Kalua Pork
Ingredients
- 10-12 pounds pork shoulder butt roast, don’t substitute a leaner cut of pork or it will be dry
- 1 bottle liquid smoke
- 2 tablespoons sea salt, or hula salt if you can find it
- 1 ½ cups water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Trim roast of large pockets of fat (but leave some fat on there to help the pork stay tender while cooking).
- Place pork in large roasting pan (the aluminum, deep roasting pans you can buy at the grocery store work great if you don’t own a heavy-duty roasting pan).
- Rub 2-3 tablespoons of sea salt into pork. Pour the bottle of liquid smoke over and around the pork. Pour the water around the pork. Cover roasting pan TIGHTLY with two layers of aluminum foil.
- Bake for 5-7 hours (don’t uncover while baking – let the steam and heat work its magic!).
- Shred with two forks and serve with rice.
Notes
Freezable: I always make a ton of this when cooking it because it freezes well but feel free to scale down the recipe as needed.
Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker: rub the roast with salt per the recipe. Add the water and liquid smoke to the Instant Pot, place the roast in the pot, secure the lid and cook at high pressure for 60-65 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release.
Crockpot: I’ve had a lot of questions about whether this will work in a crockpot. I’ve never made it in the crockpot, but a reader, Tasha, commented and said she has made this for years in the crockpot, cooking it on low for 14-16 hours.
Flexibility: This recipe has a lot of wiggle room. I’m sure it would be fine with a smaller roast, less water, etc. Just play around with it and see what you get!