Crockpot Pulled Pork

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Hubby and I have made 3 or 4 pulled pork recipes in the last year or so. Each one was good but nothing amazing – we’ve had some that are too BBQ-saucey, tried the root beer based recipes, and a couple others. Until now. This pulled pork is going to be our recipe from here on out. It has great flavor and a little kick to it. It’s not overly BBQ-saucey either.

As an aside, Happy 250th Post to Me!

I rubbed the meat 2 days prior to cooking it and it cooked on low in the crockpot for about 10 hours. When we took it out to pull apart, it was very tender and flavorful. We were tempted to eat it then, but we stuck to the recipe and added the BBQ sauce and threw it back in for another 45 minutes or so.

Pulled Pork – from The Way The Cookie Crumbles – originally from Cooks Illustrated – serves 6

Printable RecipeSpice Rub:
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon dried oregano
4 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons table salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground white pepper – I used black pepper

1 (6-8 pound) bone-in pork shoulder
½ teaspoon liquid smoke (optional) – I omitted
2 cups barbecue sauce

Mix all spice rub ingredients in small bowl.

Massage spice rub into meat (I recommend doing this on a jelly roll pan or large cookie sheet with sides). Wrap tightly in double layer of plastic wrap; refrigerate for at least 3 hours. For stronger flavor, the roast can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. (I refrigerated ours for 2 days).

Unwrap roast and place it in slow cooker liner. Add liquid smoke, if using, and 1/4 cup water. Turn slow cooker to low and cook for 8-10 hours, until meat is fork-tender.

Transfer roast to cutting board (again, I used a large cookie sheet with sides. This helped to contain the mess); discard liquid in liner. Pull by tearing meat into thin shreds with two forks or your fingers. Discard fat.

Place shredded meat back in slow cooker liner; toss with 1 cup barbecue sauce, and heat on low for 30-60 minutes, until hot. Serve with additional barbecue sauce.

Family Favorites, Main Meal

33 comments »

19 Responses to “Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting”

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Megan — January 13, 2011 at 5:06 pm

I’ll take any leftovers! They sound amazing. I keep saying dessert recipes with bacon and bookmarking them, but I haven’t tried any yet. Adding this one to the list now too. 🙂
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ann — January 13, 2011 at 5:07 pm

These look so terrific. I love the flavor combinations!
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Blog is the New Black — January 13, 2011 at 5:08 pm

I’m intrigued!
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KV — January 13, 2011 at 5:46 pm

interesting! I have a recipe for chocolate bacon fudge or maybe pb bacon fudge but I’m afraid to try it
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Rachel @ Baked by Rachel — January 13, 2011 at 6:01 pm

The frosting sounds amazing. I honestly still can’t bring myself to get behind bacon in desserts. Maybe someday I’ll try a bacon cupcake if I’m given one though. 🙂 I can only resist so long.
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Jennifer — January 13, 2011 at 6:08 pm

YUM! These look so good! I haven’t tried the bacon / sweet combo yet, but I’m sure I would love it!
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Fun and Fearless in Beantown — January 13, 2011 at 6:13 pm

This looks delicious but I’ve got to ask….what is a pirate party?
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Jen — January 13, 2011 at 6:21 pm

Fun and Fearless – It’s exactly like it sounds… Everyone dresses up as a pirate (or something related – Hubby and I went as Treasure maps last year). They even hire this guy who looks like Captain Jack Sparrow to come and there’s a prize for best costume. One of the best parties of the year!
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Cupcake Activist — January 13, 2011 at 8:48 pm

Sounds great! The problem I’ve seen with bacon is that sometimes it is chewy in cupcakes. That’s not good. I like that this recipe says to cook until crispy. Extra crispy for me!
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Laura and Alex — January 13, 2011 at 9:11 pm

My favorite candy bar is bacon chocolate!!! I can’t wait to try this 🙂
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Carrie — January 13, 2011 at 9:13 pm

Wow, those look and sound amazing!
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Shannon — January 13, 2011 at 9:42 pm

oh yum. after putting bacon in last years cookies this might need to be next 🙂
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Corrine — January 13, 2011 at 9:56 pm

I’m so curious to try bacon in baked goods, but do you think turkey bacon would work?
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Jen — January 13, 2011 at 10:08 pm

Corrine – I’m sure turkey bacon would work if you could get it nice and crispy. I’ve heard that if the bacon isn’t super crispy, it has a really weird chewy texture in baked goods.
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Corrine — January 14, 2011 at 2:11 am

Thanks Jen! I’m going to give it a try!
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Evan Thomas — January 14, 2011 at 2:28 pm

This has just about everything that I would want to go together. Awesome recipe!
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Medifast Coupons — January 14, 2011 at 4:10 pm

This is certianly a unqiue mixture of tastes and textures, but it comes together nicely. Definatly a must try!
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darcyeats — January 14, 2011 at 6:22 pm

Chocolate..caramel…bacon…PERFECTION.
I am infatuated with the perfect smoky/salty addition of bacon into sweet baked goods. So delicious. Of course, I’m kind of a fan of adding bacon into just about anything.
Great pics, def wanna try these out!
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kitchenmisfit — January 16, 2011 at 1:01 am

Sorry the cupcakes didn’t turn out like you wanted. Have you ever tried the bacon/chocolate cupcake at Cherry Bomb Bakery in Brighton? They are fantastic!