Pork butt rub

Donal’pork butt rub pulled pork recipe is perfect for a crowd and easy to make. The pork shoulder braises on the hob and transforms to tender shreds that can be piled into a soft roll. With sweet potato fries and spicy coleslaw, this American classic is complete.

Look for cuts that are moist and a healthy deep-pink colour, not grey or red. Choose neat cuts with a fine-grained texture. Avoid any meat that looks damp or clammy, or that has oily- or chalky-looking fat. Free-range, organic and rare-breed pork will generally be a deeper pink colour than commercial pork. It is not only considered more flavoursome than intensively reared pork, but will also come from older animals that have had a better quality of life. Rare-breed pigs take longer to mature than the breeds selected for modern farming methods and are generally very well cared for in a natural environment. Although this means the end product is more expensive, the pork and bacon from traditional breeds of pig such as Saddlebacks, Gloucestershire Old Spots and Tamworths is considered especially flavourful because the extra fat these pigs carry helps keep the the meat moist and succulent during cooking.

Store meat in the coldest part of the fridge. Cover and store raw and cooked foods separately and store raw foods below cooked foods in the fridge. If it’s already packaged in a cling-filmed tray, leave it like that until you’re ready to use it. If not, put the meat on a plate, loosely wrap in greaseproof paper or aluminium foil and store in the fridge away from cooked meats. Pork will keep for three to five days in the fridge.

Mince, offal and smaller cuts are best eaten on the day you buy them or within one to two days. Joints, chops and steaks will keep for two to three days and large roasting joints for up to five days. Freezing pork quickly reduces the chance of damage to its texture or succulence. Both smaller pieces and large joints freeze successfully. Use frozen pork within six months. Pork joints can be roasted long and slow at a lower heat, or fast at a higher heat. Braising and pot-roasting can be used for almost every cut of pork including larger joints – the addition of wine, water or stock results in a moist, succulent pork dish every time.