Slow Cooker Recipe for Pulled Pork

Cooking the Boston Butt:

Boston Butt Pork Roast (3-5 pounds)
Salt & Pepper
Yes, that's all*

For sandwiches you'll also need:
Hamburger Buns & BBQ sauce

Place Boston Butt in dry Crock Pot and season with salt & pepper. I usually rub the seasonings into the meat, but it's not necessary. Then pour water in crock pot to about 1/2 to 3/4 the height of the Boston Butt, but don't pour it over the meat (that would rinse off the seasonings!). Pour it to the side. Cover with lid and cook on low for 8-10 hours (sometimes I start it on high for 2 hours, then turn it down to low). Turn the pork over after 3 or 4 hours. Several hours in, you'll see the pork start to pull away from the bone. You'll know it's completely done when it falls apart into sections as you attempt to remove it from the slow cooker/crock pot. There's no worry of over cooking. Place the pork on a plate to cool a little. Then follow the instructions below for pulling and slicing.

Pulling and Cutting Up the Pork:

Once the pork has cooled a little, remove any fat and discard. Next, pull the pork into pieces a little larger than your finger. You'll end up with a beautiful plate full of tender pork (photo #2 above). These pieces will be too long to manage on a sandwich, so slicing against the grain, cut the pork into 1 to 1.5 inch lengths. Using your hands break up any large chunks into smaller pieces (but don't shred it - just break it up some).

Add the sauce and reheat:

Add your favorite sauce and reheat. You can do this in a pot on the stove or even in the microwave. A whole Boston Butt is more than my family will eat in one meal so I simply reheat as much as we'll eat then put the rest (plain without sauce) in the fridge for the next day.

We like to toast our hamburger buns first then make our sandwiches. We also like to add slaw and/or pickles and/or hot sauce. Then enjoy with a side of slaw and potato chips.

A Boston Butt is a cut or pork from the upper shoulder (and not the other area) and has lots of different names. At the grocery counter it will be labeled Boston Butt, Boston Butt Roast, Boston Butt Pork Roast, Pork Shoulder, or Pork Shoulder Blade Roast. All of these are the correct cut of meat and will make very tender pulled pork for sandwiches or over rice (more on that later). But if you feel uncertain, ask the butcher. These cuts of pork will have a thick slab of fat on one side - this is normal and you can trim it off before cooking if you like, but it's not necessary since you will remove it later anyway. You can read more about this cut here at TheOtherWhiteMeat.

Here's a picture of what I look for. This cut was labeled "Boston Butt Roast" and was about 3 pounds. I paid $1.99 per pound on sale. I've seen it cheaper and I've seen it more expensive so this was a decent price.

Some cooks add sauces to their meat WHILE it's cooking in the slow cooker or crock pot, but many southern cooks agree: Don't do this when making pulled pork BBQ . By adding salt & pepper and by cooking the meat with a low heat, slow cook method this pork simply doesn't need anything else while cooking. Add sauce AFTER the pork cooks.

You can see in this photo all I've add to the pork is salt and pepper. After I took this photo, I added some water. That's it.

Ah yes, the long standing debate. I'm from South Carolina and I can't think of using anything BUT mustard base sauce on my pulled pork BBQ sandwiches. Having said that, I do humbly acknowledge that I'm in the minority. Wikipedia says, "This sauce is most common in a belt from Columbia to Charleston". Yep, that's where I'm from. And the mustard based sauce I grew up on? Maurice's Southern Gold BBQ Sauce pictured to the right. It's the best mustard based barbeque sauce ever made for pulled pork (please chime in about your favorite in the poll or guestbook).

Now that we live in Florida, we can't just run down and get a bottle from Maurice's Restaurant, Piggy Park. Soooo our relatives in South Carolina bring it to us by the gallon when possible. It's sort of funny. Like we should speak in hushed tones about bringing it across state lines.

My second favorite mustard based sauce is Cattleman's and I can find it at almost any store (I've listed it below) . I would talk about ketchup and vinegar based sauce, but I just don't know enough about them :-).