Made pork butt largely following this recipe:
http://www.chow.com/recipes/30356-easy-slow-cooker-pulled-pork
Good rub. Browing, as stated, doesn’t seem to add much to the dish. Might add more salt next time, but salting less is probably better during cooking because sauce can be added later.
Cooked on high for about 5 hours. Seemed to work fine.
Ingredients
- 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 4 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 cup chicken stock or low-sodiumchicken broth
- 1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 (4-1/2- to 5-pound) boneless or bone-in pork shoulder (also known as pork butt), twine or netting removed
- 2 cups barbecue sauce (optional)
Instructions
- 1Place the onions and garlic in an even layer in the slow cooker and pour in the stock or broth. Combine the sugar, chili powder, measured salt, cumin, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Pat the pork dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture all over the pork and place the meat on top of the onions and garlic. Cover and cook until the pork is fork tender, about 6 to 8 hours on high or 8 to 10 hours on low.
- 2Turn off the slow cooker and remove the pork to a cutting board. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a medium heatproof bowl. Pour the onion mixture from the slow cooker through the strainer and return the solids to the slow cooker. Set the strained liquid aside.
- 3If the pork has a bone, remove and discard it. Using 2 forks, shred the meat into bite-sized pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Return the shredded meat to the slow cooker, add the barbecue sauce, if using, and mix to combine. If you’re not using barbecue sauce, use a spoon to skim and discard the fat from the surface of the strained cooking liquid, and then add 1/4 cup of the liquid at a time to the slow cooker until the pork is just moistened. Taste and season with salt as needed.
20160222 addendum
Note: If I’m making pork “carnitas” for tacos, I feel like salting it a bit heavier than 1 tsp/lb makes it more savory. Also, dried serranos, pepper powder, and pepper are almost a must — it adds quite a bit of savoriness and depth of flavor to it. I think I could skip onions all together — it actually “waters down” the flavor a bit, and doesn’t really add that much to it. I made some the other week, and I think I did those things, and I couldn’t wait for lunch to eat the savory goodness that was pork carnitas tacos. I made some this week, and added a whole onion, and didn’t add serrano, and it tastes a bit dull. I may have also slightly overcooked it, but overcooked pork seems to be more forgiving than overcooked beef. Another recipe for reference:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/pork-carnitas-recipe.html