It is difficult to describe the smell and taste of this slow cooked pork. It can feed a crowd or like us two, feed us for several meals. We use it for tacos and stuffed baked potatoes. When I was growing up we would throw barbeque sauce on chopped pork and slap it on a hamburger bun with some pickles.
You will need spices for a dry rub, an onion, a beer, and chipotles in adobo sauce. If you can not find chipotles in adobo sauce you can simply use chipotle from the spice section of the grocery store and add it to your rub mixture. The chipotles are very spicy, so if you do not like it hot, you may omit. I only use 1 chipotle pepper in the mixture, so even though it is hot, it really does not make the pork really spicy… it just gives it a smokey flavor. I like a bone in pork butt… the bone adds depth.
Combine all your spices, with salt and pepper and stir to combine. You need a teaspoon of each, but I like to use a 1/2 teaspoon twice to scoop the spices out of the jars… a teaspoon is too big to fit in the spice jars.
I like to place the dry rub on the pork the night before…. it permeates the pork more… but I if you do not have time do not sweat it.
Dry off the pork butt first with paper towels, then sprinkle the dry rub mixture over the entire pork butt and rub in it every nook and cranny.
Slice the onion in half, peel off the outer skin and cut into thin slices.
Lay the sliced onions in the bottom of your crock pot and place your pork on top. You can also use a dutch oven and cook this in the oven at 325 for approximately 3 hours or until falling off the bone.
In a blender, combine the beer and 1 chipotle pepper and blend till smooth. Pour over the pork and cover. Cook for roughly 5 hours in the crock pot on high or until falling off the bone tender.
You can cook the pork the night before if you prefer. If you place the whole pork and juices in the frig overnight, then you can easily remove the fat from the top the next day. Cut the pork into pieces. You can add the onions or save them separately to add to your meal.
You will have enough pork for several nights if you are feeding just 2 people. When it is just me and my husband, we always make tacos the first night with the pork. My Slow Cooked Pork Taco recipe is on the blog here.
Our 2nd night we use the pork for loaded baked potatoes with butter, cheese, steamed broccoli, chopped pork, topped with onions from the pork. This is a real crowd pleaser!
SLOW COOKED PORK BUTT RECIPE
Serves: approx. 6 people
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 Hours
INGREDIENTS
3 1/2 pound Bone In Pork Butt
1 Large White or Yellow Onion, sliced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chile powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 Beer
Chipotles in Adobo Sauce
PREPARATION
Slice onion in thin slices and place in crock pot.
Combine spices in small bowl. Dry off pork butt. Sprinkle all the rub on the pork butt. I like to do this the night before but it is not mandatory.
Place the pork on the onions in the crock pot.
Place 1 chipotle or 1 tablespoon of adobo sauce in blender with 1 beer. Blend to break down chipotle.
Pour over pork and cover. Cook 5 hours in crock pot on high or until tender and falling off bone.
Pork Butts have a lot of fat, so you can make this the night before, place in fridge, and skim off the fat the next day, or simply remove pork from pot that you need for that night and chop up into pieces. Save onions separately or chop up with the pork. I only chop up the pork I am using for that night. Otherwise I store the pork in some of the juices so it does not dry out in the fridge.
Enjoy the Pork for Tacos (on my Blog here) for stuffed potatoes, or add barbeque sauce and slap on a bun with pickles and slaw.