If you pop a big piece of pork in your slow cooker with a few more ingredients, you've got the makings of many inexpensive meals. Making pulled pork in the slow cooker is about as easy as it gets in terms of cooking. A pork shoulder roast or "butt roast" is the best cut to use as they turn out the juiciest and most tender. You can use a boneless pork loin, but it will be drier. That said, I sometimes use pork loins when they're cheap and the pork butts have too much fat on them to suit me. The fat on the butt roasts keeps the pulled pork tender. The fat also adds to my butt, which I'd like to avoid. So, after you let your pork roast cook all day, making you extremely hungry while you're working from home, you'll have dinner for the night. Then, unless you have a very large, very, very hungry family, you'll have plenty of extra shredded pork left for tacos, burritos, sandwiches, and, my favorite, a shredded pork and corn casserole with a cheesy topping. I'll post the recipe for the casserole later, but, while you wait, consider making a batch of polenta (search the site for a recipe) and topping it with shredded pork and your favorite barbecue sauce. Yum! Cheap and fast! Low hassle! Tastes great!
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork -- Makes a LOT
3-5 pound pork shoulder or butt roast or pork loin, cut up to fit inside slow cooker crock
3/4 cup of dark brown sugar
3/4 cup of water
3/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons of liquid smoke
1 onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of molasses
Spray the crock/insert with non-stick cooking spray, set the heat to high, and put the pork into the slow cooker crock/insert. Combine the remaining ingredients and mix them well. Pour them over the pork. Let the pork cook at high for an hour, then turn down the temperature to low and let the pork cook all day or until it's tender enough to shred with a fork. Shred the pork into the juices (removing the large pieces of fat, if any remain) and use the pork as you like.
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