Pulled pork buns with apple and smoked bacon

  • medium
  • Serves 6
  • 1 hour 30 minutes
Not yet rated

In this ultimate pulled pork recipe, Matt Weedon cooks three different cuts of pork (preferably Oxford Sandy and Black pork) in a water bath – a hassle-free alternative to a barbecue pit. This low and slow cooking results in perfect pulled pork recipe that gives unbelievably tender meat. The chef finishes the pulled pork buns with crispy bacon, and triple-cooked chips.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Pulled pork

Salt and vinegar seasoning

Apple purée

Grain mustard mayonnaise

Equipment

  • Water bath
  • Vacuum bags
  • Chamber sealer
  • Deep fat fryer
  • Blender
  • Steamer

Method

1
Preheat an oven of dehydrator to 50°C
2
First, make the salt and vinegar seasoning. Mix together the salt and vinegar and place on a small baking tray. Place in the oven and leave to dry overnight. The next day, blitz the salt and vinegar into a fine powder and set aside
3
Preheat a water bath to 85°C
4
To make the pulled pork, season the pork belly and pork shoulder with salt and freshly ground white pepper. Place each piece of meat in an individual vacuum bag and seal in a chamber sealer. Cook in the water bath for 12 hours at 85°C
5
Remove the meat from the vacuum bags and reserve the cooking juices. Mix the pork shoulder and pork belly juices with the gammon liquor and reduce to a sauce-like consistency
6
Using a fork, shred the meats and place in a bowl with the reduced meat liquor, grated apples, grain mustard, barbecue sauce, salt and pepper. Keep warm until ready to serve
7
For the apple purée, melt the butter in a wide-based saucepan and add the chopped apple and apple juice. Cook over a moderate heat until the apples are tender and mashed. Most of the juice should be reduced and the purée should be dry and rough
8
When ready to cook, preheat a deep fat fryer to 110°C
9
To make the chips, peel the potatoes and cut into chips. In a steamer, steam the chips for 6–8 minutes and allow to cool
10
Place the chips in the fryer basket and blanch the chips for 12 minutess or until they start to show a light golden colour. Drain well and turn the fryer up to 185°C
11
To make the grain mustard mayonnaise, mix together the grain mustard and the mayonnaise, season to taste and set aside
12
To finish the chips, fry for 4–5 minutes in the preheated deep fat fryer and season with the salt and vinegar seasoning. Keep warm
13
Preheat the grill to a high heat
14
Grill the bacon until crispy and the tomatoes until soft. Turn the grill to medium and toast the brioche buns
15
To serve, spread the apple purée on the bottom half of each bun and the grain mustard mayonnaise on the top of each bun. Divide the pulled pork between the brioche bun bases and top with a lettuce leaf and the smoked bacon. Serve with the chips, tomatoes and grain mustard

Soft-spoken and faultlessly modest, chef Matt Weedon prefers to let his accomplishments in the kitchen speak for themselves.

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