Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Recipe and Cole Slaw Recipe

[eric rochow]

Here is how I made the slow cooker pulled pork, based on suggestions by my friend Scott

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

1 pork shoulder with skin on

3/4 cup Dry Rub either store bought or home made *see note below

1/2 cup brown sugar


Rinse Pork Shoulder and pat dry. Place the pork in a large flat cake pan or cookie sheet.

Slather with the Dry Rub, trying to coat the whole shoulder evenly .

Wrap the shoulder in plastic wrap and refigerate for a few hours or days. Its up to you.

Place the pork shoulder in a slow cooker, turn on Low, and let cook for 8-10 hours. No need to do anything, just let it cook.

After cooking, remove the shoulder from the cooker and gently pull apart the meat with 2 forks, you can remove the leftover skin and fat.

Save the pork bones in the freezer for Pea Soup
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Buttermilk Cole Slaw, adapted from Eat Boutique,

approx 4 cups shredded green cabbage

approx 2 cups shredded red cabbage

4 carrots shredded

handful of raisins ( optional)

3 tablespoons of mayo

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2-4 tablespoons mustard, i prefer deli mustard, its up to you.

1/2 cup buttermilk

1-2 tablespoons honey

Ground pepper

Mix all the liquid ingredients together using that magic tool called a fork. Pour into the shredded slaw, mix and refrigerate.
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Dry Rub

There are many views on Dry Rub recipes, here is what my friend Scott says:

I usually have batch of the rub described here on hand:

http://metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=6553

Roughly equal parts: salt, brown sugar, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, chili powder, black pepper, celery seed

I usually use it on ribs, but probably be fine in this case, too. I've also used commercially available rubs (which tend to have more salt) -- e.g., from the Salt Lick in Texas. Alton Brown's recipe is also good:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/who-loves-ya-baby-ba...

Basically, 8 parts brown sugar, 3 parts kosher salt, 1 part chili powder, 1 part *insert your mix of spices here*

The only required ingredient is salt and there is lots of room to experiment. For this relatively wet application, the sugar probably isn't quite as big a deal since it's not going to really caramelize.
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What is your Dry Rub recipe? and have you tried the slow cooker method? how is it?

[Clive]

Hi. First time poster.

Tried this recipe overnight, as it looked great on the show. Let the joint cook for 10 hours. This morning I have a cooked chunk of pork, but it's nowhere near as pull-apart tender as yours looks in the show. Yet. I've stuck it back in the slow cooker to see whether it needs longer. Experimentation is the key! Maybe my slow cooker is just too weedy (it's an old model). If it doesn't work we've at least got enough sliced pork for sandwiches all week!!

Might it also be because my pork shoulder 'joint' is boneless? Notice yours looked like it had the bone in - all I could get was boneless joints in our local supermarket (or not so super market). I guess having a joint with a bone may make it more tender when slow cooking? Anyone else tried it?

[Joste]

Having a bone in the joint helps conduct heat into the middle so it can make it more tender quickly, but it could equally be due to differences in the quality of the pork, temperature etc.

[Greg]

Eric,
Enjoyed the video on the pulled pork. Looking forward to trying the coleslaw recipe too. One suggestion for helping the rub stick better to BBQ meat is to use regular yellow mustard. Rub it on the meat prior to the dry rub. Helps it stick well and the vinegar in the mustard aids in tenderization. I smoke my pork butt or shoulder for 10-12 hours. One of my favorite meats to smoke because it is almost foolproof. I also like to use a knife and cut deep slits in the meat and shove whole garlic cloves down into the meat then cook it. You get a yummy garlic paste mixed in with the pork when you pull it. Keep up the great work! Thanks for sharing.
Greg

[Linda]

I did it yesterday, and put it into the fridge once it was done last night. Finished too late to have for dinner. I emptied the liquid off, thinking it was pretty fatty. Was that correct? I will find out tonight if I dried it out or not. Can't wait! Smelled and tasted great last night, hope it is as good reheated.

[Dan]

Hey, first off this is so easy and good. i did this at home for some friends, made a really spicy rub, and let it set for like 24 hours or so, and it turned out really good, everyone loved it. Did not add smoke to it , mainly because i did not feel like getting on my bike and riding to the store in the rain when i was putting in my slow cooker. Mad some Potato salad and corn to go with it. Big hit thanks for the idea.

[Ted Lautner]

This past weekend I did pork shoulder in the crock pot. I cooked it for about 9 hours on low then turned it up to high for the last 3 hours. It was some of the best pork I have ever cooked. I didn't use a rub as my wife would not have eaten any as she does not like a lot of seasonings. I did put some brown sugar, liquid hickory flavor and a little worstishire sauce.

[Jordan Wales]

Eric,

I made this yesterday for the family, and it went over really well. I used a store bought dry rub since we were out of the one we normally keep, and decided to try wraping it over night. Doing that helped the crust stay on really well. Even after we shredded it, crust was still on some of the outer bits of pork. We got rid of red cabbage and made up the difference with more green in the coleslaw because no one in my family likes it. But the buttermilk mix was perfect. I see what you mean now about other coleslaws having a lot of mayo. The entire thing worked out really well and I'm supposed to make it again when we visit my aunt and uncle on vacation in Fairhope. They own a little grill out there, so it's a test!
And just a suggestion, but since I live in the South, everyone has a thing for bbq sauce. My favorite is Sticky Fingers Memphis original, so if you get a chance, try it. Thanks for the recipe!
Jordan

[CarrieMtn]

I've made pulled pork in the crock pot before. It is awesome and easy. For my daughter's high school graduation we took cheap boneless pork loins and divided it between two crockpots and used the seasoning packets from the grocery store. Cooked on low all night and let to sit during the morning... then I just sat back and let the compliments come it. It was the easiest praise that I ever received. We were worried about using this type of cut but it fell apart beautifully. Next time I'll try the rub.

Tried your coleslaw last night. VERY GOOD! My husband does not like coleslaw but went back for seconds. I am not a fan of yellow mustard and used dijon instead. I liked the change. Thanks for putting this together.

I love the show. My husband knows if I'm giggling late at night, I'm probably watching GardenFork on my ipod.