How to Can Pulled Pork
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After my adventures making pickled asparagus last week, I decided to try something totally different. I found this great recipe for canning pulled pork. It has quickly become one of my favorite recipes for canning meat.
Now that I know where to get good deals on pork, I thought this would be a great item to add to our food storage.
We have a Cash and Carry wholesale grocery store where I can get great deals on pork butt (pork butt is actually the shoulder of the pig!).
The regular price is about $1.17 a pound, and I have found it as low as $.99 a pound. This is a great deal.
The piece of pork that I bought was 16 pounds, so it cost about $20.00. I then used that pork to make 6 quarts of pulled pork, which is 6 meals for a family of four. That comes to slightly more than $3 a meal, not bad!
Step by Step Canning Video
New to pressure canning and want to watch me prepare this recipe? This video shows you complete instructions for canning pulled pork.
First you need to cook the pork. I put mine on the rack in my electric turkey roasting pan
You need to cook the pork until the internal temperature when measured with a meat thermometer is 170 degrees F.
I cooked it at 300 degrees, and it took approximately 6 hours for my 16 pounds of pork to cook completely. Here are my tips for cooking pork in a crock pot or in the oven.
At this point I didn’t have time to finish the pulled pork, so I put all of the cooked pieces of meat in a big pot with a lid and put it in the refrigerator until the next day.
The next day I brought the pork out of the refrigerator, cut/shred the pork into small pieces, and then put the pork into the clean roasting pan.
You can use store-bought barbecue sauce or make your own. I made my own.
Pulled Pork Recipe
To the pork I added about:
- 4 c. ketchup
- 1 c. mustard
- 1 c. brown sugar
- 3/4 c. apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp. garlic powder
- 1 tbsp. black pepper
- 3 tbsp. liquid smoke
- 3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice.
You can add hot sauce if desired. After stirring it all up, adjust seasonings to taste. If necessary, add a little water to get a nice sauce like consistency. A lot of the water will evaporate during the canning process.
When you open the jar later you may need to add a little more water or barbecue sauce before serving.
Canning Directions
As the pork mixture is warming up, sterilize glass jars, rings, and lids. Heat the water in your pressure canner.
After the jars are ready, ladle the heated pork mixture into the hot jars, leaving 1 inch head space. Wipe rims of jars with a damp towel and put the lids and rings on the jars.
Process in pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 70 minutes (pints) or 90 minutes (quarts).
After pressure has released from canner, remove jars from canner and place on a towel on the kitchen counter until completely cooled.
Make sure jars have sealed by pressing down on the center of each one before storing.
Your canned pulled pork can be stored for a year or more in the pantry.
More Pressure Canning Recipes
- Beef stew
- Vegetable broth or stock
- Chicken broth
- Barbecue sauce
- Pork and beans
- Chili
- Split pea soup
- Bean and ham soup
- Garbanzo beans (chick peas)
Did You Try this Recipe?
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Newbie in canning mainly in small batch things since it’s just me but I save so much money after initial investment! I got myself a Nesco electric canner and love it so far . But you my sweet lady have made me love it ! So many how to do’s and don’ts it’s a mess . You’re straight to the point about headspace and canning times no hum haughin around and I did it ! All sealed ! I first pressure cooked my carnitas and found you and directions on how to precisely can my pork ! Success! The onto my pork and bean soup ! With your guidance I succeeded ! Now tomorrow is barría meat and more beans with smoked ham hocks! Thank you so much for being just straight to the point ! Made me feel like I’ve done it for years ! I will be back for more recipes !
Could.you do a similar thing, using teriyaki sauce?? Wanting to have more options and variety of canned pork!
Judy probably asked if it’s OK to water bath can pork because that’s what the photos in the recipe show. It’s a pressure cooker but it’s filled over the top of the jars with water which you’d only do if you were water bath canning.
My husband is afraid with the meat already cooked that after canning the meat will be mushy.
Do you have any trouble with that?
Thank you
Hi! I happened to notice in this recipe (and in your chili recipe, the only two that I’ve viewed thus far) you make no mention of skimming the fats off the meats prior to combining with the other ingredients and canning. I’ve read and seen instruction that teaches canning with the fat will cause your food to go rancid much more quickly. Have you found any issue with storage life? What is the longest you have left jars on your shelf & found them still safe/consumable? Or perhaps the way you’re cooking the meat renders very little fat for you tto be concerned with? We all know much of the flavor in these dishes is found in some fat remaining, hence my question. Inquiring taste buds need to know these things… lol! I’m a newbie to the canning world, so thank you for any info you can provide. And…Thanks for sharing all of your knowledge with us! Great website!
What kind of pork did you use?
do you add water when you bake the roast?
is it regular yellow mustard like what you would use on a hotdog?
Can you season your meat with salt, pepper, and garlic powder when cooking your meat before canning?
How many cups or ounces of sauce did you need? I was thinking of using some I already have. (Bottled) Thanks for the great recipe!
Thank you for this!!! I love canning my own food with healthy ingredients for my family. If I wanted to feed them crap food and crap ingredients I’d hang out with Lainey
Alternately, you could go to your favorite BBQ joint and buy their pulled pork and sauce. Would probably be better and save a lot of time/energy. I make Brunswick Stew (recipe makes gallons) frequently. It calls for BBQ (meaning smoked/cooked on grill) pork, beef, chicken. I don’t BBQ my own meat, I go to my local BBQ restaurant and buy it by the pound.
Lainey that defeats the entire point of this post, I know I’m late but your comment annoyed the hell out of me this post is for ppl that cook can and save money and don’t think that great bbq comes from restaurants. If we wanted that crap we wouldn’t be reading canning instructions.
Thank you so much, I can’t wait to can my own pulled pork and BBQ! I never buy anything cooked by anyone else. My husband loves pulled pork and I travel quite a bit. This will allow him to eat healthy when I am out of town. We live on am island so fast food and prepared food just is not an option anyway!
Can you can the pork using a water bath?
Hi! No pork cannot be canned in a water bath. You need to use a pressure canner because of the low acid level of the meat. All meat needs to be pressure canned.
Of course cooking healthy is a big attraction to canning but the convenience is also great. As is saving room in my freezer—and maybe those utilities too! Thank you for the instructions. Not everything is in my Ball book. And it is interesting to see how other are rocking their canning!
I sure would like a good recipe for Brunswick stew