Completely by chance, I’ve been able to tweak my pulled pork recipe to produce a much more tender result!
I was roasting one of the pork necks we bought at Haverick Meats on Saturday, and was all set to roast it for four hours, when I realised that I had to leave the house to run an errand.
So I only gave the meat 35 minutes on 200C (fanforced), then dropped the temperature to 150C (with fan). As I wasn’t sure how long I was going to be out for, I added a lot more hot water to the pot (at least twice as much) to ensure that it didn’t dry out. When I got home two and half hours later, I checked on the meat. It was so incredibly tender that not only did it not require an extra hour of cooking, it took two of us to get it out of the pot, as it simply fell apart when we tried to lift it. I’m going to amend the original post now!
I could have shredded the pork with a spoon…
I packed two 300g boxes of pulled pork in the freezer, then turned the remainder into two trays of baked burritos – one for us, and one for the neighbours. The $19 pork neck stretched a long way!
Our baked burritos are a hodge podge – I fill soft tortillas with annato rice, refried beans, black beans, salsa, pulled pork and cheese, then roll them up and pack them snugly into a baking tray. These are then topped with more salsa, jalapeños and grated cheese, and baked until golden.
Small Man’s not a fan (so he had a huge plate of annato rice topped with pork, refried beans and cheese), but Big Boy absolutely adores these!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Celia, do you know how long I cook my pork for pulled pork? Eight to ten hours, sometimes even longer… I normally place it in the oven before I go to bed and leave it overnight. It is amazingly tasty…. as you said, melting in the mouth…. hummmmm… now I want some pulled pork burritos! See what you did? ;-)
Sally, I saw that on some American shows as well – the pork was smoked for 12 hours etc. I was surprised how much tenderer the meat was with the shorter cooking time and extra water – that’s how I’m going to make it from now on! I wonder if it’s something to do with how the clay pot cooks…hmm.. :)
This looks to be absolutely lovely! In my native Sweden pulled pork is of highest fashion nowadays, and I have become a little… hum… against because everybody is doing it. But this recipe, with burritos and all that other yummy stuff, reminds me of true Mexican cooking. Now you really got me hooked! I have to try one day when I find cheap, tough, pork meat :-D
I used pork neck, which is actually a really tender cut! I’m not sure how it would work with other cuts – pork neck is a fillet taken from the shoulder, if that helps.. :)
Which may explain why you got such a tender result! I tend to use tougher meat for these slow cooking recipes. In that way I get nice and tender meat for very little money. :-D
Anyway, your version seemed absolutely delicious!!
Wow love, you are brave leaving the house for so long with the oven on… or am I just a silly old thing? Your pulled pork looks and sounds amazing… I’m making something similar very soon, we bought a pork shoulder yesterday! : )
I’m not worried about my electric oven, but I didn’t leave the house when we had a gas oven. When our existing oven overheats (which it’s done twice in its 12 year history), it shuts itself down. :) xx
Oh that’s good then, love. My pork shoulder is in the oven now. Wish me luck! xoxo
Looks amazing, have cooked pulled pork for longer than that, sometimes in the dying heat of our wood-burning stove – but your tender result after less time looks amazing. Lovely way of eating it too.
Andrea, that’s such a lovely and economical way of cooking – it must be amazing to wake to the aromas of the pork cooking!
So appreciate the update on this… our weather is cooling, I see pulled pork in the near future!!! x
Ardys, I think with the extra water, the pork braised rather than just roasted, and the result was far tenderer!
Its so good when you discover a new approach by accident, and also a very economical dish for a family. Thanks also for the link to your microwaved lemon curd. Still waiting on the lemons to come good.
Francesca, hope you enjoy it! We haven’t made it for ages, must do so as we’re swamped with eggs and lemons at the moment! :)
Your pulled pork burritos look absolutely fantastic…I can almost taste them by looking at the photo and reading your recipe!
