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Comment by fhood | Hacker News Reader

Pressure cooker + liquid smoke. 9/10ths as good.

Disclaimer: I say this as a firm believer in the power of charcoal.

The recipe I followed (AmazingRibs' Perfect Pulled Pork [0]) mentions a "fast method" that involves smoking for 2 hours with lots of smoke, and finishing in the oven. I wonder if smoker + pressure cooker would be even faster and still get the benefits of the smokiness. I guess it still wouldn't have the bark but it sounds like an experiment I'll need to try.

0: https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/pork-chops-pulled-por...

Liquid smoke is critical here.

Cool project! I've done the "low and slow" part using sous-vide then a chill bath and a quick smoke on the grill for bark. Same time-frame (probably even longer) but just a bit more convenient with the precision temperature of the sous-vide. https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/07/food-lab-complete-guide-...

fast method works fine, have done it myself on occasions when my fire went out on an overnight smoke. At 4 am its easier just to toss it into oven to finish vs getting another fire going.

Sister does pulled pork in a pressure cooker as well. Pointless otherwise at this point. Takes no time, and comes out awesome.

Choking down the rage this comment inspires in me, let me just say that pressure cooking pork in a vat of liquid is NOT the same thing as a slow-smoked pulled pork and to call proper barbecue pointless is affront to all that is good and decent.

Pulled pork is too time consuming to do properly for pretty much everybody. And with a couple of tricks to add texture and smoke you can create a very close copy with very little effort.

You could feed most people pressure cooked pulled pork with liquid smoke and they wouldn’t know the difference.

And the ones that can tell the difference, will inevitably go on to eat something else after the meal is finished.

It’s just not worth the time and effort unless you’re a hobbyist.

You don't get any bark without the real smoke.

I have pressure-cooked dozens of pork shoulders, and I will say the only instances they've ever disappointed is when I didn't give them enough time (which in a pressure cooker just means 30-60 more minutes, not hours). give yourself time and don't be afraid to put it back in if it's not falling apart.

How does pressure affect the time needed to break down collagen? The sweet spot temp. for most BBQ cooking is 225˚F, which is already above water's boiling point at standard pressure, so I'm unclear on how increased pressure would benefit cook time.

That's the temperature outside the meat. The meat itself is kept cool by evaporation.

Pressure cooking lets the internal temperature rise faster by suppressing the boiling on the surface.

slaps forehead

Of course! It would totally demolish "the stall". I have a pellet grill, and I'd love it if it had a high pressure mode that would kick in, sealing off the vents, once the internal temp's rate of change slowed to a certain point.

Collagen breakdown is a kinetic process(that is, a function of temperature * time). So you can decrease the time if you increase the temperature, that gets you part of the way there. But then there is also the fact that in a BBQ smoker, you are getting almost 100% of your heat on meat from air convection, whereas in a pressure cooker your food is either submerged in liquid, or in a high pressure steam, meaning that the heat transfer is much, much higher in a pressure cooker(this is the same concept why exposing skin to 40 degree air is much more pleasant than dunking that same skin in 40 degree water).

I haven't cooked pulled pork in a while, but I have been making some pulled chicken in my pressure cooker every now and then the past few months. After 15 minutes on high pressure(~15 psi, 250 degrees), the chicken is fully cooked and literally falling apart as I pick it up under its own weight, which is something I never get even when I smoke chicken in my digitally controlled electric BBQ.

On a side note, I can get boneless skinless chicken thighs for $1.50/lbs, and cook up a big pile of delicious meat in 30 mins that lasts a week. Highly recommended for the cheap, lazy, or people who just like pulled chicken.

What you need to break down collagen to gelatin is just energy. Energy = heat * time, so you can break it down in less time by using higher heat differential (higher temperature), which is exactly what a pressure cooker does.

I have a stew that would normally take 3 hours simmering on the stove that can be done in 20 minutes in a pressure cooker.

Except you don't want to do that in BBQ because it can toughen, dry out/over-moisten, or burn the meat in some combination. I know the pressure cooker is better than the dry air convection of a smoker to some degree, but if it were that simple, then people would just crank up temps and use a large internal water pan.

Agreed, I was only addressing the part about collagen breakdown. Pressure cooking makes most sense when you don't change the medium of cooking, as you say, boiling bbq doesn't make much sense. Otherwise the principal is the same, apply pressure to prevent water from turning to vapor. When boiling a stew, this lets water reach higher temperatures without evaporating (breaks down collagen faster), in air convection it prevents moisture from evaporating and cooling/drying the food.

Interesting. That sounds way faster and easier, I'll have to give that a try.

no bark though right?

Not out of the pressure cooker, but after I shred the meat, I lay it flat on a baking sheet. pour some of the remaining juices over it, and then broil it in the oven for about 2 minutes. It gives you a nice pseudo bark.

this is also my preferred way of making carnitas (but leaving the pork in chunks rather than shredding)

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