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Just before the sauce is ready, shred the meat, pulling it apart between two forks. Put the meat back in the pan and toss to coat in the sauce. The pulled pork can be kept chilled for up to three days or frozen for up to one month. Defrost and reheat thoroughly before serving. When the meat is ready, remove to a board and leave it covered, to rest. Meanwhile, reduce the sauce in the pressure cooker. Adjust the seasoning, then simmer and stir with the lid off for around 20 mins until thickened and a little gloopy. Tip the pork and marinade into the pressure cooker, then pour in the apple juice. Give everything a good stir. Close the lid and bring the pressure up to high pressure over a medium-high heat and cook for 50 mins. Leave the pressure to drop naturally. The meat should be pull-apart tender. If it’s still a bit tough, put the lid back on, return to high pressure and cook for a further 10-20 mins. Combine the vinegar, sugar, spices, garlic and onion granules, ketchup and mustard with a pinch of salt in a bowl and submerge the pork in it. Cover and chill for at least 1 hr – overnight is better, if you have time. Did you know you can cook pulled pork in a pressure cooker in just a quarter of the time? It’s one clever solution for cutting back on your winter fuel costs!The Orion Cooker ® is a new, innovative outdoor convection cooker that uses three cooking processes simultaneously: convection, steam and smoke (if desired).

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Hiya! You can certainly do that if you like. Searing pork shoulder for pulled pork helps brown the surface before it gets pressure cooked, which deepens the flavor, but it’s not a required step. Let me know if you have any more questions. Enjoy!Yayy, you are so weclome! I’m so glad you went for it and enjoyed. I, too, am sad you don’t have more LOL. Thank you so much for the feedback 🙂 Enjoy!!

This Instant Pot pulled pork recipe is sure to become your go-to for mouthwatering pulled pork when it’s party time. Compared to other methods, it’s a quicker way to cook pork butt or shoulder and get the same juicy results.The Instant Pot takes an inexpensive, tough cut of meat like pork shoulder or pork butt, and turns it into a masterpiece that tastes and feels like it cooked all day! If you’re wondering which one to use, there are some differences, but either will work for this recipe.

Hiya! You are welcome to see if it fits in one piece without cutting it. If it doesn’t fit, then it can be cut into pieces and made to fit (which is what you can see I did in my photos). Let me know if you have any more questions and enjoy the recipe!! 🙂The dry rub for this pressure cooker pulled pork recipe consists of paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. There’s NO sugar and it’s not spicy at all, so it’s family-friendly and super versatile to use any way you like. Of course, you can make it spicy by adding cayenne pepper or chipotle powder to the dry rub.

Hi Kathy, since you’re wanting to scale the pork butt 4x, the other ingredients should also be scaled 4x. Also, make sure to NOT exceed the “Max Fill” line located inside the stainless insert. Depending on the size of your cooker, you might need to cook it in 2 batches. Let me know if I need to clarify my response in any way. I’m here for it. Thanks and enjoy!According to the Instant Pot cooking time chart, pork roast gets 15 minutes of pressure cook time per pound. My recipe uses 3 lbs of pork and pressure cooks for 45 minutes, which yields perfectly cooked, delectable pork that melts in your mouth.

Or, serve it as shredded pork without BBQ sauce next to Instant Pot Mac and Cheese. I recommend adding a side of au jus (leftover pulled pork cooking broth) for dunking.

Yayy! You are so very welcome. I love this idea of cooking ahead for (wow!) 17 people. I want to be in your family lol. Have so much fun and thank you for making my recipe part of your family event. I’m honored 🙂

Pork shoulder, or picnic shoulder, has less fat marbling, so it’s a leaner cut that doesn’t fall apart as easily as pork butt, but will still work for this recipe.To start, trim the pork and cut into pieces if it’s too large for your Instant Pot like I did in these photos. Season the pork with salt and pepper. Then combine the dry rub spices and coat the pork on all sides.

Instant Pot Pulled Pork is so juicy and tender, it tastes like it cooked all day! Serve pulled pork with or without BBQ sauce as an entree, or make the best pulled pork sandwiches.

