16 October 2014

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork Sandwich / www.delightfulrepast.com

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork is the only way to go when it's hot. My Oven-Barbecued Pulled Pork recipe is wonderful, but it calls for running the oven for three hours or so, not something I want to do on a hot day! Or on a day I don't have time to monitor it.

Until recently, I had been without a slow cooker for many years, since the days of the tall round slow cookers that did not have a removable cooking pot. Remember those? You had to struggle to keep the cord dry when you washed it. Ridiculous. Anyway ...

Because of that, I never used it much and eventually donated it. So I never dreamed I'd be using my new slow cooker, Cuisinart MSC-600 Cook Central 3-in-1 Multicooker, this much! At least twice a week I use it to make soups, stews, desserts and now Slow Cooker Pulled Pork. 


Pulled Pork Sandwich / www.delightfulrepast.com

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

(Serves 10 to 12)

The Braised Pork


2 teaspoons organic canola oil
4 to 4 1/2 pounds boneless pork shoulder
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, divided
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
2 large carrots, peeled
2 large stalks celery
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon thyme
3/4 cup dry red wine

The Sauce

(Makes about 1 1/3 cups)

1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
4 teaspoons country Dijon mustard
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon (or to taste) cayenne

Note: Cook the pork shoulder one or two days before you need it. Besides saving work on the day you serve it, it allows you to easily remove the fat from the sauce.

1 Heat the cooking pot of the Multicooker set to Brown/Saute at 400 degrees. Trim away the large pieces of visible fat on the pork shoulder and cut it into 4 pieces. Season the pork with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Add the oil to the pot and brown the pork on both sides. 


Note: If your slow cooker does not have this capability, brown the pork well in a large skillet on the stove.

2 Add the onion, carrot and celery to the pot. Sprinkle on remaining salt and pepper, marjoram and thyme. Add the wine. Cover and switch unit to Slow Cook on Low for 8 hours.

3 Transfer pork to large bowl. With two forks, shred pork, removing any large pieces of fat. Remove onion, carrots and celery (I always eat them because I hate to waste food, but I won't judge you if you don't!) and strain braising liquid into 1-quart glass measure. Put pulled pork back into the cooking pot (now turned off).

4 In small bowl, whisk together sauce ingredients. Stir sauce into the pulled pork. Or you can hold out 1/3 cup, if you like, and spoon a little on top of the pork in each sandwich.

5 If serving another day, refrigerate braising liquid until fat solidifies on top; remove the fat. If serving right away, skim liquid from top with a small ladle. You will probably have about 3 cups of defatted braising liquid. In small saucepan, boil liquid down to 2 cups. Stir 1 cup of it into the pulled pork; reserve the rest to add when reheating pulled pork.

6 Serve immediately on warm rolls or cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to reheat and serve. It's really extra special on my Homemade Buns!

Disclosure: Cuisinart provided the product mentioned above. I only work with brands I love, and all opinions are always my own. I will never recommend a product that I haven’t used myself and liked! This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means I will receive a small commission (at no cost to you) on items purchased via these links. 

24 comments:

Angie's Recipes said...

I love my slow cooker! Your pulled pork looks so tender and delicious.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Angie! We really love it, will be making again soon. And why not - it's soooo easy!

Sippity Sup said...

Pork is so luscious when cooked this way. Sometimes I can't even believe it's meat. GREG

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Well said, Greg! It IS rather like the meat course and dessert all rolled into one!

Brooks said...

I loves me some pulled pork, and yours looks so tasty all snug in the bread roll. Better yet, the slow cooker makes it nearly effortless. Nice work, Jean!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Brooks! I froze half to enjoy later. Love having homecooked meals in the freezer!

Unknown said...

everyone's going pulled pork crazy it seems... i've just written my pulled pork recipe and will post over the weekend... I love yours and it's nice to see something different. Everyone has their own ways!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Dom! Yes, there are lots of ways to make pulled pork - I'll look for yours!

Thomas "Sully" Sullivan said...

As long as I can eat it fast, I don’t care how slow it cooked! Looks delicious, Jeani. Of course, you are reading the scribblings of someone who regards pork as an excuse to eat catchup in one form or another. Okay, a bit overstated. Barbecue sauce is another subject and an art form altogether. But just as lobster was made to eat butter, so too pork is made to eat catchup. My theory is that if you want to create consistently juicy pork you have to practically get in the oven (cooker) and monitor the situation. Poke the pork!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Sully! I think you're onto something with that last line. A pork roast (dry roasted as opposed to braised) does require very careful monitoring in order to avoid drying it out.

Pom Pom said...

Beautiful! I think your recipe sounds delicious! I love my old slow cooker. It's called the Poke-a-Long. Isn't that funny? It's late 1970's brown!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Pom Pom. Wow! You're making me feel nostalgic for my old slow cookers! No reason your Poke Along (never heard of that model before) wouldn't work for this; you'd just probably have to cook a smaller amount.

Cranberry Morning said...

Sounds delicious, Jean. I would definitely eat the vegetables too. My slow cooker seems to actually be a fast cooker, but I'm trying this recipe.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Judy. Do let me know how it turns out for you. (We eat the vegetables because we are such sensible women, huh?!)

TONY said...

This pulled pork recipe sounds delicious,Jean. I like the British and French elements, Worcestershire Sauce and Dijon Mustard.

Is the bread roll a cob?

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Tony! Those are two of my must-haves in the pantry! Had never heard of cobs before; looked it up and learned that it's a Midlands thing.

Dori said...

This looks delicious! Yum!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Dori! And I've heard that pulled pork is quite the thing in England just now!

Kelly said...

We love using our crock pot and we love pulled pork sandwiches. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe! Yes, I used to have one of those crock pots that you had to wash with the cord still attached. Bad idea! Now, mine can just go in the dishwasher.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Kelly, thank you so much! And, yes, I always appreciate the ease of washing the slow cooker!

Michelle said...

I love pulled pork and your sauce looks wonderful! I make mine a little differently but I haven't met a pulled pork recipe I didn't like! I'm always up for trying new ones! Thanks for joining us at Foodie Fridays!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Michelle! I agree -- I enjoy pulled pork all sorts of ways. Most people don't take the defatting steps I do, but I just try to put that out of my mind and enjoy!

Maureen | Orgasmic Chef said...

I'm a slow cooker fan too but I must admit that the last time I cooked pulled pork in my slow cooker I received a message from my son the self-proclaimed Georgia bbq expert. "Mom, I love you but that's not REAL bbq, love, Al."

So now when I make it in the slow cooker and think of that message, I say out loud, "Ha! What do kids know??"

This looks incredibly good.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thank you, Maureen! And, yeah, "what do kids know?!" :D So many times people taste something that wasn't prepared well and then assume that that food isn't any good, when really it's just that whoever made what they tasted did not make it well or had a bad recipe.