Thanks Laila! Big Boy ate four burritos on his own! :)
I am interested to read that you used the fan forced setting. I thought that a closed baking dish would be ok with just normal heat? Can’t wait to see if my m-I-l still has her terracotta dish and if she would be willing to part with it. Keep up your great work Celia, I so enjoy reading about what you’re up to next!
Amanda, I’m sure it would be fine – I bake everything fan forced! I just like how evenly the oven cooks on the fan setting.
Flour or corn tortillas? I can see my mencats fighting all over this. Looks nummy! Maz
Flour this time, blue corn last time. :) xx
Hi Celia,am going to make your pulled pork but do not have a fan oven!
Will I damage My new Romertopf? Just love your blog site
Maddy, thanks for reading! You don’t need a fan oven for the Romertopf – I just always cook on the fan settings out of personal preference. There’s heaps more info here at the Romertopf site:
http://www.roemertopf.de/english/tipps_handhabung.htm
Thank you so very much Celia,must also thank you for Perfect
Greek Yoghurt recipe.
This is going to sound silly but is it ok to leave your oven running when not at home? I must be a real safety Sam. I’ll have to give this a go. And thanks for stopping by on my blog Celia.
Lien, I’m happy to go out with our electric oven on, but I wasn’t when we had a gas one. Obviously, everyone’s ovens and house electrical systems are different though! :)
Gorgeous baby boy you have! :)
It’s getting to the time of year where I’m beginning to show some interest in cooking, and pork necks will now be on the agenda… with a vinegary salad :)
Well, that WOULD be a healthier option… ;-)
I have eaten a truckload of burritos but I have never eaten one with pulled pork. I always make bbq out of my slow cooked pork. I don’t make it often because John always says it looks like someone ate it first but now I want a burrito!
Maureen, they don’t make burritos with pulled pork? There’s another myth gone up in smoke! :) John is such a bloke. :D
I’ll have Small Man’s serving!
Sure! I’ll get it delivered.. :)
How exciting to make such a good dish even better Celia! I cheat and make my pulled pork in the crock pot. One day it was MiddleC’s turn to cook dinner and she started the pork out on high, turning it down to low after two hours. I came home at the end of the day expecting a wonderful waft of scent when I opened the door- but nothing. MiddleC had accidently turned the meat to OFF instead of low, and our lovely dinner had sort of funkily fermented into a poisonous pot of yuck instead :( Maybe I should switch to one of your Rommys instead :) xox
Hon, that’s not cheating, it’s being clever! I’m not a fan of slow cookers, but it seems to be the most common way folks make pulled pork… xxx
That’s so nice of you to also make a meal for the neighbours. I love the look of your pulled pork and it looks so very tender. What a yummy meal and one that would have me going back for seconds again and again xx
Charlie, the boys love pulled pork, and the neck is so lean that there was almost no fat to pour off! xx
You are always so thoughtful and caring, I want to be your neighbor. Your pulled pork not just look tender but juicy too.
Norma, you’re very kind, thank you. We have the best neighbours ever and have just gotten more – close friends have just moved in around the corner, so I made them dinner, they’re still settling in!
Hehe I bet the wolves loved it! It’s boy feeding food (and me too, include me in that mix :P).
They ate it ALL, Lorraine. Big Boy in particular was all over it. :)
Ooh that’s hours of cooking and one tasty looking pile of pulled pork neck!
Saucy, about half of it has gone into the freezer, which means the next couple of dinners are half made! :)
That sounds like my kind of dinner!
Just goes to prove that lots of the best ideas happen by accident not design.
Not even accident in this case, just having to be flexible to fit the rest of life in! I’m pretty sure with your schedule that’s something you have to do all the time! :D
I’ve just eaten but you have made me hungry again. These look wonderful> I don’t have a terracotta pot but will have to look into a way a cooking that pulled pork as it looks wonderful
Thank you! Lots of folks use their slow cooker with great success to make pulled pork (I don’t own one though).
