Slow Cooked "Barbecue" Pork

[tephra]

My latest recipe in development, it's close to "just right" though.

1 pork loin, size to fit in your slow cooker (my crock is 1.5qt)
1 onion chopped
1 Tbsp oil (approximately)
¹/₄ c vinegar or lemon juice
1 can tomato paste (6oz)
¹/₂ c dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp prepared mustard
3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp cornstarch (see edit below)
1 tsp salt
¹/₄ tsp pepper

Trim the excess fat from the pork loin and cut it crosswise into slabs about 2" thick.

Saute onions in oil until brown and caramelized. Deglaze pan with vinegar and pour into the crock.

Add remaining ingredients, excluding pork, and stir well.

Coat each piece of pork in the sauce and wedge them into the crock.

Cook on high for at least 6 hours. You want the pork to fall apart and shred itself.

The sauce was a bit too thin for my taste still (even after reducing the liquid in the sauce recipe and adding cornstarch) so I added a bit of cornstarch and water paste at about hour 5 and let it thicken up while I prepared side dishes in the last hour or so of cooking.

Anyone have any experience with the "tapioca trick" for doing thicker stews in a slow cooker? I'm wondering if I would be better off with using a couple tablespoons of fine tapioca in the recipe rather than cornstarch.

Edit: 10-10-07

Dredging the pork (or beef or whatever) chunks in flour solved the watery sauce problem.

Edit: 02-06-08

Just an update since I've got this thing "perfected" now. Recipe stands as is (with cornstarch omitted). Dredge the pork in flour and don't shake off excess before you cram it into the crock and smush it around in the sauce. It's best cooked on LOW for 13-14 hours but high for 8-10 works too. About half way through the cooking time you should poke and prod and stir to break up the meat and get it to start shredding into the sauce. Give it a good poke and stir an hour or two before you serve it too.

Comments

[des-butterfly.livejournal.com]

I always use either flour or cornstarch to thicken stews. Never tried tapioca.

Add some ketchup and it would thicken right up.

[tephra]

I would have never thought of ketchup as a thickener. I was pondering adjusting the sauce to use 2 cans of paste but was thinking it would probably make way too much sauce once it got going, and probably end up a bit too intensely tomato flavored as well.

I'm always amazed at how much liquid comes out of meat in a slow cooker.

[watanukisuki.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... haven't tried the tapioca in crock pot; I'd think a tablespoon or so of the quick-cook stuff would probably work fine. I also was thinking that you could sprinkle the caramelized onions with flour in the saute pan. That would coat the onions with flour and have them act as thickeners during the cooking. Any excess flour in the pan will help thicken the deglazing liquid. Perhaps even gently tossing the meat in flour before adding might help?

I'm definitely going to have to try this, even though I'll probably be shot if "real" Texans find out I called this [pork-based] recipe "barbequed." ;D

Do you have a preference of vinegar for this: white or cider, or a mix of both?

[tephra]

I like cider vinegar in this. The original sauce recipe called for lemon juice (which I almost never have on hand). I have the original recipe (doubled) over in the scattered ruins of my site that I need to rebuild.

Part of the problem is that the original recipe was simmered 15 minutes, and I'm trying to be lazy efficient and not have to make the sauce all the way to the end before tossing things in the crock.

Dredging the meat in flour might help. Between the bit of cornstarch I added in the beginning because I knew there would be a "barbecue soup" problem, and with the bit at the end I think I had about three tablespoons in there.

It tastes good, I just like my sauce a bit thicker than I managed to get it. :)

[tephra]

Forgot to add, it's good with beef too. That was the first attempt that let me know that barbecue soup was a problem. :D

[tephra]

An update on the barbecue pork:

I skipped the cornstarch and just dredged the meat slabs in flour. I let it go on low for 12 hours (overnight with my wacky sleeping habits) and it was perfect. :)

[watanukisuki.livejournal.com]

Excellent to know, thanks! I think I may try this while hubby is away next week and I'm bach-ing it at home.