Slow Cooker Carolina Pulled Pork

Carolina-style barbeque isn't for everyone, but I love the tangy, spicy wonder of it, especially topped with cole slaw. I first had it prepared that way a couple years ago while attending a bridal shower in Winston-Salem, N.C. BBQ is no joke in North Carolina, folks. 

I compared several different recipes and landed on a combination of a few. This is the cheater, slow cooker version...the real deal happens for hours upon hours in a smoker in a backyard somewhere in the Triad. This takes about 8 hours, and it's the most no-muss, no-fuss day of cooking you'll ever have.

For some reason, my grocery store didn't have any pork butt or shoulder available when I went, so I just bought a roast and it worked fine! First I made a rub:

• 1 tablespoon of packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon of ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon of paprika

I placed the pork on top of a quartered onion, rubbed the spices in and then mixed up the sauce:

• 2 cups of apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup of ketchup
• 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• red pepper flakes
• a dash of garlic powder
• a couple sprinkles of cayenne pepper
• a couple dashes of Texas Pete, which hails from Winston-Salem!

I poured the mixture over the roast and set the slow cooker to low for 8 hours. I checked on it throughout, ladling the liquid over the roast to keep it nice and moist.

At the end of 8 hours, the pork was literally falling apart. I used two forks to shred it; traditional Western North Carolina pork is chopped, but this is how Sean likes it.

I added the shredded pork back to the pot and mixed it with the liquid, setting the slow cooker to "keep warm."

We ate our pork on wheat buns (dumb idea...screw healthiness!) with cole slaw and a couple dashes of Texas Pete. It was deliciously tangy and spicy and saucy. The only sad part is you cook for 8 hours and eat for 18 minutes! But it's definitely worth it.