Hi Celia – I’m loving your blog, but haven’t commented before.
Thanks for covering the issue of cooking times. I’ve tried pulled pork a couple of times now (always with a shoulder in the slow cooker) and I’ve been disappointed that it tastes dry, despite cooking in liquid, and so I thought overcooked. I was thinking about giving it another go and cutting down the cooking time from the 8-10 that I read in the American recipes to something much less. So now I definitely will.
Thanks for the excellent blog.
Hi Claire, thanks for dropping in to say hi! :) I cooked my first one for four hours because I’d read American recipes as well, but now I wonder if it’s really necessary. This last attempt certainly couldn’t have been any tenderer, and it only cooked for a little over three hours.
Hi Celia, I wish I had a neighbour like you :) It must be apartment living…except for a few most barely respond to a hello!
Stef, when we lived in an apartment, our neighbour used to hide behind his door until he’d heard us leave, to avoid having to make conversation in the lift! I always thought it was very strange, but we were a lot younger back then, so we didn’t really make an effort to chat.
This looks very rich and yummy :)
Thank you, it was delicious! :)
Even we vegans can have “pulled pork” these days in the form of canned jackfruit. Obviously it aint kosher but whatchagonnado when you are vegan? ;)
I feel obliged to point out…pulled pork isn’t kosher either… :D
OOPS! Er…nope, it isn’t! ;) I guess that makes 2 of us drummed out of the vegan confraternity ;)
Oh do those look absolutely scrumptious! I’ve been using the crock pot for the pulled pork & the last time I had the same thing with the meat just falling apart. You are certainly a very considerate neighbor.
Di, so many of you make pulled pork in the slow cooker, it must work really well! :)
I guess for me it’s safer since I often forget things I’ve put in the oven for a long time…when the smoke detectors go off then I guess it’s time to check.
That errand was so worth running and it’s fantastic how far your pork neck stretched :)
Tandy, it was such an economical cut in the end! :)
Doesn’t it feel good when you try something and it works so well especially when you can get different dishes from one type of food.If only l wasn’t a vegetarian:)
Jody, in terms of versatility (vegetarian-style), I reckon a giant tromboncino is the vegetable equivalent of pulled pork! :D
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2013/08/14/one-giant-tromboncino/
Looks so good!!!! Just what is needed on a rainy grey February day!
HI Anna! I’m sorry we missed you when you were here! xx
Your burritos sound delicious. I was going to say that I had never seen pork neck in my market and then I saw that it was from the shoulder.
Thanks Karen! They do try to confuse us at the butchers! I’m not sure “pork neck” really is the pig’s neck, but by the same token, I heard that in the US, pork shoulder is referred to as “pork butt”! :)
You are right…it is called a pork butt in New England. The funny thing is that the name came from the barrels that the pork was shipped in years ago when it came in and out of the ports of New England. :)
Doing something similar tonight. About to fire up the smoker.
Greg, do you smoke yours for hours and hours? I’ve been watching US cooking shows, and they talk about smoking a pork butt for up to 24 hours!
Ya know, I’ve never thought to make anything but sandwiches with pulled pork. These burritos look so good, Celia, that I’m convinced I need to expand my horizons.
John, thank you – we’ve ever used the pork as a base for an Italian ragu! :)
I wasn’t sure where to post this as I really wanted you to know Celia that I’m learning something new from you every day! Today I was at a local vinnies and found a Romertopf for $5! I would never have know what it was until I read your post. I’ve since gone out and bought some port and will make the pulled pork for dinner tonight. Thanks very much. I was super excited. Let’s just hope my husband gets over the fact I just bought another kitchen item.
Make that pork – not port. Although we do have some pretty good port at home too.
You did make me think that port might be a nice addition to the pork.. :) Hope it works well for you! $5 is a bargain! I have another Romertopf recipe coming tomorrow!