Whenever a restaurant wants to make a meat entrée sound truly delicious, they will describe it as “slow-cooked” and how you won’t need a knife to cut it. This is absolutely true for any meat made in a slow-cooker.
So naturally, using your Crock-Pot for a pulled pork recipe is a no brainer, and there are plenty hanging around the Internet hoping you’ll choose one and make it your own. I’m here to say the most important part of a pulled pork recipe is the rub, and this recipe has one so delicious it’s almost impossible to type this post.
There’s the rub!
The rub encases the meat and over many hours seeps in to flavour the pork. I make sure to fill every nook and cranny of the pork shoulder with the rub. I think the rub is what gives the meat enough flavour to not necessarily need added BBQ sauce.
Slow-Cooked, Cut-With-a-Spoon Pulled Pork
• 2 medium onions thinly sliced
• 2 tsp minced garlic OR 4 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 cup chicken stock or broth
• 1 tbsp packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 boneless or bone-in pork shoulder (4-5 lbs.)
• OPTIONAL: 2 cups (or to your taste) BBQ sauce
Layer the thinly sliced onions and garlic in the bottom of your slow cooker. Add the chicken broth. In a medium mixing bowl, mix all the spices. Pat the pork shoulder dry with paper towels, and then apply the rub. Really rub it into the meat, every crevice, under the string…trust me, it’s worth it! Place the meat on top of the lovely bed of onions and garlic and cook for 8–10 hours on low.
Turn off your slow cooker and remove the pork to a large bowl or tray. Careful—that baby is going to fall apart, so place the tray very close to your cooker. Put a mesh strainer over a heat-proof bowl and pour the onion and juices out of the slow cooker into the strainer.
With two forks, pull apart the pork shoulder and discard any pieces of fat. Put the strained onion mixture back into the cooker and add the pork. Now you have two options—add 1/4 cup of the strained liquid into the pork until moistened, add the BBQ sauce until you’re happy, or add a combination of the two. Stir or toss with two forks until everything is well combined. You don’t want the pork dripping, but you want a bit of a sauce-y feel.
Heap a sliced roll with the pork, add some coleslaw (if that’s your inclination) and then get ready to pass out in food ecstasy.
If you have a rub you swear by, share it in the comments.
