Can You Make Pulled Pork with Pork Chops?

As far as deliciously keeping your protein up is concerned, pulled pork is just as good as chicken breasts. Its popularity has attracted some confusion, and making pulled pork with pork chops is up there.

Making pulled pork can sometimes be tasking, especially if you’re not familiar with the cuts of pork that will go well for pulled pork.

If you’re worried about what cuts of pork are good for your pulled pork if even pork chops work well for your pulled pork, or how you would make pulled pork with pork chops, allow us to cater to your pulled pork concerns.

Can You Make Pulled Pork with Pork Chops?

Can you use pork chops to make pulled pork? Yes, but we won’t exactly recommend it. We recommend pork shoulder as a classic cut for pulled pork. You know those things that can be done but still feel like they shouldn’t? This is one of them.

Even though you can make pulled pork with pork chops, pork chops may not be an excellent cut of pork for your pulled pork because its muscle consistency is quite different from that of conventional pork shoulder.

How to Make Pulled Pork from Pork Chops in The Oven

Do you know you can conveniently enjoy a plate of oven-baked pulled-pork chops?

Here’s how to make yourself some!

First things first, ingredients!

  • Two pounds of pork chops.
  • 18 ounces of apple hickory flavored BBQ sauce.
  • Two large sliced onions.
  • 14.5 ounces of stewed tomatoes.
  • Half a cup of brown sugar.
  • Half a head of peeled garlic head.
  • 1 pinch of ground black pepper and salt.
  • Two tablespoons of malt vinegar.
  • ¼ cup of water.

Guide:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Gently combine the BBQ sauce, tomatoes, onion, brown sugar, vinegar, garlic, salt, black pepper in a food processor or a blender.
  3. Pulse-blend till the mixture is blended but still a bit chunky.
  4. Add water if you notice that the blend is too thick.
  5. Gently arrange the pork chops in an oven-friendly dish and cover with the BBQ sauce blend made in step 3.
  6. Place a foil wrap over it to serve as covering and let it bake for approximately three hours when the pork is very soft.
  7. Then take out the foil and shred it manually with two forks.

How to Make Pulled Pork with Pork Chops in A Slow Cooker

Tenderizing cuts of meat gets better with a slow cooker. Slow cookers have since become a popular favorite because of their versatility and usability.  Here’s a quick and easy way to make pulled pork with pork chops in a slow cooker.

What do you need?

  • Half a cup of water.
  • Sliced onions
  • Half bottle of preferred BBQ sauce.
  • Spices (southwestern spice mix and fresh black ground pepper).
  • Six boneless centers cut chops.

Guide:

  1. To your slow cooker, add some water and some of your BBQ sauce and stir.
  2. Place a layer of the chops inside the slow cooker. 
  3. Add some sauce and onions on top of the first layer, keep adding your layers of chops and BBQ sauce.
  4. Leave to cook for seven hours.
  5. After seven hours, use a slotted spoon to transfer half of the chops into a bowl of a stand mixer that has a flat beater.
  6. Mix on low till the pork chops have been shredded to your preferred level.
  7. Transfer the shredded pork into another bowl and shred the rest.
  8. Serve with preferred sauce!

Read also: What to Serve with Potato Croquettes

How to Make Pulled Pork from Pork Chops on The Stove

A crockpot for your pulled pork will give your pork that much-needed balance of flavor and tenderness.

Here’s a quick how-to:

Ingredients: 1 pound of pork chops, 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh onion, ½ cup of water, and your preferred BBQ sauce.

Guide:

  1. Place one pound of the pork chops in a crockpot and sprinkle onions in.
  2. Add BBQ sauce and water.
  3. Let it cook for 6-10 hours on low heat.
  4. Afterward, allow it cool and pull it apart or shred it.
  5. You’re good to go.

Are Pork Chops Good for Pulled Pork?

Not exactly. Barely, if you ask me. Pork chops don’t exactly work well with pulled pork.

Here’s why.

The muscle structure of pork chops is different from that of the conventional pork shoulders. Pulled pork requires fatty meat that has a lot of connective tissue and pork chops do not offer that luxury because they are generally lean meats.

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Can I Substitute Pork Chops for Pork Shoulder?

You can. But here’s the deal, it won’t yield the same results because the texture and consistency of both cuts of pork are opposites. Even the cooking procedures differ.

What Cut of Pork Do You Use for Pulled Pork?

The best cut of pork for the ultimate pulled pork recipe is the pork shoulder. With the pork shoulder, you should expect more tender meat that pulls easily because of its A+ fat content. It is important to always cook your pork shoulder slowly so that the protein can be broken down adequately.

By Luong Tan

Luong Tan, the creative and passionate founder of Bourbono, is a multi-talented individual with a deep love for the culinary arts. An accomplished food blogger, cookbook author, and former Ambassador of US cuisine in Vietnam (2015-2016), Luong has been on a mission to share his appreciation for food with the world.

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