Pulled Pork

Intro

Every time a slow cooker thread appears on GWS, this recipe crops up. Without fail. I'm befuddled as to why it hasn't been entered yet.

This recipe is crock-pot nirvana. It is nearly foolproof and is quite delicious. Do it Friday/Saturday night before football and you've got a gameday treat.

People tend to discard the released liquid at the bottom of the crock pot. I say this is a mistake. It easily becomes a wonderful sauce to the pork you just made. Take an additional 20 minutes and try the "advanced" recipe below.

Ingredients

• ) 5 lb of boston butt/pork shoulder
• ) 1 onion, peeled and quartered
• ) 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• ) ~1 cup dark brown sugar
• ) Worcestershire Sauce
• ) Salt & Pepper

Optional Ingredients

• ) 1/2 cup ketchup
• ) 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
• ) Garlic Powder
• ) Cayenne Pepper
• ) 1.5 tbsp cornstarch

Method

BASIC PULLED PORK

Take a ~5lb pork shoulder and coat it with brown sugar. Place the quartered onion in the crock pot, place shoulder on top, and 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar over top it. Dump in copious amounts of Worcestershire sauce, maybe 1/4 of a cup.

Cook on low for 8 hours. Flip it over half way thru if you remember, but this isn't critical.

Shred the meat with a fork. Salt and pepper to taste.

ADVANCED PULLED PORK

Do all of the above. Set aside the shredded pork

Take the juice at the bottom of the pot, ladle off the fat, and put it in a sauce pan. Discard the onion. Heat over medium till it simmers.

Add 1/2 cup ketchup and 1 tbsp liquid smoke. Stir/whisk till combined.

take 1.5 tablespoons of cornstarch, and mix well with 1 cup cold water (DO NOT ADD DIRECTLY TO HOT JUICE OR IT WILL GET CLUMPY) Whisk into saucepan.

Let it simmer till you like the consistency. Now it's time to season. Salt and pepper to taste. With no salt it will taste like blandness. Add garlic powder and cayenne pepper to taste (~1/2 teaspoon each). Don't salt it till you like the consistency or it will be too salty after it reduces/thickens. Pour the sauce over the shredded and seasoned pork, mix it all up.