Creating a small amount pulled pork

February 18, 2022 2:54 PM

I have .66lb of country style pork ribs. (The ones that aren't really ribs- they're from the shoulder region, there is no bone.) I want to make pulled pork with them. I have access to an oven and an instant pot. I have no idea how long to cook them for.

All the recipes are for around 4-8 lb of pork. I have 2/3rds of a pound. And unfortunately, I cannot find a pulled pork recipe with something along the lines of "raise to x temperature and leave it there for y minutes/hours," so I cannot use a roasting thermometer.

So, how long do I cook this? I'd prefer pressure cook or slow cook, but I'm open to using the oven as well. I'm just afraid of either drying everything out (oven) or sucking all the flavor out of the meat because it was overcooked (pressure cooker/slow cooker). If it is just use the timing of a regular recipe, that's fine, I'm happy to, but I'm just so unsure about this given the weight.

(This is a tiny amount of pork, I know, but it's for a mac and cheese, so I don't want a ton.)

posted by Hactar to Food & Drink (6 answers total)

You want to slowly bring the internal temp up to 195-200 F. They will be hard to dry out by any method, I think. You could salt/pepper, wrap in foil, and put in a 250 degree oven for 2-3 hours and I bet that would do it. Then pull/sauce as desired.

OR

You could s&p, brown in instant pot on sautee function in a bit of oil, add a small amount (1 cup) of stock (with or without 1/2 tsp liquid smoke), and cook on high pressure for 60 mins, letting pressure release naturally. Remove meat, taste jus. If bland or thin, boil down on sautee setting until it thickens slightly then season as desired. Shred meat and toss with jus.
posted by Fritzle at 3:09 PM on February 18, 2022

If you have the bag/sealing mechanism needed (a food saver works) then sous vide should work great even at smaller portion sizes.

Here’s an example recipe
posted by bitdamaged at 3:12 PM on February 18, 2022

Best answer: I’ve had good luck in the Instant Pot.

I used a rub of 1 Tbsp brown sugar + 1 tsp of salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin + 1/4 tsp of Cayenne pepper.

Then cooked with 3/4 cup of water (or chicken broth) on high pressure for 35 minutes.

Brush with BBQ sauce.
posted by vitout at 3:27 PM on February 18, 2022 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I cook about a pound of pork butt in the pressure cooker for an hour. The timing doesn't need to change much if you lower the amounts. I think you would be safe putting it in for 40 minutes and checking on it. If it doesn't shred easily yet, put in for another ten. The pressure builds back up quickly the second time because everything is still hot. Use the minimum amount of liquid your IP model allows, plus another 1/8 cup or so. Reduce the broth after you open the IP and mix it with the pork.
posted by soelo at 4:33 PM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Vitout and soelo, I will try this in the morning. Thank you both so much, I'm throwing together something weird for an annual mac and cheese competition (working with pulled pork and maybe a soubise sauce, so I'm going to go vinegary with the bbq flavoring) and being able to do this in 2 hours instead of 18 is going to make my life easier (I'm hosting it, so I'm cleaning now, cooking tomorrow).
posted by Hactar at 5:04 PM on February 18, 2022

Instapot seems like the right answer. For people who don’t have one (or are, ahem, scared of them…) I would recommend braising a small amount of meat. That amount if pork ribs probaby would not take more than 2-3 hours to get tender. just brown them in some fat, remove from pan, sautee some onions and garlic, then add the ribs back and cover with liquid (broth, a mixture of wine and broth) and simmer til done.
posted by haptic_avenger at 7:55 AM on February 19, 2022