- wearegoodatthis
Can I Make "Instant Pot Pulled Pork"?
Updated: Aug 26, 2020

Instant Pots are everywhere and they seemed really convenient, but usually people use them to make a ton of food for several portions and I cook for myself, so I was hesitant to get one. But I found myself in a kick of wanting to eat -- pulled pork and Adobo, and it would take me hours to get it to the texture I wanted, so I decided to get one. :)
I found this Pin from createkidsclub.com and it had really good instructions on using the Instant Pot, so I decided to try it! Her recipe for pulled pork sounded good too.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/562668547193394614/
https://www.createkidsclub.com/instant-pot-pulled-pork/?
Since I was making a lot for myself -- a couple pounds, I decided to divide it up and do different recipes for smaller portions. Check out the quick post -- about making multiple recipes from 1 batch and saving them for later!
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Attempt #1:

What I used:
- ~2.5 or 3 lbs. Pork shoulder
(** I didn't cut it into pieces - I just cooked it for longer to get it soft.)
This is for 6 lbs. of meat -- I did a fraction for the smaller portion of meat.
2 tbsp. cumin
2 tbsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. onion powder
2 tbsp. granulated garlic
2 tbsp. paprika
1 tbsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
Garlic powder, cumin, salt & pepper not shown.
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First, I put it on saute and I was surprised that it really was sauteing like on the stove!
You can see nice brown crust there.
Then I followed her directions and put it on the pressure cooking! The real test! You add about a cup of water to the instant pot to help it pressurize. (Tip: After cooking, you can use these juices as soup or broth later.)
Since I was making different recipes for different portions, I didn't add the spices in when I was pressure cooking the meat.
I was surprised at how easy it was. One really nice thing is that you basically set it and forget it -- as opposed to when I'm cooking it on the stove or oven and I have to check it and add water etc. After an hour, it beeped and it was fun to release the pressure after it beeped. It wasn't as soft as I wanted, so I put it on for another 30 min.
Photos: Left - About 1 hour and Right - After 1 hour, 30 min. - tender and easily made into pulled pork.
RESULT: Success! :)
We are good at this! It was much easier than I thought after following the good instructions from createkidsclub.com and her recipe was tasty too.
As noted above, since I was making different kinds of recipes with portions of the pork I made, I added in the spices at the end to this small portion. Perhaps, it didn't penetrate the same as if I had added it in while it was pressure cooking, but it was still tasty.
Oops! Forgot to take a photo of the finished product. You can take my word for it that it was still tasty!
Give it a try! We are good at this!