Jan 18, 2011

Pulled Pork

Pulled pork, done right, is a damn fine meal.

Done wrong, it's a travesty.

Good thing is, it's pretty tough to really screw it up.

Start with a few onions. Skin 'em, cut in half, and then slice along the parallels. Toss 'em on the bottom of the crockpot. You want enough to make a thin layer.

Mince a couple cloves of garlic and toss that in too.

Add a cup or so of cider vinegar, or cider, and a tablespoon or two of brown sugar.

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Get you a nice big hunk of pig. This one is about eleven pounds, and too big for the crockpot, so I cut it in half. Boneless butt is a good choice and is generally inexpensive.

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Slap that bad boy into the crockpot, fat layer up if it has one.

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Slather the top with the spice rub of your choice. (I'm a big fan of Dinosaur BBQ's "Cajun Foreplay".)

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Put the cover on, and turn the crockpot on LOW. If you can do the ten-hour cook, by all means, do it!

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When it's done, use a couple fork to pull it apart. Pick out the chunks of fat that come up. Pour on your sauce of choice. Be generous! Cover it up and let it simmer on low for another half hour.

Serve however you see fit. I love a pulled pork sandwich with a healthy spoonful of cole slaw on top!

4 comments:

cybrus said...

Sounds excellent!

I also tend to put in a bottle of a good stout on the onions and under the pork and skip the vinegar.

ZerCool said...

I prefer a lighter beer with my barbecue, and it's one of the rare things I don't use beer to cook.

A nice Labbatt's or Yuengling goes great with pulled pork...

BobG said...

I usually use malt vinegar, and replace the brown sugar with dark beer or ale. Sometimes instead of a rub, I just throw in some cracked peppercorns, coriander seeds, and a couple of juniper berries.

Anonymous said...

I take more of an eastern Carolina approach, and just use the cider vinegar (and maybe a little cider) and molasses or brown sugar, plus some salt and pepper. No more sauce is needed, IMHO, though I do sometimes enjoy saucier pulled pork.

Pretty sure I have a local shoulder in the freezer. I'll have to do this soon. :-)