This weekend I took it pretty easy and when I really want to cook easily, I usually pull out my crockpot. There is no item in a kitchen that is more simplistic with such consistent results. While I love to smoke meats low and slow in my smoker out back, sometimes doing that is hard to manage, since you have to babysit the fire. So when I'm looking for that smoky flavor with no fuss, I turn to my liquid smoke.
Now don't get me wrong liquid smoke is no substitute for the real thing, but it still adds a nice flavor with ease. This weekend it was an attempt at recreating Kalua Pig, which to this day I've never been able to do. This time unfortunately it was still not quite there still, but much closer than any previous attempt to date.
To start with I choose a decent size Picnic roast and toss it in the crock pot, then I liberally poured Mesquite liquid smoke on both sides of it. I used mesquite flavor because it is closer to the natural woods they use to smoke the pig in Hawaii, however for just a nice smoky pulled pork, hickory works well. Next thing I do is sprinkle kosher salt on all sides of meat, this always adds a nice flavor, even without adding liquid smoke. The one thing I have learned with crockpot pork though, is to be sure and set it in there with the fat side up, this allows the fats to "melt" into the meat and keeps things from drying out. This may not be the healthiest way to cook it, but it does help it from drying out, of course if your pork does come a bit too dry, this can be easily remedied and without anyone knowing. Instead of just having pulled pork, now you add some barbecue sauce and you have plenty of barbecue pork for sandwiches, and only you will know that it wasn't planned.
Then comes the hardest part of all! You have to wait for 8-10 hours on low for it to cook, all this time if you are home, you have to deal with that delicious smell permeating throughout your entire household. To me this is second only to the smell of fresh bread, which is another smell that has a tendency to be around our place.
Once the meat is cooked, I remove the fat I can from the meat as much as I can, and shred it with 2 forks. Then you have enough meat for a large party or for meals for the next week. When the meat comes out, my favorite way to eat it is just as it is, a mound of shredded meat on my plate, which is quite contrary to my vegetarian wife, without whom I'd probably not have any sides to speak of with my meals.
The beauty of doing this though is that you almost always will have plenty of leftovers. One of my favorite ways to enjoy my leftover pulled pork is in quesadillas, some pork and cheese in a tortilla a side of some salsa and sour cream, and I am a happy camper!
Don't forget your crockpot for parties either, a 6 quart crockpot will cook up enough meat for even the hungriest of crews. And while it's cooking you still have your oven for other goodies and time to spare. With a crockpot and a little prepping ahead of time(since it does take hours to cook) you can have plenty of food for all your guests. One of my other common practices is making shredded chicken adding some taco seasoning, and you have a great start to a taco bar for everyone, and it keeps it nice and warm while everyone serves themselves.
Best of luck in the kitchen! Good eats and great treats for all!
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