Pulled Pork Sandwiches

To me, the slow cooker (aka the Crock Pot) is one of the greatest tools in the kitchen. It can transform large cuts of meat or pots of soup into succulent dishes with very little effort. When it gets cold I like making chili, soup, cheese dip, and even oatmeal in my cooker, and I used it Wednesday to prepare some pulled pork for Bill's small group.

This dish really couldn't have been any easier. I bought an 8lb pork shoulder from Kroger, gave it a rub with some Rendezvous seasoning, and tossed it into the slow cooker. I covered about 3/4 of the meat with some beef broth, mixed in a little coffee, hot sauce, and worcestershire for flavor, and closed the lid. I cooked the meat all day on the "low" setting. When I say this couldn't be easier, I'm not kidding - I put everything in before I left for work and came back to a finished pork shoulder. After a quick shredding with a pair of forks I put the meat in a cast iron skillet, covered with some homemade bbq sauce, and cooked it for 30 minutes at 350 degrees to firm the meat up and cook the sauce in a bit. I whipped up some slaw using the leftover chipotle mayo from the Football Feast and served the meat and slaw inside some storebought dinner rolls. Simple and delicious. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the finished product. Trust me though...it was good.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 1 8lb pork shoulder 
• 1/4 cup rub of choice
• 1 can beef broth
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp hot sauce
• Neely's Kansas City BBQ sauce:
• 2 cups ketchup
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 5 tbsp light brown sugar
• 5 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 tbsp onion powder
• 1/2 tbsp black pepper
• 1/2 tbsp ground mustard seed
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• slaw of choice
• Dinner rolls

For meat: Coat all sides liberally with rub, wrap in aluminum foil, and place in refrigerator overnight. Place meat in slow cooker, fatty side down. Cover meat with beef broth, coffee, Worcestershire, and hot sauce and set dial to "low." Cover and cook for 6-8 hours.  Meat will be tender when done. Remove meat from cooker and transfer to tray or cutting board. Using two forks, remove fat and separate meat with the forks using a pulling motion.  Place pulled meat in a cast-iron skillet, cover with BBQ sauce (recipe below) and cook at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until meat firms and sauce cooks into meat. Serve on dinner rolls or buns topped with extra bbq sauce and slaw.

For sauce: Combine all ingredients in a saucepot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hr 15 minutes.