Jalapeño and Orange Pulled Pork

This set-it-and-forget-it mouth watering pulled pork dinner will be a crowd pleaser for sure.

Recipe Overview:

Guess who broke out the crockpot for another recipe?! I honestly have nothing negative to say about this cooking style, I just prefer the drawn out longer way to cook…. as it allows more time for wine consumption. Moving on… This pulled pork has the perfect combination of heat from the fresh jalapeños and a sweetness from the orange juice. The combination of jalapeños and oranges create a beautiful and unique flavor. Aside from having to slice up some onions, garlic, and of course the jalapeños, you’re literally layering everything else in the crockpot.

Living in Georgia for 7 years I was spoiled by some serious BBQ dinners. I’m not talking about slathering BBQ sauce from a jar over meat, I’m talking about the BBQ that cooks low and slow with open smoke for hours kind of BBQ. I’ll be posting those recipes next. I was also fortunate enough to meet and befriend the Master Chef Kevin Rathbun. While cooking a fabulous dinner at our home, we got into a conversation about cuts of meats. While boring to some, I was fascinated by everything I learned, and mortified at the same time about how clueless I actually was at the time when it came to meat selections. Fast forward to this recipe, I learned when selecting pork for any pulled pork, the chefs prefer the “whole pork shoulder”.  That’s great if you can get your hands on one, but they’re rarely available in grocery stores. The next best thing, is a Boston Butt. No, it’s not the butt of the pig, like I thought, and it doesn’t come from Boston. It’s actually half of the shoulder and the other half being the picnic shoulder. These cuts of pork are more easy to come by at your local grocery stores. I included this “Pork Chart” from our friends at Easy-BBQ-Recipes.com that may help you out when selecting pork products for your future recipes. http://Easy-BBQ-Recipes.com

To get the pork ready for cooking, you’ll want to rinse it under cool running water then pat dry with paper towels. I typically do this with all protein I bring home from a grocery store, just to ease my mind. I mean seriously, we never know who’s handling our meat. I wrap some white twine around the butt just to hold the meat together while it cooks. It does not affect the cooking process or flavor, when the pork is fully cooked, simply cut the twine with scissors and discard it before serving.

Now that we have that lesson out if the way, let’s continue with this dish.

Yields about 8-10 (6 ounce) servings.

Ingredients

• 1 boneless pork butt, 3 to 4 pounds
• 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon hot paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 medium yellow onions, sliced thin (about 2 cups)
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
• 3 jalapeño peppers, seeded and sliced thin
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions

Method:

In a small bowl combine the brown sugar, chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper, and ground cumin. Using your clean hands, rub the spice mixture all over the pork and place the meat in the bottom of the crock pot. Add the sliced onions, garlic and jalapeños on top of the pork, then pour in the orange juice. Cover the crockpot, and cook at the low temperature setting for 6-8 hours.

After 6 hours, use a meat thermometer to check the temperature. The pork is fully cooked once it reaches 155° – 165° internally. When ready, remove the pork from the crock pot and place it on a cutting board. Snip off the twine and using two forks pull apart/shred the pork into small pieces. Place the shredded pork in a deep serving dish.

For extra flavor, you can strain the remaining liquid from the crockpot. You can see that most of it is pork juice, but there will be a small layer of fat that collected at the top. To get rid of the fat, pour the juices through a strainer into a small bowl, then use a tablespoon skim the top oily fat and discard. Pour the remaining spicy juices over the shredded pork, and top with the sliced scallions before serving.

This slow cooked pork will have that melt-in-your-mouth texture that is absolutely perfect wrapped in a tortilla, or topped with some sweet slaw and black beans.  Hope you enjoy it!

Print

Jalapeño and Orange Pulled Pork

Prep 20 mins

Cook 6 hours

Total 6 hours, 20 mins

Author Catherine Varitek

Yield 8-10 6oz. Servings

Sweet and spicy pulled pork slow cooked for 6 hours using a crock pot. 

Ingredients

Ingredients

• 1 boneless pork butt, 3 to 4 pounds
• 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon hot paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 medium yellow onions, sliced thin (about 2 cups)
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
• 3 jalapeño peppers, seeded and sliced thin
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions

Instructions

1. Combine the sugar, chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper, and cumin in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Rinse the pork under cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
3. Using your clean hands, rub the spice mixture all over the pork, then place in crock pot. 
4. Place the sliced onions, garlic, and jalapeños in an even layer on top of the pork.
5. Pour in the orange juice.
6. Cover and cook until the pork has reached, 165° internal temperature, after about 5 to 6 hours on High, or 6 to 8 hours on Low.
7. Remove the pork from crock pot and place onto a cutting board. Use two forks to shred the pork into small pieces. 
8. Strain the liquid from the crock pot into a saucepan, and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes.
9. Place the pork into a large serving bowl, and pour 1 cup of the reserved cooked liquid over the meat. 
10. Garnish with fresh scallions.

Courses Dinner

Cuisine BBQ