Tropical Pulled Pork with Pineapple

Why This Tropical Pulled Pork with Pineapple Works

During the long slow cook, the pork shoulder sits in pineapple juice, coconut milk, and BBQ sauce, so the meat stays surrounded by liquid the whole time. Over hours, the tough parts of the pork soften and break down, so it starts to fall apart with almost no effort. Pineapple juice and the gentle heat work together to loosen the meat fibers, while the fat in the pork and the coconut milk keeps everything moist instead of drying out.

As the pork cooks, its juices mix into the pineapple and BBQ mixture, so the liquid in the slow cooker slowly changes from a thin cooking liquid into a meaty sauce. After the pork is shredded, it goes back into that same sauce, so the small pieces soak it up instead of losing moisture. Cornstarch and water go in near the end, and with a bit more heat, the sauce thickens and clings to every strand of pork. By the time it is done, the meat is soft, juicy, and coated in a glossy, sticky sauce with bits of warm pineapple mixed through.

Mistakes To Avoid

Letting the pork cook on high heat instead of low for the full time often dries it out. The outside tightens up and turns stringy while the inside doesn’t break down as gently, so the meat shreds into tough, chewy bits instead of soft pieces.

Adding the cornstarch at the start of cooking causes trouble in the slow cooker. The starch breaks down over the long hours and loses its thickening power, so the sauce stays thin and watery instead of turning into a glossy, clingy coating for the pork.

Skipping the step of taking the pork out to shred it can leave big, uneven chunks. Large pieces don’t soak up the sauce evenly, so some bites stay plain and firm while others fall apart and get all the moisture.

Throwing the diced pineapple in at the very beginning makes it collapse into mush. The long cooking time breaks the fruit down completely, so instead of juicy bites of pineapple, the sauce turns pulpy and can feel grainy.