This recipe uses a Crock-pot to simulate slow-roasted pit barbecue. The slow cooker can turn a  Boston butt or shoulder roast into juicy pulled pork sandwiches while you are at work. This recipe for pulled pork barbecue includes tips for how to make your own spice rub and creative ways to use the leftovers.

I spent most of my life in the South where "barbecue" is a noun more often than it is a verb. Barbecue is slow-cooked pork that is then shredded or chopped and served on a bun with sauce and Cole slaw. Many people call this kind of barbecue "pulled pork."

When I moved to the upper mid-west, I longed for a good pulled pork sandwich. With no good options in sight I turned to my own kitchen.

The best and easiest way to make pulled pork is to use a crock pot.

Ingredients:

1-4 lbs. Pork Shoulder or Butt (I buy bone-in, boneless works fine).

Salt

Pepper

Place the pork shoulder in the crock pot. Rub the outside with salt or other rub (see below).

Cook the pork with the lid on for 8 hours on low. Chop or pull apart and serve on a lightly toasted bun with your choice of sauce. I recommend a Carolina mustard based sauce. It really is that easy.

Because I am used to barbecue cooked over a hickory smoke and charcoal, I missed the charred outside on my pork, so I now finish my pork under a broiler to crisp the outside. Place the cooked pork in a roasting pan (if you can get it there without it falling apart) and put in a hot oven for a few minutes.The fat on the outside and the sugar from the rub should caramelize into a nice crispy skin. Remove and promptly chop.

If you do not own a crock pot or would rather cook a pork shoulder or pork butt in the oven. I recommend cooking the meat on at a low temperature (200-250 degrees F) for 6-8 hours.

I have had success cooking the meat in this way by rubbing the meat with the rub recipe included on this page, wrapping the meat in aluminum foil, and adding a splash of vinegar.

I leave the meat wrapped for at least the first half of the cooking time.

Once the meat is fully cooked you can increase the temperature to a low broil to crisp the outside, or you can leave it as it is.

Any barbecue rub is going to include salt, sugar, and spice. Any combination of those elements will make a good rub. Be creative. This is my own variation:

Ingredients:

1.5 Tbs of brown sugar

1 Tbs of salt (coarse grain)

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp black pepper

This pork recipe makes enough to feed a small apartment complex, so I feel obligated to give you at least one other way to use the pork.

It makes a great pork taco (taco de carnitas).

Place a helping of pork on a warm, fresh corn tortilla and cover in roasted tomatillo sauce.

The same cooking method can be used to cook turkey thighs.

Place 2-6 pounds of turkey thighs in a crock pot for 8 hours on low. When it's done, shred the meat and seve on fresh rolls with mayonaise for that day-after-Thanksgiving taste. Or, smother it in barbecue sauce for a no-pork alternative to the Southern delicacy mentioned above. Or, if you want to get really crazy, apply thai peanut sauce and wrap it in iceberg lettuce.