Recipe: Crock-pot BBQ Pulled Pork

So yesterday, College Buddy D was scheduled to arrive around 5:30pm-ish.  Hubs' flight wasn't scheduled to arrive 'til later in the evening.

I figured we needed to *maximize* our Girl-Time and - having just gotten off a plane (and with a veritable truck-load of luggage) - it seemed like eating at home was gonna be our best bet...

This is a ridiculously easy (and extremely tasty) meal.  And I'm sure if you Google it, there are about a million variants on this recipe.  I figured I'd go ahead and make it a million-and-one!

QT's Crock-Pot BBQ Pulled Pork
Yield - at least 6 servings...

Ingredients (vary to suit your tastes!)

• appx 3-4 lb bone-in pork shoulder roast - ideally with a big slab o' fat on the top (picnic roast / butt roast - which are probably all the same thing).  (You do NOT want pork loin - too lean!)
• 1/2 of a large onion, coarsely chopped
• 6 slices of thick-cut bacon, cooked 'til limp - but not crispy (optional - I didn't use 'em this time)
• appx 1/4 cup Liquid Smoke (I used Hickory-flavored)
• 1/4 tsp each of celery seed, garlic powder, onion powder
• generous shake or three of BBQ seasoning (I used McCormick Grill-Mates pork rub - probably a couple of tablespoons).
• BBQ Sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays "Sweet and Spicy" and some other generic "Honey-Smoke" BBQ sauce)
• Sourdough (or whatever) sandwich rolls

Instructions:

1. Grab a couple of sheets of aluminum foil, large enough to completely wrap the roast
2. Line your crock-pot with the foil - kinda like making a basket inside the crock pot.  You'll want the bottom to be fairly well sealed (so the liquid stays inside the foil).
3. Put the chopped onions in the bottom of your foil basket
4. If you're using bacon, slice it into bite-sized chunks and toss that in with the onions
5. Place the roast in the foil basket - *fat side up* and wrap the foil "up" the sides of the roast
6. Sprinkle all of the dry seasonings all around and over the roast.  Then drizzle the liquid smoke onto the roast
7. Wrap up the roast with the foil.  Doesn't have to be perfectly air-tight, but you want it pretty-well enclosed.
8. Pop the lid on your crock pot and cook it on low for 8-12 hours (high 4-6 hours).  I find that "low" gives better results (more tender)
9. At around the 8 hour mark (4 hours if you're cooking on high), peel open the foil and test the meat with a fork. It should be getting pretty tender - meaning you can start to shred the meat with a fork, and the meat should be separating from the bone.  If it hasn't reached that point, wrap it back up and let it cook longer...
10. Once it reaches the point where the meat is shreddable and the bone is removable, open the foil and use a turkey baster to schlorp off some of the liquid that's puddled in the bottom.  Set it aside (in case you need to add some back in, later).  
11. Remove the bone and the slab of fat from the roast.  The bone should slide right out.  The fat might require a knife.  If the meat is easily shreddable, then you're ready for the next step.  If not, you might need to pop it back in for awhile longer (and you can turn the crock-pot up to High at this point).
12. Remove the meat from the foil basket.  Remove the foil basket from the pot.  If desired, you can add some of the onions (and definitely the bacon) back into the crock pot.  
13. Put the roast back in the crock pot and shred it with a knife and a fork.  Add the BBQ sauce (however much you like).  You want almost a "pasty" to "semi-runny" consistency of meat and sauce (and if it's too dry, add more of the drippings you'd set aside earlier).  Cook, on high, for another 30 minutes.
14. Serve warm, on a toasted sourdough roll - with more BBQ sauce on the side...

It sounds like a lot of work, but it really is ridiculously easy.  Basically pop the roast in, in the morning, and leave it alone!  And the shredding/prep is, maybe, 15 minutes (if that!).

Oh, and leftovers refrigerate (and reheat) quite well.  This stuff *never* lasts more than a day or two!

Awesomely delicious and I served it with my Catalina Cole Slaw (which D raved about - Yay!) and chips. 

I'll have to post a pic later.....................................