Our market made me an offer I couldn’t refuse on a boneless pork roast; and so it sat there in the freezer downstairs, making me wonder when the heck I was going to get around to doing something with it. A traditional roast is not, in my humble opinion, a summertime dish, and besides, that’s the sort of a meal to serve when you have people over to help eat all the meat and fixin’s that usually attend, so I opted to turn it into barbecued pork for a sammich supper. Served with macaroni salad on the side (Rich isn’t a fan of cole slaw), some yellow mustard, dill pickle and sliced onion on a toasted roll, you have an easy dinner, AND, since you cook the pork in the slow cooker, you don’t heat up the kitchen in hot weather.
Slow cooker note: we have a Cuisinart cooker which I love for it’s large capacity, oval crock, and baking rack (for just such recipes as this); but it seems to cook fairly quickly. If a recipe calls for six to eight hours on high, I can count on it being done in four hours on low. My sister is of the opinion that most of the newer slow cookers are like this, since she has the same issue with one of hers (what, you don’t have multiple slow cookers for different applications? Wake up and smell the nachos, dude!), so take cooking time with a large grain of salt and plan according to your experience with your appliance.
I used a small-ish (2.1 lb) boneless pork roast ‘supreme’ from our trusty neighborhood Jewel, which made easily enough pulled pork for six (or maybe even eight) sammiches.
INGREDIENTS
•1 boneless pork roast (~ 2 lb)
•Dry spice rub – feel free to use what you like. I made a mixture of Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute, garlic powder, paprika, and a touch of cayenne
•Barbecue sauce – use whichever you like. I opted for my last jar of Cajun Power Sloppy Boudreaux
Rub the spice mixture into the roast and place on a rack (if you have one) coated with cooking spray in a slow cooker.
Cover and roast on low for about four hours (in my machine – six to eight in yours?). You don’t need to add any liquid.
Once it’s done (you can use a meat thermometer if you like), remove to a cutting board or rimmed dish and let rest for 15 minutes. Drain any liquid from the slow cooker and wipe out. Shred the pork by pulling two forks through, then return to the slow cooker and add the sauce of your choice (if your choice happens to be my barbecue sauce, I would recommend thinning it out a bit with some water – or maybe some apple cider). Cover and warm on low. Serve on toasted rolls with whatever condiments you like.