Pork butt, or Boston Butt, has more fat marbling that benefits from slow cooking and pressure cooking which tenderizes and falls apart when it’s pulled or shredded.Nice! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipe. We love it smoked too, but the convenience of cooking pulled pork in the Instant Pot wins LOL. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback. Cheers!Pressure cooker pulled pork is as easy as seasoning, searing, pressure cooking, and shredding – and watching everyone devour it. It’s as juicy as slow cooker pulled pork, but cooks in fractions of the time.

Sear all sides of each piece of pork using the ‘Saute’ setting in the Instant Pot. Deglaze the pot by adding a splash of broth and scrape the brown bits off the bottom. This is “liquid gold”).

Yes! Freezing pulled pork is a great way to stretch your dollars and your time! Allow the shredded pork to cool completely and package into airtight freezer-safe containers. Freeze up to 3 months, or longer if vacuum sealed. To thaw, transfer to the refrigerator for an overnight stay, then heat and serve.I’m so glad you love this pulled pork as much as I do! I can’t decide which one of those things I like the best. Whichever one I’m eating at the time…that’s my favorite

It makes no difference to the price you pay but it really helps me continue improving this website. If you like what I’m doing then save this link and use it every time you go to Amazon. For whatever you purchase through this link (it doesn’t have to be barbecue) I heartily thank you in advance.Right before you cook the chicken, I like to use this Homemade Cajun Seasoning. It has a very robust taste, and really infuses lots of flavor into your poultry. You can use this Cajun seasoning on any type of meat and it is very simple to make.

The charcoal is on the outside of the cooker and the chamber that the food is in is sealed. The indirect heat causes convection current swirls around the inside of the chamber as it builds up pressure. This indirect heat and convection cook the meat. It also seals in moisture and steam which helps the meat retain moisture and helps to cook as well.

I quickly got it all to put together and was chomping at the bits to test it out. The unit is made of 100% stainless steel so you never have to worry about it rusting.Hey, y’all! My name is Ronnie and it is my goal to bring you the best Southern-inspired recipes, reviews, and restaurants from the South and beyond. For more info, check out our about page.

Make sure to leave the lid on for the entire time that the book recommends. Opening the lid drastically drops the temperature and the pressure inside. That will affect the cooking times. Once you get the box open, it is simple to put together. There are a few pieces that will have to be assembled which you can see in the video that I provide below. You can watch our Unboxing and assembly video below. Once the assembly is done, you are ready to cook. The Orion comes with two cooking grates, 3 rib hangers, a poultry stand, and a lifting handle. It also comes with a drip tray to catch all of the drippings or you can add water or juice to the drip tray to help with moisture retention.The Orion cooker is very versatile. The Orion can hold a whole turkey that weighs up to a 16 to 18-pound turkey. It will hold three racks of ribs. Pork butt is a very ideal type of meat to cook in the Orion cooker. Some other ideas to cook in the Orion cooker:

You can also add wood chips on the inside of the cooker to add a little smoke. So to recap, indirect heat, convection, steam, and also smoke are what make this cooker work. It is basically a convection cooker. This creates flavorful and tender meat.

I choose to do a chicken and one rack of ribs. Both had a cooking time of 1 hour and 10 mins. I let it go for that amount of time then opened the lid to check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer.

They were both spot on. My chicken came out moist, and tender, with a nice smokey flavor. The ribs were tender but did not completely fall off the bone.

After reading up on it, I found it was perfect for someone like me with the little smoking experience I have. This cooker is as close to a set-and-forget-it method as there is. All you have to do is load it, light it, and eat it. So simple to do.Since the charcoal does not touch the inside, there is no worry about any aftertaste from the fluid. If you want to smoke your food, you simply add some wood chips on the inside next to the drip pan around the outer edge of the cooking chamber. This will give you a great smoke flavor.Mostly what I have done in the past has been on a Weber kettle grill. I came across the Orion Cooker and instantly was intrigued by it. After looking it over, I felt compelled to do an honest review of The Orion cooker.

