Denise’s Crock-Pot Pulled Pork

I love pulled pork. Although generally pulled pork is not rife with potential allergens when I eat out, you never know. By making it at home, I control the ingredients and I know what’s in it, and I have leftovers. Woo hoo! This is an incredibly easy version. Basically you dump the stuff in the Crock-Pot and walk away for six to ten hours depending on whether you put the temperature on low or high. When it’s done, you shred the pork, mix in your sauce, and serve. I’ve also frozen this in containers with no ill effects. When you’re a household of two, you either make small batches and eat it immediately, or you make a vat and freeze it in small batches. I find the first approach to be way too much work. If you don’t have a Crock-Pot, you can have one specially made with your own pictures on it here. How cool is that? I prefer the classic Classic Crock-Pots. I have two Classics, and one with Digital controls. The Digital runs too hot for me and everything I make in it is overcooked. So I only use the Digital to warm stuff up when I make things in advance at Thanksgiving. The Classics are also much cheaper and you can pick them up on sale if you don’t need one with your own pictures. (I’m trying to figure out how to justify the purple polka dot one, but I’m not sure I can with three already. I’ll take suggestions for justifications if you can work that out for me.)

Denise’s Crock-Pot Pulled Pork

• 2-3 onions, peeled and quartered
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons of seasoning salt (Lawry’s or Penzey’s)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 4-6 lb boneless pork butt or shoulder roast
• 3/4 cup of cider vinegar
• 4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (if you can have wheatand soy, you can use Worcestershire sauce instead if you prefer)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup of Frank’s Red Hot (or Barbecue sauce of your choice)

Place peeled and quartered onions in the bottom of the Crock-Pot.

Put brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper in bowl and mix thoroughly.

Place pork on a cutting board and rub with mixture, covering completely.  Place pork in Crock-Pot on top of the onions.

Place cider vinegar, Balsamic vinegar, red pepper flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic salt, and cayenne pepper in a bowl and mix thoroughly.  Pour mixture over the pork in the Crock-pot.  Cover Crock-Pot with lid and cook on Low for 10 hours or on High for 6 hours.

At the end of the cooking time, check to see if pork is fork tender.  If so, remove meat and onions, and reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid.  Chop/shred meat and chop onions, placing in a large mixing bowl.

Add Frank’s Red Hot and mix.  If the pork needs a bit more liquid, mix in as much of the reserved cooking liquid as needed.

Serve pulled pork on hamburger style buns fitting your dietary restrictions; serve over rice; serve over mashed potatoes; in lettuce leaf wraps; or on nachos.  Have fun with it.