finland this pulled pork is now “in”) and I thought i’d made this in my late fathers romertopf. My work associate told that she let the meat be at least 11 hours in owen, at about 70 celsius. She has used normal casserole made of glass. How does this making with romertopf change the time, I wonder? I’ve read these comments above and there are non who had made it this long. I’d appreciate of any answers. Greetings from Finland!
Hi Katri, thank you for visiting! I’ve only ever tried cooking the pork in the Romertopf for 3 – 4 hours, never 11 hours, but I know that in the USA, it’s common to cook the pork at low temperatures for much longer than that. I do know that in the Romertopf, the shorter (3 hour) cooking time I wrote about in my post worked better than the 4 hour one I tried first, but my oven was at a much higher temperature than 70C. Good luck with your pulled pork! :)
Hi Celia, thank you so very much for comments! Our pork is just going to owen. Let’s see what we will get to eat. :)
[…] Eastern food. It’s impossible to walk out without buying something. The paprikas went into Celia’s pulled pork recipe last week which was a huge success and the first time I’ve attempted the recipe. We had […]
Hi just new to the romertopf I pick up on at a op shop for next to nothing and has been sitting in my kitchen for a while! Going to try the pulled pork tomorrow let you know how i go!
Hope it went well for you! :)
Hi Celia,
thank you for sharing your recipe. I have cooked it three times now and it is fantastic. Currently have a pork neck in the oven cooking away nicely in my Romertopf
Tracie
Tracie, I’m SO happy to hear you’ve loved it! We adore ours, and the surplus pulled pork keeps really well in the freezer too! :)
[…] finally, I’ve brought out the Romertopf clay baking dish. I learned about it on Celia’s Pulled Pork post at figjamandlimecordial.com and have begun to learn how to use it. This is my second attempt […]
[…] Just goes to show that he was listening to all my chatter about Celia’s pulled pork at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial Thanks sweetie […]