After
leaving university I got a job in the South many miles away from my
home town so I had to set up my new home. It took me a while to find
the place that I wanted but once settled I started about doing it up
and making it mine.
My parents were extremely supportive. My father helped with the DIY
and my mother helped equip my kitchen. Amongst the many pots and pans
that got handed down was a slow cooker and I have to say that it got
put in the cupboard and never saw the light of day.
Leading a busy life, it was my first job and I was putting lots of
hours in so little time was left for cooking and for sure I didn't
leave enough time in a morning to throw some ingredients into the slow
cooker so that when I got home something warm was waiting for me.
Looking back, the fashion over the last few years with the advent
and coming of age of the TV celebrity chef has been very much fresh
ingredients and freshly cooked food so the crock pot really wasn't
getting any air time. When I got married that was it, there just simply
wasn't enough cupboard space for the crock pot and it was killed and
went off to join the other slow cookers in the sky.
But wait! I've now discovered what truly is slow cooker heaven and
maybe if I repent by writing this article I may at last be redeemed.
I've always been into outdoor grilling and comparatively recently got
into the low and slow techniques used by meat smokers and as I've
learned more and more about the process it's become clear how the two
types of cooking are intertwined.
When you break it down to the essentials, barbecue cooking is all
about slow roasting over a long period of time in a humid atmosphere
whilst passing smoke over the meat. Now I accept that passing smoke
through a crock pot isn't going to happen but the rest of it can, after
all what is a crock pot if it isn't a low temperature, humid oven?
Since this revelation I've tried many slow cooker or crock pot
barbecue recipes and I have to say that the results are excellent.
Certainly when it's winter time, it's freezing cold and the wind is
howling I much prefer my barbecue in the slow cooker. I've done slow
cooker barbecue pork ribs to great effect but my favorite has to be
crock pot BBQ pulled pork because it's just so easy to do.
All you need is a pork shoulder in your crock pot with 4 fluid
ounces of water and a good dose of salt and pepper. Stick it on high
for an hour, then turn down to low for the next eight hours and you'll
end up with true fall off the bone tenderness.
Shred it with a couple of forks or bear paws and serve in a bun with
a BBQ coleslaw salad and lashings of your favorite homemade barbecue
sauce. Try it, you might just be surprised at how good it really is.
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