Crock potBarbecue
Root-beer pulled pork
The church-potluck butt. Root beer, onion, a dry rub — it works, and nobody needs to apologize.
Made it?
8 hr · 15 min hands-on · pull 203°F · rest 15 min
Ingredients
8 lb on the fire · ~4 lb to the table · 8 plates at 8 oz
- Boston butt8 lb
- kosher salt1 tbsp
- chili powder1 tbsp
- black pepper1 tsp
- root beer (not diet)12 oz
- onion, sliced1
- barbecue sauce (after the pull)1/2 cup
Method
- 1
Salt, chili, pepper on the butt. Onion in the crock, meat fat-cap up, root beer around it.
- 2
Low 8 hours until it pulls. Drain most of the liquid — it is sweet and thin.
- 3
Shred, toss with barbecue sauce. Taste salt. Buns, slaw, pickles.
If you don’t have it
- Root beer → Dr. Pepper or cola. Not diet. You need the sugar.
- Butt → Picnic. Trim extra skin or it stays flabby.
Same cook, different day
Sandwich tray
A crowd. Pull, sauce, keep on Warm 1 hour max. Buns and slaw on the side.
Drier bark-ish
You miss the pit. Drain hard, broil 5 minutes, toss with a little of the reserved juice.
On the plate
With this, try
- With this dish, try making pinto beans.
Start when a packer wraps, or at the beginning of a shoulder. Soaked beans, smoked hock, onion, chili. Simmer until creamy. Salt late.
2 hr 30 min
- With this dish, try making pot liquor collards.
On with a shoulder or a ham. They want time, not a grate. Strip the stems, simmer with a hock until the leaves give and the pot liquor is the sauce.
1 hr 30 min
- With this dish, try making mayo slaw.
In the morning. It wants an hour in the fridge. Shred, mayo, a splash of vinegar, salt. Not soup.
20 min