Once you have placed your food on the inside and closed the lid, you are ready to light it. Light it, set your timer, and then walk away. It is really that simple.The Orion cooker cooks with four basic methods. The first is indirect heat. The main principle it works on is convection cooking. The chamber is completely sealed to the outside. No air gets in or out.

Fill the ring up with charcoal. Fill the top part with charcoal as well. Soak both with lighter fluid. Let it soak in for a few minutes then light it. Once you light it, start your cook time.I reached out to The Orion Cooker company and they sent me a unit to test out for my honest review. When it arrived, I was instantly impressed with the build. There are three sizes that you can choose from in the Orion lineup. You have the small cooker, the original Orion cooker, and the Large cooker. I have the original myself and find it to be a perfect size.

You can see in the picture below that there really isn’t any kind of smoke ring showing up in the pulled pork. I contribute this to the convection process of cooking the meat. I don’t believe enough smoke penetrates the interior of the meat to create a smoke ring. I also think that’s why the Orion Cooker is called a cooker, rather than a smoker.The Orion Cooker comes with 3 cooking grates which offers 3 levels of cooking space and provides 398 square inches of cooking surface. The picture below shows 2 of the 3 grates installed and the last grate would sit on top of the holders for the 3 rib hangers. All the included attachments are manufactured out of food grade stainless steel.

The Orion cooker is a shiny good looking cooker. I personally know two people that have purchased them. They were fun at first but did not deliver in the smoke department. The meat steams more than smokes. There is no way to control the temperature and they burn through a lot of fuel/charcoal. They both have been put in the back of the garage after several months of use. They are fun looking.Are you limited to using wood chips, or is it possible to use smaller wood chunks? How hard is it to add new wood chips in the case of cooking a larger protein?

I recommend only cooking two butts at a time. They put out a lot of moisture and the drip pan can overflow and soak your wood chips. I have their new deeper drip pan but haven’t tried to cook more than two butts at a time since. Another problem with cooking too many butts at once is that the wood chips are smoked out by the time the long cooking time is over and you can’t easily replinish the wood chips. Be prepared to add charcoal during the long cooking process. I usually add some every two hours. These additional brickets don’t have to be the instant light ones. Just make sure that the existing coals are still viable before you add the new charcoal.I’ve used the orion cooker numberous times. It cooks extremely well. Especially, if you don’t have dedicated time to baby sit the pit. I use the Jack Daniels wood chips. As a clean up tip, after it has cooled, I spray oven cleaner and hose off. Stubborn spots are lightly scrubed with a soft bristle pad. It’s too easy to cook in this lil unit !!!! Love it….The Orion Cooker is constructed of solid stainless steel. It’s also an outdoor convection cooker that uses 3 cooking processes simultaneously: convection, steam and smoke.With the Orion Cooker you pretty much place whatever meats you want to cook inside, then put the lid on and light the Match Light Briquettes. Then once the recommended cook time is done your meat should be up to proper temp and ready to go. If you remove the lid during this process, the convection current will be lost and your cook time will be increased.The second thing is the somewhat lack of smoke that is generated inside the Orion Cooker. I did notice that after adding more wood chips for the turkey and rib cook that the meat had a little more of a smoke flavor present.

I feel this is a great cooker for any backyard griller like myself that doesn’t always want to spend all day cooking food. It’s also great for when you have friends or family over for a cookout or even a Super Bowl Party and want something you can cook a lot of meat on in a fraction of the time.

As you get use to using the Orion you will find you can cook with less than 12 lbs of charcoal. The larger size charcoal bricks work better. You will also find you do not necessarily need the more costly Matchlight charcoal if the bricks are soaked well or mixed 50/50 with Matchlight. As far as smoke…most people I know think you have to go light on the wood chips because little smoke escapes. I found this to be true unless you are a heavy smoke fan. I love this cooker. Perfect food every time..that should be their catch phrase!I just purchased and Orion and cooked TG 15 pound turkey, worked great. I was also concerned about how much charcoal it used. I substituted 2/3 charcoal capacity for wood(oak), and it worked fine. Get a layer of charcoal (about 2 brickqets deep) started, then put the wood on top of it, was still plenty hot after 1:45 cook time; it burned for at least another hour.Once the 4 1/2 hours were up, I removed the lid and checked the temp of the pork butt. My Thermapen showed the butt was around 185 degrees, so it was time to pull it with my new Ro-Man Pork Puller.Thanks for leaving a comment Jim! That is a great cause you’re supporting and also very close to my heart! I have never cooked that many butts at once on the Orion Cooker, so I am not really sure on the cooking times for that amount. I would go to the contact page for Orion Cooker at the link below and they should definitely be able to answer that question for you. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help Jim. Good luck to you with that cook at Relay for Life!

