Braised Pork Shoulder

Braised pork shoulder with onions, garlic, chipotles in Adobo sauce and dark beer. The meat finishes fork-tender, with appetizing outer crust and permeated by flavor. Pull apart the rich, succulent pork and use it in tacos, nachos, carnitas, BBQ pork sandwiches, BBQ pizza, rice bowls & more.

5 from 4 votes

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Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 3

Author: Milena Perrine

Ingredients

3 to 10 lbs pork shoulder*
kosher salt to taste
black pepper to taste
2 tablespoon neutral cooking oil
2 large yellow onions
8 garlic cloves
8 oz diced chipotles in Adobo sauce
12 oz dark beer with a sweetish profile**
6 oz beef broth optional***

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 F. Peel and rough chop the onions, peel the garlic and halve large cloves, otherwise leave them whole.
Trim all excess fat from the pork shoulder, cut a larger roast into manageable chunks for ease of handling and faster cooking. Pat dry the meat with paper towels and season it with salt and pepper - to taste, but on the generous side.
Sear the pork**** over medium-high heat with the cooking oil (work in batches unless you are searing a smaller pork shoulder you intend to braise whole). Sear an all sides until nicely brown, adding oil as needed.
In the braising cookware of your choice (braiser, Dutch oven, slow cooker, roasting pan) arrange the onions and garlic. On top place the seared pork shoulder. Mix the chipotles in Adobo with the beer and pour the mixture around the pork.
Cover with lid (or tightly with foil if braising in a roasting pan) and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2 and ½ hours and check for tenderness. If the pork is still tough continue braising and check for tenderness every 30 minutes. Add beef broth it braising liquid is getting low.
When the pork is fork tender to your satisfaction you can uncover it and let it cook for extra 20 minutes to develop a crust (optional).
When done, break apart the pork shoulder into chunks or shred it into smaller pieces with two forks. Allow the meat to soak in the braising liquid to absorb the delicious moisture. Alternatively, make a sauce from the braising liquid and serve it with the pork shoulder.

TO MAKE A SAUCE

While keeping the pork warm in a separate dish, transfer the liquids and solids from the braiser to a blender or a bowl where you can use a hand blender.
Blend until a smooth mixture. If too thick, thin it out with some beef broth. You can also work in a ½ tablespoon of Dijon mustard.
Warm up the mixture in a sauce pan and serve it like a gravy.

Notes

*You can braise any quantity of pork shoulder within this weight range with the same quantity of the other ingredients. Be sure it is trimmed of excess fat. Cut bigger cuts into smaller chunks so that they can cook faster and so that there is more surface area to brown and develop flavor around. If there is a bone (typically part of the shoulder blade) you can braise the piece whole - it will take longer than if you were braising portioned meat, but once the meat is tender the bone will come off cleanly.

**Use a beer such as a dunkel lager (mass produced version is Modelo Negra) or a porter ale, brown ale or stout with sweetish profile (not agressively hopped). You can stir 1 tablespoon of brown sugar into the beer before you combine it with the chipotles. You can substitute with beef broth for the beer if desired.

***You can add the optional beef broth if you are braising a larger quantity of pork shoulder. Also consider adding it if as you check the meat for tenderness the level of the braising liquid appears very low.

****If you are using a braiser or a large Dutch oven sear the meat in it and once done add the onions, garlic, return the meat and follow up with the liquid. If you will be braising in a roasting pan or a slow cooker sear the pork in a large skillet. Consult the step-by-step pictures above. For slow cooker only: Cook on the high setting unless you have all day available to wait for the pork to reach fork tenderness on the low setting. Check often.

HOW TO MAKE BARBECUE BRAISED PORK. When the pork is cooked to fork-tenderness remove the meat from the braising liquid, shred it and toss it in BBQ sauce to make BBQ pork. You could use Hoisin sauce instead for an Asian inspired version.