Amy's Pulled Pork in a Slow Cooker

Prepare pork with dry rub the night before and refrigerate overnight:

• Pork shoulder, bone-in, skinless.

Trim pork shoulder and discard any excess fat.

Rinse with water and pat dry. Set aside. Make dry rub.

Dry Rub: Mix in a medium-size bowl:

• Put 1/2 cup brown sugar in a bowl and mix in 1 TABLESPOON each of the following spices:
• ground cumin
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• chili powder
• cayenne pepper (reduce this amount to 1 tsp if you don't want it to be very hot)
• paprika

Generously apply dry rub to pork. Save extra.

Wrap pork in plastic wrap and refrigerate it and any extra dry rub overnight.

The next morning, or 8 hours before serving:

Use the quick store-bought BBQ sauce method or make Amy's original sauce, below.

Quick method: Stir together:

•  2-1/2 cups of your favorite store-bought BBQ sauce
•  3/4 cups water

 add seasonings to taste

OR make Amy's Sauce:
Mix in a large bowl:

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 3 tbsp mustard
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 1-1/2 tsp salt
• 1-1/2 tsp pepper
• 3/4 cup water

Set sauce aside.

On bottom of slow cooker, place:

• 1 medium onion, sliced

Take pork from fridge, remove plastic wrap, place pork on top of onions.

Pour sauce over the pork until the slow cooker ins half full.

Refrigerate any remaining sauce.

Cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove pork and shred with 2 forks (you may shred boneless pork inside the slow cooker being careful not to scratch the finish of the cooker.)

Heat any remaining sauce in the microwave and pour into the slow cooker with the cooked meat and any remaining dry rub.

Let simmer until heated through.

If sauce is too thin, remove lid from the slow cooker while simmering on a higher heat. Stir occasionally.

Spoon into a bowl to serve shredded pork in:

• warm rolls

Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches for Six

This recipe was clipped from the June '08 Family Circle magazine. 
Prep the night before and put the meat and liquid in a slow-cooker in the morning.

Dinner will be ready 8 hours later.

Quick method: use a prepared spice rub mix and bottled BBQ sauce.

Spice rub:
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground black pepper

1 boneless unseasoned pork butt or shoulder (2-1/2 lbs)
1 cup chicken broth

BBQ sauce:
de-fatted pork liquid from slow cooker
2 tbsp. cider vinegar
2 tbsp. ketchup
1-1/2 tbsp. brown sugar

6 Kaiser buns

The Night Before:
Stir seasonings together in a small bowl to make a spice rub.
Trim excess fat from pork.  Place pork meat on a sheet of plastic wrap.
Sprinkle pork with spice mixture and rub in.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.
In the Morning:
Unwrap pork. Place in slow cooker with 1 cup chicken broth.
Cover and cook on high for 6 hours OR low for 8 hours.
Dinnertime:
Remove meat from slow cooker and let cool.
Make BBQ sauce: skim fat from remaining liquid and place in pot with vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar.  Whisk and heat on medium-high till sugar has dissolved (about 2 minutes).
Cut pork in chunks then pull into shreds, discarding excess fat.
Stir pulled pork with BBQ sauce.
Place about 1/2 cup meat in a kaiser bun and serve. Makes 6.