Thanks for the tip Rich! I’ll have to give that a try soon. My family and I really enjoy using the Orion Cooker and it’s a fantastic product too! Thanks for leaving a comment.I’ve had my Orion for a couple years now. LOVE it! Can’t go wrong. Can cook for a crowd so easy. We are doing a turkey this weekend and I wondered if I added to the cooking time a little bit, do you think I could stuff it? It will be a 12-13 lb turkey. As stated in the Owner’s Manual & Cookbook, it is highly recommended to use the Orion Cooker in a safe cooking area away from buildings, dry leaves, or any combustible materials. You want to also make sure to keep children and pets away from the cooking area as well. This is mainly because of the flames and heat from the Match Light Briquettes at the start of the cook. Once the charcoal was lit, it was hands off cooking for the remainder of the cook. The reason for this is that the indirect heat from the charcoal creates a constant convection current that circulates within the Orion Cooker and cooks the meat quickly and evenly. If you remove the lid during this process, the convection current will be lost and your cook time will be increased. I also knew from looking at the Owner’s Manual & Cookbook that the cooking time for a 6-7lb butt was approximately 4 1/2 hours.I was really impressed with how moist and flavorful the pulled pork tasted. I also contribute that great flavor to one of my favorite rubs I used on the pork butt, Draper’s BBQ A.P. Rub.

I then paced the lid on the Orion Cooker and filled the lower charcoal ring with a 12.5lb bag of Kingsford Match Light Briquettes. I also made sure to save back 10-12 briquettes to place in the upper charcoal ring on the lid. I know what you are thinking…but wait, that is going to make the meat taste like lighter fluid using those briquettes. Worry not my friends, the completely enclosed cooking chamber of the Orion Cooker separates the flame and smoke of the Match Light Briquettes from the meat inside.I was extremely impressed with how well the Orion Cooker worked. All the food I cooked for my review turned out superb! Plus the cooking times listed in the Owner’s Manual & Cookbook were spot on. I look forward to trying out some of the great recipes listed in the cookbook section of the manual, which were submitted to Orion Outdoors, Inc. by Orion Cooker owners.

The last thing that some may consider a negative is the fact that you can’t easily check the temp of the meat with a thermometer during the cook. I thought this may also be an issue for me, but once I cooked these three different meats it was clear that as long as you follow the cook times listed in the Owner’s Manual & Cookbook your meat should be up to proper temp.In the picture below you will see some little black trickles of moisture which have caused discoloration on the outside of my Orion Cooker. This is normal due to the heat and ash from the coals on the outside and this will in no way diminish the quality or performance of the Orion Cooker. In fact, the Orion Cooker community considers this a right of passage which many of the owners like to show off when they meet up for Big “O” Cookouts.

This is also a great product for people like myself that don’t always have the time to devote to an all day cook. You really can’t beat being able to cook a 15lb turkey in 1hr 45mins or a 3-4lb Chicken in 1hr 10mins or even 2 6-7lb Pork Butts in 4 1/2hrs. For me it boils down to getting to spend more time with my family and friends and less time spent watching/tending my cooker. The days I do feel like relaxing outside with a cold one and having that nice long cook time to myself I will use my WSM to cook on. Either way the Orion Cooker produces some pretty great product. Also with its low price its well worth buying in my opinion!Also you really don’t need to worry about controlling the temperature of the Orion Cooker. Just follow the Owner’s Manual & Cookbook and use the amount of Match Light Briquettes that it calls for and cook the meat for the recommended times and you should pretty much have the same results every cook like I have thus far.