Crockpot Pulled Pork Recipe

Answer 1

You already know that pulled pork tastes wonderful during the long, hot summer, but it can be a staple of your fall and winter kitchen, too. Instead of slogging through fallen leaves and snow to get to the grill, use your crockpot to do the honors. You'll be surprised at how easy and delicious crockpot cooking can be.

Crockpots, also known as slow cookers, have been gaining in popularity for the last decade. There's a good reason for that. Cooking food on low heat for a number of hours tenderizes less expensive cuts of meat and helps develop and deepen the flavor in sauces, herbs and spices with a minimum of effort. Set the crockpot and forget it for the day. It will do all the work and deliver a home cooked meal on schedule.

There are other advantages to cooking meat in a slow cooker, too. Crockpot recipes like pulled pork benefit from the natural collagen in older (or tougher) cuts of meat. Tough connective tissues are really made up of collagen, which dissolves when exposed to heat over a long period of time. That dissolved, glorious, goo thickens sauces the natural way, giving them a rich mouth feel and complex flavor. If you like smoky barbecue and think a crockpot version will lose too much flavor, guess again. A crockpot cooked pulled pork or rib recipe will surprise you -- in a good way.

Here's a basic recipe to get you started. You'll love the pork, but the wonderful aromas in your kitchen while this one's cooking are worthy of a thumbs-up too. We've used a spice rub for added flavor.

Crockpot Pulled Pork Recipe

Ingredients

7 to 8 pound pork shoulder roast (bone in)

Rub seasoning (see recipe below)

1/4 beef broth (You can also use a red wine like burgundy.)

1 yellow onion (chopped)

8 garlic cloves (whole)

1 cup barbecue sauce (your favorite)

5 drops (about 1/2 teaspoon) liquid smoke

Rub Seasoning Mix

5 tbsp. paprika (sweet)

4 tbsp. brown sugar

2 tbsp. chili powder

1-1/2 tbsp. ground cumin

1 tbsp. dried oregano

1 tbsp. sea salt

1 tbsp. ground black pepper

1-1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. allspice powder

Directions

1. Combine seasoning mix ingredients and rub liberally on roast.
2. Place roast in a covered dish or cover securely with plastic wrap.
3. Refrigerate overnight.
4. Unwrap roast and place it in the crockpot with the onion, garlic and broth.
5. Cook on low heat for 10 hours or until a fork shreds the cooked roast without effort. (It should almost fall off the bone.)
6. Remove roast and let it cool until you can handle it easily. Shred the meat into narrow strips with a fork or with your fingers.
7. Discard garlic and onion, and return the shredded meat to the crockpot.
8. Add liquid smoke and barbecue sauce. Stir.
9. Cook for an additional 60 minutes.