Pulled Pork

I made pulled pork for a party a few months ago and I was blown away with how easy it was. The key is in the slow cooker. Through a couple of tries, I found that my 6 qt oval can easily take on a 6 lb shoulder/butt.. and could kinda squeeze in a little over 8 lbs.  

It was really popular at parties and it was an easy entree for a large family dinner. We toasted up some Hawaiian buns (use the dinner rolls if you want sliders) and topped it with my favorite BBQ sauce.

Roasted veggies and a baked potato rounded out the meal.

Ingredients: 

1 c brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp ground sage
1/2 tbsp ground thyme
1 tbsp coarse salt
5 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 medium onion, sliced
16 oz chicken stock

Directions: 

1. Remove pork from package. Blot dry with paper towels. 
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine spices, sugar, and garlic. This is your dry-rub.
3. Rub the dry rub all over the pork. (optional: do this step the night before and let sit in the refrigerator in a covered container).
4. In the slow cooker, spread the sliced onion out in an even layer. 
5. Place pork into slow cooker, fatty side up. 
6. Pour chicken stock into the slow cooker so that the pork is 80% - 90% covered (you don't need to use all of the cooking liquid). 
7. Cover. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 9. (Do not uncover the slow cooker until at least 6 hrs have passed). 
8. After cooking time has lapsed, pull out the pork shoulder with some tongs and place in a shallow container.
9. Transfer the cooking liquid into a separate container. As it cools, skim off some of the fat. 
10. With two forks, shred the meat. The meat should easily come apart - fall off the bone tender. 
11. Place meat back into the slow cooker with some of the cooking liquid to keep it moist. Reserve the rest of the liquid so people can use it as desired (like an aus ju). Set slow cooker to "warm."