Slow - Cooked Pulled Pork

For this recipe, you need:

2/3 cup of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 medium white onion, chopped
2 tbsp yellow mustard
2 tbsp white vinegar
3 1/2 pound boneless pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into four pieces

That last part, the pork shoulder... it looks like this:


It's just, a piece of a pig. With the skin and everything. And I didn't really think about the boneless aspect, which was a big mistake. So I spent a good long time removing the skin and cutting the meat away from the bone, and trimming the fat. While this was most definitely disgusting, it also kind of made me smile, because I really felt like I was channeling my grammy. I could imagine her butchering a deer that one of my uncles had killed and then making stew or jerky. She wouldn't flinch. And somehow it didn't feel that gross to me.

So after I finished destroying that giant hunk of pork, I combined all the other ingredients into the crock pot.


Then you add the pork. While the recipe called for it to be cut into four pieces, I actually had to cut it into many more, since I was cutting it off of the bone. I probably had about 8 pieces. But I hoped this wouldn't make a difference.


Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Luckily, I also received this crock pot from my grammy, and it was the perfect size.


After 8 hours, I removed the pork and used two forks to shred the meat, and then returned it and stirred it into the sauce.


I spooned about 1/2 cup onto a sandwich bun, and put it on a plate with some fun, picnic style sides; potato salad, macaroni salad, and some fruit.


And I'm happy to say, we are now 7 for 7. The pork was excellent. Dave put coleslaw on his sandwich, and inspired me to do the same, and I definitely recommend that as well. It gave it a nice crunchy texture.

Afterwards I thought it was only fair to let the pets lick the plates, since they had been tortured all day long with the smell of cooking pork shoulder (and since I probably had Sarah to thank for making me a little more comfortable with the pig skin thanks to her affinity for pig ears).


They were very appreciative.

Next week - double chocolate oatmeal cookies!