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Slow Cooker Pork Butt

Source of Recipe

From "Love Your Leftovers" by Nick Evans


Recipe Introduction

"This is a very different end product from the grilled pork butt. Both recipes will result in pulled pork, but this version is cooked in a liquid. It’s basically braised for hours and hours. It gets a lot of its flavor from the liquid, while the grilled version gets its flavor from a rub and the natural fats in the pork. Have no fear, though; you can still use this pulled pork in all the supporting recipes. Just be sure to follow the step about removing all the liquid from the slow cooker and adding only a part of it back in, so your pork isn’t too soupy. For my money, if I have the time I usually grill my pork butt low and slow, but who has the time to spend a day doing that regularly? You can make this recipe while you are at work!"

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 8-pound pork butt (aka shoulder)
â—¦ 1 large onion, grated
â—¦ 1 (12-ounce) beer (any good lager works)
â—¦ ½ cup brown sugar
â—¦ 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
â—¦ ¼ cup soy sauce
â—¦ 1 large cinnamon stick
â—¦ 2 tablespoons paprika
â—¦ 1 tablespoon chili powder
â—¦ 1 tablespoon kosher salt
â—¦ 1 tablespoon black pepper


Recipe

Cut pork butt into four or five large pieces so it fits in your slow cooker. Cut off any large pieces of fat from it. You don’t need that much fat since the pork is cooking in liquid.

Mix together all the other ingredients in the slow cooker so they are well combined. Add pork pieces to the liquid, cover, and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

Remove pork pieces and let them cool for a few minutes. Pour liquid into a bowl. Shred pork pieces using two forks. Try to remove any huge pieces of fat from the pork. The pork should shred very easily. Return shredded pork to dry slow cooker.

Pour cooking liquid back into slow cooker in 1-cup increments until the pork is moist, but not soupy at all. I think 2 to 3 cups of liquid is about right, but feel free to add more or less to taste. Just remember that if your pork is too wet, it will make your buns soggy later.

Keep the pulled pork warm while serving. Serve with toasted buns, barbecue sauce, and coleslaw for a classic meal. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze leftovers in an airtight, freezer-safe container for up to a few months.

Makes about 6 pounds pulled pork,
enough for about 30 sandwiches




• Leftover Liquid:
After you’ve cooked the pork, pulled it, and added some of the cooking liquid back to the slow cooker, you will most likely still have a few cups of cooking liquid. This liquid has great flavor and can be used in lots of ways. To make a really simple sauce, just add 2 cups of it to a medium pot and simmer for 20 minutes until it reduces and thickens. Season the sauce with a squirt of ketchup, a dash of vinegar, and some salt and pepper.

Optionally, you can also add up to a cup of the liquid to the Honey Bourbon BBQ Sauce recipe in this chapter, which will require simmering the sauce for an extra 5 to 10 minutes to thicken it, but it will make the flavor more complex.