Crockpot Root Beer Pulled Pork
Pork shoulder rubbed with spices and slow-cooked in root beer until it falls apart, then tossed with barbecue sauce for sweet, smoky sandwiches.
- Crockpot
- Slow cooker
- Pork
- Dinner
- 560 min total
- Serves 10
Ingredients
Ingredients for servings
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Original recipe serves 10. Ingredient amounts adjust automatically. Cooking times and pan size may need adjusting separately.
- 4 lb pork shoulder, boneless, also sold as Boston butt
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 yellow onion, thickly sliced
- 12 oz root beer, one can, regular, not diet
- 1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce, your favorite, plus more for serving
- 10 burger buns
- 3 cups coleslaw, optional, for topping
Gear
- Slow cooker, 6 quart
- Two forks
- Instant-read thermometer
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Steps
Step 1: Mix the brown sugar, paprika, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper. Pat the pork dry and rub the mix all over it.
Step 2: Spread the onion slices in the bottom of the slow cooker and set the pork on top. Pour the root beer around the sides so it doesn't wash the rub off.
Step 3: Cover and cook on Low 9 hours, until the pork shreds easily and reads around 200°F in the thickest part.
Step 4: Move the pork to a big bowl. Pour the liquid out of the cooker, keeping the onions, and skim the fat off about 1 cup of the liquid.
Step 5: Shred the pork with two forks, pulling out any big pieces of fat. Return it to the cooker with the onions, the 1 cup of skimmed liquid and the barbecue sauce. Stir and keep on Warm 15 minutes.
Step 6: Pile on buns and top with coleslaw and extra sauce.
Swaps
- Soda: Dr Pepper or cola work the same way with a slightly different sweetness.
- Sauce: A vinegar-based sauce if you like it tangy instead of sweet.
- Buns: Slider rolls for a party, or skip the bread and pile it on baked potatoes.
Tips
- Shoulder is the cut. Pork loin is too lean and turns dry and stringy.
- Don’t drown it in all the cooking liquid. It’s mostly fat and water and makes the sandwiches soggy.
- Leftovers make great nachos and quesadillas.
The story
HAM Cooking. Let’s fire it up.
Yes, you’re pouring a soda on dinner. No, I’m not sorry. Root beer has sugar, a little caramel and those warm sassafras-and-vanilla notes that go with pork like a porch goes with a rocking chair.
What makes this work is the cut. Pork shoulder is a fatty, hard-working muscle with lots of connective tissue. Eight or nine hours of low, moist heat melts all that into gelatin, and that’s what gives pulled pork its juicy, silky shreds. The slow cooker can’t give you a smoky bark like a smoker can, which is why the rub uses smoked paprika to bring some of that flavor along for the ride.
The other trick is what you do after. Most of the liquid in the pot is rendered fat and juice. Pour it all back in and you’ll have soggy buns. Save one cup, skim it, and let the barbecue sauce do the rest.
Pile it high, add slaw on top, and serve it to a crowd.
HAM out.
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