BBQ Pulled Pork

Fall is my favorite time of year to bust out the Crock-Pot. Technically, I use my Crock-Pot all year round, but there are a lot of good Crock-Pot recipes that just seem to complement fall and football season perfectly. This past Sunday, I decided that I wanted to try my cooking skills at making BBQ pulled pork on my own. Jared is usually in charge of the cooking when it comes to large hunks of meat. However, it's usually pretty difficult to mess something up in the Crock-Pot so I figured that this would be a safe bet. It ended up being super easy and very delicious. Plus, it made for some leftovers which means one less day I have to cook dinner, yay! Try out my recipe for your next tailgate!

This recipe made about 5-6 servings of pulled pork. Here is what you will need...

2-3 lbs. Pork Tenderloin

2 bottles of the BBQ sauce of your choice

1.5 Sweet Onions

1.5 (12oz.) cans of beer

Brown Sugar

Ground Pepper

Garlic Powder 

Crock-Pot

Step 1: Chop the onions into large chunks and line the bottom of the Crock-Pot with onion. Make sure you have a fairly thick bed of onions that cover the entire bottom of the Crock-Pot.

Step 2: Season the pork tenderloin with ground pepper and garlic powder on both sides.

Optional Step (If you are pressed for time and do not have the full 7-8 hours to dedicate to cooking, then use this step. Otherwise, skip to step 3): Brown the pork tenderloin in a pan for no more than two minutes on each side.

Step 3: Coat both sides of the tenderloin in BBQ sauce. Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the BBQ sauce on both sides. (If you used the optional step, then add a little more ground pepper and garlic powder as well)

 Step 4: Place the pork tenderloin on top of the bed of onions in the Crock-Pot.

Step 5: Pour beer into the onions and around the pork tenderloin. Try not to pour the beer on top of the tenderloin so it doesn't wash the BBQ marinade off of the meat. Pour in enough beer so that the onions are completely submerged and the meat is submerged about half way. (It took me 1.5 cans of Bud Light)

Step 6: Add more BBQ sauce on top of the tenderloin. Cover with the lid and begin cooking! You can cook it for 4-5 hours on high (I would use the optional step that I mentioned above if you are going to go this route) or you can cook it for 7-8 hours on low which is obviously the best option if you have the time. You can also do a mixture of high and low cooking times if need be. Before removing the meat from the Crock-Pot, check to see that it is done. Use a fork to check that the meat is not pink in the center, that it is tender and pulls apart easily when you stick the fork in it.  

Step 7: Remove the meat from the Crock-Pot and place into a container or on a large plate where you can pull it apart. Use a fork and knife to shred the meat. Add BBQ sauce to the meat once it is shredded. Add just enough sauce so that all the meat is coated, but not too much. Then everyone can add their favorite BBQ sauce according to their taste when it is time to serve.

You can use the onions from the Crock-Pot if you want to. By the end of this process, the onions are caramelized and soaked in beer so you can add them to your meat or to the side dishes if you want. I don't like onions so I didn't use any of them, but Jared added them to the baked beans and said it was delicious. Just an idea. I hope you enjoy this yummy pulled pork!