Some recipes begin with finely dice six vegetables or carefully whisk until emulsified.
This one begins with:
Put a large piece of pork in a machine and leave it alone for eight to ten hours.
At World HQ, we recognize a cooking technique ideally suited to management.
⏱️ Recipe Information
Servings: 8–10 generous portions
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 8–10 hours (slow cooker on LOW)
Resting and Shredding Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: Approximately 8 hours 30 minutes to 10 hours 30 minutes
The cooking time allows the pork shoulder to become tender enough to shred easily with two forks. The resting and shredding period also gives you time to mix the pulled pork with its barbecue sauce and cooking juices.
The recipe should provide 8–10 hearty servings, depending on the size of the pork shoulder and whether it's served on buns, over potatoes or as part of another meal.
Ingredients
- 3–4 lb (1.4–1.8 kg) boneless pork shoulder
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup barbecue sauce, plus more for serving
- ½ cup chicken broth or apple juice
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp cayenne, optional
Preparation
Put the sliced onion in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Mix the brown sugar, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Rub the mixture all over the pork.
Set the pork on top of the onions.
Add the garlic, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar. Pour the broth or apple juice around the pork, then spoon about ½ cup barbecue sauce over the top.
Put the lid on.
This concludes the difficult portion of today's program.
Cooking
Cook on LOW for 8–10 hours or HIGH for 5–6 hours, until the pork is very tender and pulls apart easily with two forks.
Transfer the pork to a large dish and shred it, discarding any large pieces of fat.
Skim excess fat from the cooking liquid if necessary.
Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker and stir in the remaining ½ cup barbecue sauce. Add a little of the cooking liquid until it's as juicy as you like.
Let everything warm together for another 15–20 minutes.
🥪 Pulled Pork Sandwich Department
Pile the pork onto toasted hamburger or brioche buns.
Top with coleslaw.
Add extra barbecue sauce if desired.
Then attempt to eat the sandwich without half the contents falling onto your plate.
This is not expected to succeed.
The fallen pork officially becomes bonus fork food.
🌮 Tomorrow's Supper
Leftover pulled pork can become:
- Pulled-pork tacos or quesadillas
- Loaded baked potatoes
- Nachos with cheese and jalapeños
- Pizza topping
- Grilled cheese filling
- Pulled-pork poutine
This means one pork shoulder can quietly infiltrate several meals before anyone realizes they're eating leftovers.
World HQ calls this strategic menu redeployment.
🌙 Moonboot Modification: Homemade-ish BBQ Sauce
If the bottle of barbecue sauce seems a little too sweet, mix it with a splash of apple cider vinegar, a little Dijon mustard and a few shakes of hot sauce.
Taste it.
Adjust it.
Taste it again.
At some point recognize that you've eaten enough barbecue sauce directly from a spoon to constitute a small appetizer.
From the Captain's Log
The slow cooker may be the greatest kitchen appliance ever designed for people who enjoy receiving credit for work performed by machinery.
At nine in the morning you put pork into it.
At six o'clock somebody walks into the house and says:
“Wow, you've been cooking all day!”
This is an important moment.
Do not unnecessarily burden them with technical details.
Simply nod and say:
“Pretty much.” 😁🐷
🚨 WORLD HQ FILING NOTICE: Recipe #14 adds the cookbook's first proper slow-cooker/barbecue-style meal, while also giving us sandwiches, tacos, nachos and several legitimate excuses for making far too much pulled pork.
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