Tender, succulent and juicy pulled pork cooked to absolute perfection in your slow cooker. Made with an easy dry rub and then slow cooked in a savory sauce mix, this pulled pork will have everyone asking for more.
Pulled pork is traditionally prepared by smoking the meat in large outdoor smokers. The process can take a day or two, but is always a treat when you find a place that does it right. So can we make pulled pork at home that just as good? I sure think so! And we’ll use a classic stand by appliance that’s found in most kitchens – a slow cooker.
Slow cookers, commonly referred to by the brand name Crock Pots, have been around for decades and have remained popular today for good reason. There’s so many excellent recipes that benefit from the low and slow cooking method and pulled pork is certainly one of those recipes.
Dry Rub for Pork Shoulder Butt
The cut of meat most commonly used for pulled pork is pork shoulder butt. You can purchase it boneless or with bone in, and they usually run anywhere from a couple of pounds to as much as 8 lbs. or more. For this recipe we like to use a boneless cut of about 3-4lbs. We start by trimming some of the fat off. Many pork shoulder butts will have a “fat cap” that is large layer of fat. I like to cut that off because there’s plenty of fat already marbled into the meat to make it juicy and to keep it tender. Then we cut the meat into 4-6 equal sized pieces. We’ll do this because it gives us more surface area to apply the dry rub, which will penetrate into more of the meat. It also gives us more surface area to create a slow cooker “bark”.
Slow Cook in Liquid
Once the meat has been cut and the rub applied, we’ll add small amounts of chicken broth, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke to the slow cooker. These liquids will mix with the juices of the meat during the slow cooking process and create the most amazing sauce for our pulled pork. The taste, the smell, everything about it is simply mouth watering.
Shred and Serve
Once the slow cooking process is complete, remove the meat to a large bowl and shred with two forks. Add back in some of the juices and you’re ready to serve. Additionally, you can add your favorite BBQ sauce if you wish. But, I think you’ll find the juice from this recipe to be the optimal sauce for the meat.
Best Damn Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
- Total Time: 8hrs 10min
- Yield: 6-10 servings
Description
Tender, succulent and juicy pulled pork made to perfection in your slow cooker. Made with a simple dry rub and slow cooked in a savory mix to create the most delicious homemade pulled pork.
Ingredients
- 3lb – 4lb pork shoulder butt
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp ground mustard
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
Instructions
- Cut meat into 4-6 equal sized pieces. Trim fat as desired.
- In a bowl, mix salt, pepper, brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika and cayenne pepper and rub all over meat.
- Add chicken broth, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke to slow cooker and whisk it together. Place meat into slow cooker.
- Slow cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-6 hours.
- Remove meat to a bowl and shred with two forks. Serve with juices from slow cooker or add your favorite BBQ sauce.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Category: BBQ
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: pulled pork, BBQ, slow cooker, crockpot
Bill Palmer
I have made this recipe several times and my family actually likes it better than the “Best Damn Instapot pulled pork” recipe. Is there a specific reason that you choose to have this as a slow cooker recipe? It appears that the difference in the two is only a few ingredients. Can this be made in an Instapot?
★★★★★
RecipeTeacher
Hi Bill. I’m so glad you liked it! And you ask a great question. The main ingredient difference is the smoked paprika and apple cider vinegar. I added these to the slow cooker version because we don’t have the searing step that we do with the Instant Pot version – which really adds to the flavor profile. By adding the vinegar and smoked paprika to the slow cooker, it just gives it a bit of a flavor boost, especially the vinegar. That said, you could absolutely make this in the Instant Pot.
MaryGail
I’ve made this recipe several times in the pressure cooker, and we love it!!!! Thought I would see what the difference would be doing it in the slow cooker… You don’t mention searing the meat before slow cooking, is there a reason you don’t?
RecipeTeacher
Hi Mary, I leave the searing out of the slow cooker version simply because it’s a extra step that takes place outside of the slow cooker.
Melanie
So i made this and it was amazing!!! Didn’t even need sauce. Shared recipe w a bunch of friends. Loved it!!
★★★★★
RecipeTeacher
Thanks, Melanie! Yeah I don’t use any BBQ sauce either. The juices are SO good. Thanks for the feedback!