Mexican Style Pulled Pork

4 from 1 vote

One of my favorite things about cooking or grilling is the ability to play with flavors. Given my love for Mexican food and BBQ, I decided to put a spin on a classic pork recipe by making a Mexican style pulled pork.

Prep Time15

Cook Time6

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: mexican style pulled pork, pork recipes, pulled pork, pork shoulder recipes, grill recipes, grilling recipes, grilling with dad recipes, grillin with dad recipes.

Servings: people

Author: Maciek Zurawski

Ingredients

6 lbs Pork shoulder
2 tbsp Yellow mustard
6 tbsp Dad's taco rub

Achiote Paste Ingredients

2 tbsp Achiote paste
2 tbsp Chili powder
2 tbsp Cumin powder
2 tbsp Salt
1/2 cup Vinegar
1/2 cup Water

Instructions

Coat the entire pork shoulder with hot sauce which will work as a binder for the seasoning.
Mix the seasoning using 1 tablespoon of each: salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder and crushed peppers.
Coat the shoulder heavily on all sides.
Place the seasoned pork shoulder on the grill at 250 degrees on direct heat and let if cook for about 4 hours or until it reaches 170 degrees internally.
While the pork is on the grill, start prepping the sauce. Blend together achiote paste, chili powder, cumin, garlic, salt, vinegar and water.
Before removing the pork from the grill, Line 2 sheets of aluminum foil and a large banana leaf
Place the grilled pork shoulder on the wrap and pour the liquid paste all over the meat.
Wrap up the protein for the second cook starting with the banana leaf and ending with a tight seal from the heavy duty foil.
Leave the wrapped pork on the grill for another2-3 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 204 degrees.
Remove from the grill and let it rest for 1 hour.
Place the shoulder in a pan, remove the bone and shred the meat, mixing it in with all the rendered juices.

Notes

Try to purchase a bone-in pork shoulder. Helps cook more evenly.
If you are not a fan of mustard in general, use hot sauce or Worcestershire sauce as the binding agent.
For the first 4 hours, leave the pork should on the grill. Do NOT peek inside. Let the grill do its magic. After that, you should start to check the bark and see it is not drying out.
At this stage of the cook, no more smoke will penetrate the meat. It’s OK to finish the cook in the oven.
Tenderness is key. This will help make the pork shreddable. The final temperature on a classic pulled pork can range anywhere from 200 to 205 degrees, so be patient. If the probe is not going into the meat smoothly, it’s not done. Keep cooking. This is where a lot of the mistakes are made. Pork is removed too soon and the meat ends up dry and tough.

Nutrition