I’m always looking for easy crockpot recipes that can either feed a crowd or be repurposed as leftovers. This crockpot pulled pork – made with vinegar in the Carolina style, is the most popular recipe on this site and one of my favorites. It’s incredibly easy to make but a few hours in a crockpot yields a tender, flavorful pulled pork that makes great sandwiches, nachos or burritos.
I should probably, in the spirit of full disclosure, tell you that I am not from the South. I am from California, and to me, barbecue means meat cooked on a grill, over an open flame, ideally on the rare side. Heck, you could even throw some corn on there. Or artichokes. Or be really crazy and barbecue some avocados . Carolina Pulled Pork is not part of my cultural history.
Fortunately for you all, this recipe is not one of my family recipes. It’s from my friend Mallory, who is from Illinois but LIVES in South Carolina, and she’s married to a North Carolinan (Carolingian?) to boot. Carolina Pulled Porkisn’t the style of barbecue most of you Yankees think of — thereis notomato, no molasses, no honey, no sweet and sticky sauce. Just vinegar, and lots of it. This is sour barbecue, and I love it. Hello, my name is Kate and I am addicted to things that are tart.
Of course, a real barbecue aficionado will point out that this is not barbecue at all because there is no fire or smoke, and that would be true, but let’s just ignore that, because I don’t know about you but I don’t have a barrel smoker in my yard – heck, I don’t have a yard – and a crockpot will just have to do.
I will further horrify barbecue aficionados by telling you that while I do make this with a pork shoulder or butt (and don’t try a loin, because it will be dry as dry and will be like sawdust. Sadly, you do need the fat here) I cut off the big piece of fat that is on top of that shoulder. You’ll know it when you see it. I’m no fat free nut (as my enduring love of bacon attests), but that big slab of fat kind of grosses me out, so it has to go. If you really love the lard, go ahead and render it. I won’t mind. After you cut off the fat, you rub the meat with spices, and set it atop some onions in your crockpot.
Then you mix up the kicker – the vinegar sauce. Vinegar, a little sugar, some salt, some seasonings. A little more vinegar. Did I mention I like things tart? You pour part of the vinegar mixture over the pork, you cover it, turn your slow cooker to low, and walk away for at least 8 hours.
When you come back, you will be confronted with something that looks like this:
If your mouth isn’t watering yet, then either your browser is set wrong or you don’ have a proper appreciation for the porky goodness that is about to ensue. Of course, you don’t stop here – what about the rest of that vinegar? This is the point at which you pull the pork. Start with two forks and pull the pork apart. Then use your fingers.
Deploy the shredded pork into a bowl, add the juices from the crock pot, and pour over the remaining vinegar sauce. (If your eaters aren’t vinegar addicts, you could always serve the sauce on the side, I suppose).
The classic application for Carolina pulled pork is to eat it as a sandwich (though probably not so classic on ciabatta. I may have mentioned I’m from California). But don’t let your imagination stop there. Add it to chili, make it into nachos (tortilla chips, salsa, sour cream, ranch beans and pulled pork topped with cheese. Yes, I have eaten this), make it into tacos instead of carnitas, use as a filling for enchiladas, or eat it straight with cornbread.
But save some for me.
Carolina CrockpotPulled Pork Recipe
4.9 from 15 reviews
Crockpot Carolina Pulled Pork Barbecue Recipe
Author:
Kate Wheeler
Recipe type:Slow Cooker
Cuisine:American
Serves:8
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
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Ingredients
2 onions, quartered
2 T brown sugar
1 T smoked paprika
2 t salt
½ t ground black pepper
1 (4-6 lb) pork butt or shoulder roast
1 T liquid smoke
1 c cider vinegar
⅓ c Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ t crushed red pepper flakes
2 t sugar
½ t dry mustard
½ t granulated garlic
¼ t cayenne pepper
Instructions
Place onions in crock pot.
Blend brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper; rub over roast.
Place roast in crock pot. Drizzle liquid smoke over roast.
Combine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic and cayenne pepper and stir to mix well.
Drizzle about ⅓ of mixture over roast. Cover and refrigerate remaining mixture.
Cook roast on low for 8-10 hours.
