Totally Cheating...

[drholly]

Confession time...

Last week I went to a meat raffle (one of the good things about Minnesota winters...) I won a pair of ribeye steaks and a 3 pound pork loin roast. Ribeyes were cooked quick for my buddy and I - well, he invited me to the raffle... 

Yesterday, I decided I had to do something with the roast, but I didn't want a pot roast... I wanted some pulled pork. Unfortunately, my deck is 4 feet deep in snow and I wasn't in the mood to shovel the deck after finishing the driveway and sidewalks. Even Roscoe (the dog) wasn't in the mood for more snow play...   

So, I did a quick search on-line for some options. Gasp - there was this slow cooker root beer thing....  Drop the roast in the cooker and cover with root beer. Well, I did a rub with W.O.W. first - just couldn't  see letting it go with no seasoning and W.O.W. is excellent! After the rub, I poured on the root beer and set the cooker to low and 6 hours (per the instructions.)

After 6 hours the roast was inedible! Dry, tough, horrible - almost tossed it right then. But, I decided I had nothing to lose - put the cover back on and set the timer for 3 more hours. It was amazing! Now it pulled easily and was moist and flavorful. Of course there was no bark - it was in a slow cooker afterall! But the meat itself was pretty good. I pulled the meat and shredded it. Drained the fat / liquid from the cooker and replaced the shredded meat. Added about 20oz of Sweet Baby Ray's Original. Set the cooker to low and let it go another hour or so...

Made a sandwhich - not too bad. Let everyting cool down and packed up in zip lock bags and stashed in the fridge.

I've been editing some videos tonight and have a few more hours to go. Needed a snack and decided a pulled pork sandwhich sounded about right. Grabbed some of the pork - added a little vinegar and Sweet Baby Rays to keep it moist and heated it on the stove. Sliced a bun and put some dill chips on the bottom bun. Then added some home made cole slaw and finally the pulled pork. MMMM MMMM good.

I don't have any pictures of the cook - sorry didn't anticipate the need. But I do have a pic of the sandwhich... you'll just have to imagine my smile... 

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Pam Gould]

David..did you have the crock on low or high when you cooked your roast?  Pam .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ.

[muebe]

With a crockpot on low a roast can go up to 12 hours and still be tender. It is tough to overcook the meat on low in a crockpot David. Add a little bit of liquid smoke then you will fully be cheating

[smokeasaurus]

I like the idea of the root beer. I will soak steaks sometimes in Dr.Pepper and will shoot 7-up in my pork butts.

That sammie looks real good, if ya make me one, i won't call it cheating 

[drholly]

Pam - on low. I have one of the newer crock pots that even on low usually cooks pretty hot - most times what calls for 6 hours on low is done in 4.5 - 5 hours.

muebe - good idea!

Smoke - That's a deal!

Cheers,

David

[Pam Gould]

David..low takes a lot longer..low is an 8 -10 hr cook on mine. have you ever measured the temp of your crock pot with your thermapen? Might give you an idea of what your dealing with. Pam .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ.

[drholly]

David..low takes a lot longer..low is an 8 -10 hr cook on mine. have you ever measured the temp of your crock pot with your thermapen? Might give you an idea of what your dealing with. Pam .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ.

I appreciate what you are saying. Actually I have measured the temps cooking on high and low compared to my "old" crock pot - this one consistently cooks hotter and faster. I typically adjust my cook times & expectations based on that difference.

So, the "recipe" called for 6 hours on low - I assumed (that's scary) it would be easily done within that time frame because my pot cooks hot. The "recipe" came from a source that always remarks on the difference between older and newer crock pots and cautions folks to avoid overcooking with newer pots. Actually, I "allowed" for some overage (I had to pick up the family at the airport) so the cooking would go almost 7 hours before it kicked over to "warm". So, at the end of the day (and it was) this was a lot like cooking outside - the meat was done when it was done - in this case about 11 hours vs. the anticipated 6.

No big deal - I made a pizza for the group when they got home and the pork was perfect the next night!

Cheers,

David

[TentHunteR]

...the meat was done when it was done...

Ahhh... truer words were never spoken!  I always jokingly say the meat can't read, so it doesn't know that it's suppose to be done at a certain time or at a certain temperature.



The cooking method may be cheating, but I really like the root beer idea. I can root beer being used as a braising liquid on the smoker. When it done, mix some of the pan drippings with your favorite BBQ sauce. Yes, I think I might have to give that a try.

[Hub]

Desperation will produce some strange behavior!  Your story reminds me of the W. C. Fields statement:  "We were lost in the wilds of Afghanistan.  Misplaced our corkscrew.  Had to subsist on food and water for several days."

Actually, you showed great resourcefulness and abundant creativity.  I hope your snow clears soon so you can get back to proper food preparation, though 

Hub

[deestafford]

I think we may have one of those cookers around the house but I ain't never used it. They must be good because I see some good stuff coming out of them.  I guess I just don't have the need to use one right now.  Dee