Air Fryer BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders

Name: Air Fryer BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 kg (2.2 lbs) pork shoulder or butt; 150 ml (2/3 cup) BBQ sauce; 8-10 slider buns; coleslaw - optional; to taste salt; to taste black pepper

Delicious mini burgers with tender pulled pork cooked in the air fryer and mixed with BBQ sauce, served on small buns.

Time: 60 min6 servingsDifficulty: Medium175°CPork

Steps

1
Season the pork shoulder on all sides with salt and black pepper.
2
Place the meat in the air fryer basket and cook at 175°C (350°F) for 25 minutes per 500 g (about 50 minutes total), until tender and fully cooked.
3
Remove the pork from the air fryer and shred it with two forks (pulled pork).
4
Mix the shredded meat with BBQ sauce to taste.
5
Serve the meat on slider buns, topped with coleslaw if desired.

Shopping list

1 kg pork shoulder, 150 ml BBQ sauce, 8-10 slider buns, optional coleslaw, salt, black pepper

Recipe story

Pulled pork originates in the southern United States, where pork was slow-cooked in pits with coals. In the 19th century, plantation workers cooked whole hogs, and the shredded meat was served with simple sauces. The recipe was popularized in the 1970s by restaurants in North Carolina. Today, it is reinterpreted in the air fryer for a faster version.

Ingredient Secrets

Black pepper

Known as 'black gold' in antiquity, pepper was so valuable that it served as currency and tribute. In the Middle Ages, Venetian merchants controlled the pepper trade, and individual peppercorns were often counted. Legend has it that when Alaric, king of the Visigoths, demanded tribute from Rome, he included 3,000 pounds of pepper.

Sea salt

Sea salt, extracted from ocean waters by evaporation, was one of the most precious goods of antiquity, used both as food and as currency. In ancient Rome, soldiers were paid with salt, which is the origin of the word 'salary'. Salt roads connected entire civilizations, and in the Middle Ages, salt was so valuable it was called 'white gold'.