Kalua Pork – Instant Pot
Certainly faster than digging a pit and roasting a pig in it.
Kalua Pork – Instant Pot
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Hawaiian sea salt (or kosher salt)
- 1 4 pound boneless pork butt roast or shoulder roast quartered with excess fat trimmed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
- ½ cup water
Instructions
Brown the pork
- Rub the pork with the sea salt.
- Turn on the instant pot and place it in highest sauté mode.
- When the instant pot is hot, add the olive oil.
- Sauté the pork in two or three batches until lightly browned, saving the juices.
Pressure cook using the instant pot
- Place the pork back into the instant pot along with any juices. Squeeze it into the bottom if necessary.
- Splash the liquid smoke over the pork and add the water to the pot.
- Lock the lid in place and be sure the pressure release valve is closed. If you have a keep warm function, turn it on.
- Use the high pressure cook function. Cook for 90 minutes.
- After the pressure cooking is complete, let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes. Then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Transfer the pork to a large bowl.
- While the liquid is reducing, use a couple of forks to shred the pork.
Notes
Freezing
Pulled pork freezes well, just spoon it into zip lock bags with some of the cooking liquid. Try to use the leftovers within two or three weeks, thaw in the refrigerator and reheat in a microwave.
Shredding
Forks work well for shredding, but we received these shredder claws as a gift and we love them. They are certainly not a necessity, but fun to have around.
Slider Buns
Use your favorite hamburger buns or slider buns. Our favorite for sliders are King’s Hawaiian “Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls”. We like them because even though they are a mainland company now, it takes me back back to the late 1980’s when they still had a bakery in Honolulu.
Sides
These go great with coleslaw!