Guys,

I'm having my brother and his fiancée over this weekend and instead of standing outside by the smoker all day, I was going to cube a pork picnic, sear the pieces and then drop em in the slow cooker. Any favorite recipes that are not too heavy on the additional sugar or added fat? I was thinking of maybe Guinness braised pork chunks with veggies or maybe something more exotic as my brothers fiancée is from Haiti and my brother is making pineapple, ginger jasmine rice or something as a side.

Any advice is appreciated.

SW
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To me the fun of smoking is standing out by the smoker. That's where stories are swapped, cigars are enjoyed
and clothes are ruined for the day. What I like to do, and this has nothing to do with cubing or slow cookers,
but I like to soak 1.5 - two pounds of pinto beans overnight, then make a roux, then throw in onions to stop it cooking
once it gets caramel dark brown, stir that with some garlic powder and black pepper til the onions wilt, then pour
in the beans along with a half gallon of water and the chunked, raw meat (brown in a skillet first if you prefer) and
bring to a rolling boil, then simmer on low, covered, with a small steam gap for a few hours, then continue cooking
on low for another 40 minutes uncovered until the meat is falling apart. Salt to taste. Add water when needed to
keep it thinned out to stew consistency.

THAT is some good eatin'. When I do it I use all the meat that I trim off of rib racks to make them uniform.
To some that is too much cartilage in the pot, but the bones and cartilage make for a nice, creamy, delicious dish.
It will work just as well with a picnic. For the roux, I'd say 3 tablespoons of oil and two of flour. If she is from
Haiti, she will dig this dish, since all that good LA cookin is accented by the West Indies anyway.
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I admit, I love smoking food too but it's supposed to be raining and 30 something degrees that day. Just not feeling like doing it.

Anyway, last night I deboned and splayed out the shoulder. I painted a mixture of liquid smoke and root beer on it then covered it my rib rub. I'll roll and tie it tonight and then slow cook it with some onions and dr. Pepper. Serving piña colada jasmine rice with it. Hopefully it's good.
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Don't know what texture you're looking for in the end product, but just a possible warning, between the crockpot and the extra acid & liquid, you might end up with pulled / shredded pork texture. If it goes too long, it'll go past that and turn to mush.
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Adam is 100% right here ... I would start watching it after about 4 hours, you will probably be about 6-8 hours total cooking time before it is falling apart.
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MMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm....Mush. Love me some mush.
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I was going to go for 8 hours. I don't want pulled pork which is why I'm tying it into a roast. I'd like it to be soft and tender but able to be sliced. What do you guys think? Maybe 7 hours?
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I make a good Cuban-style pulled pork in the crock pot. I use a bottle of Goya Mojo (available in the Mexican section of most supermarkets...our make your own, it's even better). Slice half an onion and put in the bottom of the crock pot. Rub the pork (I use about a four-five pound Boston Butt) with Cajun seasoning (I make my own blend) and put in on the onions. Slice the remaining half onion and put it on top of the pork. Pour in the Mojo until it's about 3/4 of the way up the pork. Cook it on low for six hours, but start checking it about five for doneness; crock pots vary widely in their cooking. Remove the pork, toss out the onions, pull the pork, put it back in the crock pot, and add about half of the remaining Mojo. Cook for another hour, add the rest of the Mojo, and cook for another hour. Serve with black beans and rice.
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Do you cook it on high or low in the slow cooker. Again, I'm not going for pulled pork though. I'd like to try to slice it
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Hello Scott, I can definately advise you that when I place a 4 lb pork butt in the slow cooker with some root beer and set at low heat, that approximately 7-8 hrs later, I have "pulled pork...":-)

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Ok, thank you for that. This one was 8. 5 lbs before I removed the bone. Do you think I'll be good at 8 hrs on low given the size of the shoulder? I'm guessing here. All your help is appreciated.
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Skip the Dr. Pepper and cook it on high. Between the onions and the pork, it should be fine on moisture since crock pots don't leak much.

If you cook it at a higher heat, it will be done faster and the meat will stay slightly tough allowing you to slice it, rather than it breaking down into shreds in the long cook.

Check your crock pot manufacturer's manual for the cooking times since they vary widely between brands and models.

:-)
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That's an idea.
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Soaked a pot of pintos last night, and since I am smoking a pork butt today, I also threw on about a dozen strips
of flanken cut beef rib meat. I let them smoke for about an hour then threw them in the pot that was already
prepared as I instructed above. First time I ever did it without the pork fat and flavor, we'll see how it comes out.

Tell you what, though, I also snatched one of those rib strips and threw it under the toaster oven broiler while
I cleaned up the kitchen, and got it nice and burnty. MAN was that GOOOOoood.
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Nice Brad. I took the pork out of the fridge after 36 hours in the marinade.mi tied it up and seared it. Put it in the crock pot with about a 1/4 inch of dr pepper in the bottom, some onions and a tablespoon of chipotles. Got it on high until 3 pm then I'll turn it down to low until 5. I used minimal liquid and hope it will maintain shape.
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that looks awesome. makes me want to go buy one to eat on all next week.
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I would have put the whole can in, lol. I love Dr. Pepper!
Looks good enough to eat now, make sure to photo that stuff out of the crock pot later.
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Mmmmmm... Dr. Pepper boiled pork soup....
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The crock pot is pretty big, it's probably got 24 ounces of dr p in there. It really smells good
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Finished product
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