Pulled Pork Barbecue

Happy Halloween!  It's snowing here in Alaska, so now we really do get to wear our snowsuits under our costumes! I'm really glad I have dinner already done so it will be a no fuss night!

I put the pork butt in the crock pot around 7 am and it is usually done around 4-5pm depending on the size.

I love my crock pot.

Seriously..

I use it almost daily.

When we first got here, my crock pot was broken after the first use. I wanted to cry! We got it as a wedding present and it was huge and well loved. Unfortunately, I couldn't order a replacement crock for it. I tried, but they didn't have them anymore. So I held off buying a new one, because I wanted to research and get a fancy one that could be used on the stove top as well!

Well 3 months later I still didn't have one. And I missed my easy dinners. I had to make my barbecue in the oven instead. It was touch and go with that.

The first time I cooked the pork in the oven, it was done by 10 am....

So we had barbecue for lunch! Then next time, it got too dry (I may or may not have checked on it...).   By the 3rd time I cooked it in the oven, I had it down.

But I really needed a new crock pot. I was not happy having to make my chicken broth on the stove. My stove top cooks really hot and it's hard to get it to the right temperature to where I can just leave it. So I went out and bought a cheap $20 crock pot and it has been working fine.

Yeah I miss my big one, I can't cook as big of pork butts as I used to. It takes longer to cook than my older one did, but I can still just put something in there and walk away and not have to worry about the liquid boiling out when it was supposed to be simmering...And I can put my pork in there in the morning, and know it'll be good until dinner time.

Pulled Pork Barbecue


Ingredients

Small pork butt *
2-4 Tbsp of your favorite dry pork rub**

Directions

Pat your meat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle over meat and rub it in really well. I usually wrap mine up in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for an hour if I'm preparing the day of cooking. 

Place in the crock pot with the fat side down. Turn on low for 7-8 hours or until meat pulls apart very easily. I usually drain the liquid about halfway through so it keeps the outside a little dry ( I love the burnt ends!).

Once the pork is done, I usually shred mine in my kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment. Then I add barbecue sauce and stir it together and serve.

*I buy my pork butts at Sam's club. They are huge and I cut them in half. So the weight is different every time. I put the rub on, wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze until I want to use them. I put them in the fridge 2-3 days before I want to cook them to let them thaw.

**Dry Pork Rub

Ingredients

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup paprika
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder

Directions

Put all ingredients together in a jar. Seal and shake to mix them together. Store them in the sealed jar.