Ultimate Cheater Pulled Pork

*Post by Angela.

I've already waxed rhapsodic about fall being my favorite season, so I won't go on about it here. What I will say is that my slow-cooker has been hauled out of hibernation and stands at the ready at all times. I kicked off slow-cooker season with this, pretty much my favorite slow-cooker recipe ever, which I first encountered on a DC favorite, The Bitten Word. Generally, you can use any old BBQ sauce, but the Bitten Word guys recommended making this BBQ sauce, and now, so do I. If you have a BBQ sauce you really love, then by all means, use it here, but this sauce was really, really delicious - BBQ-y enough to satisfy those urges, but also perfect for someone like me, who doesn't typically love BBQ sauce. And for those of you who hate BBQ sauce (and I know you are out there, you've made yourselves heard), the pulled pork is fantastic on its own, no sauce necessary.

List of ingredients for the pork:

• 1/4 cup paprika
• 2 tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp dry mustard
• 5-6 lbs Boston butt pork roast (or country-style pork ribs)
• 1/2 cup liquid smoke

First, I combined the paprika, kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder, and mustard in an airtight container and shook it to mix.  I may or may not have also thrown in a few shakes of this ghost pepper powder we picked up somewhere; I've also been known to chop up a habanero pepper and throw it into the mix. What I'm saying is that this is a recipe that can take some heat. I cut the pork into 2-3" cubes and put it into the slow-cooker.

I then added the spice rub to the meat. The original recipe says only to use 1/4 cup of the spice rub, but I went ahead and added almost the entire amount, because it felt right. You should do what your heart tells you.

I tossed the meat until each piece was well coated with the rub, then added the liquid smoke. Be very, very careful with this potent aromatic - I once broke a bottle of it in my kitchen and the whole apartment smelled like liquid smoke for a month. That's not the worst thing in the world, but it gets old after awhile.

I covered the slow-cooker, set it on high for about 6-7 hours, and went on with the rest of my day.

List of ingredients for the BBQ sauce:

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves, very finely minced, or put through a garlic press
• 2 1/4 cups ketchup
• 3/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth
• 7 tbsp soy sauce
• 6 tbsp packed dark brown sugar
• 4 1/2 tbsp light molasses
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar

To start the sauce, I heated the oil in a saucepan over medium heat, then added the garlic and cooked just 30 seconds, until the room was filled with the heady aroma. Our buddy, who was sitting in the living room while this was happening, noted that he could practically taste the garlic. That's how you know you've cooked it long enough.

I added the ketchup, broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, molasses and vinegar and brought it to a simmer, then lowered the heat to medium low and let it continue to simmer for about 15 minutes (until reduced down to about 3 cups). Then I let it sit until it could be united with the pork in holiest of matrimonies.

Once the pork had become really tender, I removed it from the slow-cooker with a slotted spoon to a platter, and shredded the falling apart meat with a couple of forks. I dumped the cooking liquid out of the slow-cooker pot, put the meat back in and stirred in about half of the BBQ sauce.

And there you have it. The easiest, best recipe for pulled pork that I have encountered. Guaranteed to provide you with at least a couple of days of amazing pulled pork sandwiches (see header pic), pulled pork tacos (below), and whatever else your gluttonous hearts desire.