About a year ago, when the blog was brand new, I made a slow cooker pulled pork. It was delicious in every way, but it also used a McCormick seasoning packet. So, really, it was almost more of a product review than a recipe. And don't get me wrong, I love it. That particular product gets a big thumbs up in my book. But I really wanted to make a homemade BBQ sauce to cook the pork in. Naturally, I called on Pat and Gina Neely. Jake can tell you about my undying love for them.
This time I made homemade BBQ sauce and put it in the slow cooker surrounding the pork and while the meat cooked, so did the sauce. Talk about easy! I made some substitutions based on what I had in the house, and I reduced the amount of water because the slow cooker doesn't let steam escape. It all worked out well and we made sandwiches for one meal and BBQ nachos for another. There will be extra sauce, so we saved it in the fridge for other meals (but I probably wouldn't save it for more than a week).
The Neely sauce is almost like a mix between Kansas City sweet and Carolina vinegar. Which worked out perfectly because Jake loves vinegar and I love sugar. As I'm sure you can tell from our personalities. Our baby seems to be taking after the sugar side of the family.
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork (BBQ sauce adapted from the Neelys):
2 cups ketchup 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 5 tablespoons light brown sugar 3 tablespoons sugar 1/2 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper 1 tablespoon fresh grated onion 1/2 tablespoon mustard 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 pork tenderloin (mine was 4 pounds)
Combine all of the ingredients (except for the pork) in a slow cooker. Add the pork and make cover it in a sauce. Set the cooker on low and let it go for 8 hours uninterrupted. Don't open the lid!
After 8 hours, take the pork out and shred it - I used two forks. At this point you can either put the pork back in with the sauce or keep it on the side so that each person can choose how much sauce to use. You can use the BBQ pork for anything from sandwiches to nachos to omelettes. Refrigerate leftovers.