Remove meat and onions, discard onions and shred meat. Add juices from crock pot and remaining vinegar mixture (a portion may be reserved to pass).
There are four main barbecue regions/styles in the U.S. but pulled pork is best known in the Carolinas. The main difference between barbecue dishes from different areas is in the seasonings, sauces, or dressings used. Carolina pulled pork usually has a spicy, vinegar dressing.Sometimes, it has a tomato base as well.
Apply the sauce after the meat has been cooked. Depending on the cooking temperature and the type of sugar, a sweet sauce can get gummy or even burn. So, apply the sauce at the end, about 15-30 minutes before removing the pork to add rich flavor.
Transfer everything to a large slow cooker and add a splash of liquid — water is great, but so is broth, apple juice, or beer if you have them handy. Cover and cook on low until the meat is tender and pulls apart easily.
You don't need much liquid to slow cook pork since it releases juices while cooking when using the low setting. I use just enough to flavor the pork along with the reserved juices of the pork and serve the extra BBQ sauce on the side. If you wish to add liquid, you can add 1 cup of chicken broth.
There are two main styles of BBQ in North Carolina—Eastern and Lexington (“Piedmont”). Eastern-style BBQ uses the whole-hog (“every part of the hog but the squeal”) with a lemon juice or vinegar, pepper-based sauce. Eastern style incorporates zero tomatoes in its recipe.
Carolina sauce is cheap and incredibly easy to make at home! To make Carolina-style barbeque sauce, combine apple cider vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper in a small sauce pan. Bring the sauce mixture to rapid simmer over medium heat.
Many competition barbecue teams will wrap briskets and pork butts in aluminum foil during the final stages of cooking and add broth, juice, or other flavorful concoctions to the foil package.
Worgul recommends placing the pork in the slow-cooker fat side up. The fat will render thoroughly during the cooking process and by placing the meat fat side up, it makes it much easier to remove excess fat before serving. "The cooker will be nearly filled with fat and liquid after hours of cooking.
The acid from the apple cider and apple cider vinegar help to tenderize the meat while also keeping it juicy and flavorful. The low and slow cooking method makes it fall apart as soon as your fork touches it and shreds beautifully.
We use brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, smoked paprika, a good amount of salt & pepper, and a pinch of cayenne! Make sure you use all of the seasoning! Also, really rub it into the pulled pork, get all of the nooks and crannies!
A general rule of thumb from Luis Sanchez, senior category manager for the appliance manufacturer Breville: To go from "High" to "Low" (or vice versa), multiply (or divide) the original time by 1.5 to 2.5 hours. And as with the cooking times for specific ingredients, these times are approximate.
Pour 1 1/2 cups liquid, such as low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth, tomato juice, light or amber beer, white or red wine, orange juice, or a mix of several liquids (and optional liquid smoke) over the pork. The pork should be only partially submerged, with some of the pork remaining above the surface of the liquid.
Cover and cook until very tender (the meat should fall apart easily with a fork!), on HIGH for 5 to 6 hours or on LOW for 8 to 10 hours. Step 2Remove pork from slow cooker and transfer to bowl. Shred with two forks and toss with juices from the slow cooker. Serve on buns with coleslaw.
The pork shoulder is the most popular cut used to make pulled pork. The entire hog's front leg and shoulder make up the pork shoulder. This is often separated into two pieces at your local grocery store: the picnic roast and the Boston butt (also known as the Boston roast).
Pork shoulder is ideal for pulling purposes. It has an optimum fat content that yields to create tender, melty meat, but it's essential you cook it slowly to allow the protein to break down properly.
Pork butt is an ideal choice for barbecue pulled pork, but it also lends itself to braising and stewing, which tenderizes the meat and melts the fat. Use pork butt in any recipe where you're looking for fall-apart-tender meat and a rich, porky flavor, such as pulled pork, carnitas or stew.
Pork shoulder: Pork shoulder is perfect for pulled pork because it's inexpensive, forgiving to work with, and tends to have a lot of marbling (which means it'll result in tender meat).
Introduction: My name is Aron Pacocha, I am a happy, tasty, innocent, proud, talented, courageous, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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