Oven Pulled Pork
A dry rub, eight hours at a very low temperature, and a rest that matters as much as the cook.
- Prep
- 20m
- Cook
- 8h
- Waiting
- 1h
- Total
- 9h 20m
- Serves
- 8
- Effort
- Easy
Scale
Units
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 1/4 cup | Mix the rub 5m | Rub all over and refrigerate overnight 15m | Roast at 135°C / 275°F for 8 hours, covered 8h Done at 95°C / 203°F internal — well past 'cooked', which is the point for collagen. | Rest 1 hour wrapped, then shred with two forks 1h The rest lets the rendered fat and gelatin reabsorb. Shred early and it is dry. | |
| 2 tbsp | |||||
| 2 tbsp | |||||
| 1 tbsp | |||||
| 1 tbsp | |||||
| 2 tsp | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 2.5 kg | |||||
| 1/2 cup | |||||
| to taste | |||||
-
Mix the rub
5m- dark brown sugar 1/4 cup
- smoked paprika 2 tbsp
- coarse salt 2 tbsp
- ground cumin 1 tbsp
- garlic powder 1 tbsp
- black pepper 2 tsp
- cayenne (optional) 1 tsp
-
Rub all over and refrigerate overnight
15m- from 1 Mix the rub
- pork shoulder 2.5 kg
-
Roast at 135°C / 275°F for 8 hours, covered
8h- from 2 Rub all over and refrigerate overnight
- cider vinegar 1/2 cup
Done at 95°C / 203°F internal — well past 'cooked', which is the point for collagen.
-
Rest 1 hour wrapped, then shred with two forks
1h- from 3 Roast at 135°C / 275°F for 8 hours, covered
- barbecue sauce (optional) to taste
The rest lets the rendered fat and gelatin reabsorb. Shred early and it is dry.
95 °C is not overcooked
Collagen begins converting to gelatin around 70 °C and does it properly at 90–95 °C, given hours. That conversion is what turns a tough shoulder into something that falls apart. Pull it at 75 °C — perfectly “cooked” by any safety chart — and it will be dry and chewy, because the collagen is still collagen.
Notes
- Overnight with the rub is worth it: the salt has time to penetrate.
- Bone-in cooks more evenly and tells you when it is done — the blade bone should pull clean.
- Freezes very well in its own juices. Reheat covered, never in a dry oven.