Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Ribfest inspired me to make my own pulled pork, so I tested out this recipe on my friends earlier this week. I did give them fair warning that I was going to serve them butt, which the butcher gave me instead of pork shoulder. (I didn't notice until it was too late.) But they are wonderful, they still came over :) We like big butts and we cannot lie, you other brothers can't deny ...

I followed the advice of the cookbook, which says to use whole spices when slow cooking — they stand up to the long cooking times better than ground spices. Also, because you can't brown the meat first (can't brown big butts), set your cooker to high for the first couple of hours of cooking time, and then turn it to low. One thing the cookbook forgot to mention is that you should close your bedroom door, because the whole apartment will smell of barbecue!

But it's worth it ...

Old South Pulled Pork on a Bun
recipe adapted from The 150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes by Judith Finlayson
serves eight

1.2 kg pork butt (or shoulder), trimmed of excess fat
2 onions, finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cracked black peppercorns
1 cup of your favourite barbecue sauce
1/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1/4 cup raspberry vinegar (or cider)
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

The night before your dinner, make the sauce. Finely dice the onions and fry in a pan with olive oil for a few minutes until they are beginning to soften. Add the garlic and fry another minute. Add the paprika and the peppercorns and stir. Add the barbecue sauce, brown sugar, liquid smoke, vinegar and Worcestershire and stir, bringing to the boil. Turn the heat off, cool and store in the fridge overnight.

The morning of your dinner, place the pork in the slow cooker and pour over the sauce. Cook for an hour or two, or however long you can, on high and then turn the cooker to low before you go to work. I let mine cook for one hour on high and 10 hours on low. You could cook it on high for six hours instead. The pork should be falling apart.

Transfer the pork to a big glass bowl, leaving the sauce in the cooker. Pull the pork apart using two forks, and discard any fatty bits you find. Put the pulled pork back in the cooker and turn to coat evenly with sauce.

Spoon onto big, fluffy white buns, like onion buns or kaisers. My anaconda don't want none unless you've got buns hun ...