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Shredded pork with chopped parsley laying on white plate with black fork.
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5 from 5 votes

Easy Slow Cooker Kalua Pig

Easy Slow Cooker Kalua Pig is so easy to make and takes you to Hawaii every time you make it! Aloha! Learn my tips to help get a taste similar to the smoked shredded kalua pig! 
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Hawaiian
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 9 hours
Total Time 9 hours 5 minutes
Servings 12
Calories 150kcal
Author Sharee

Ingredients

  • Ingredients:
  • 1 tbsp Red Hawaiian Sea Salt
  • ¼ cup liquid smoke
  • 2 and ½ tablespoons liquid smoke
  • 3 pounds pork butt

Instructions

  • Place your pork butt into your slow cooker.
  • Use a knife or fork to poke holes throughout the pork butt meat.
  • Pour the ¼ cup of liquid smoke over the pork butt meat.
  • Sprinkle the Hawaiian red salt on each side of the pork butt. Make sure the meat is fat side up.
  • Cover the cooking vessel with its cooking lid. Cook it on low in the slow cooker for about 8 to 9 hours until the meat is tender and easily shreds with a fork.
  • Remove the cooked meat from the slow cooker (or leave it in the crockpot for easy clean up) and use a fork to lightly shred it into small chunks making sure to remove the fat pieces.
  • If you removed the cooked meat from the cooking vessel to shred, add about ¼ to ½cup of the juices from the cooking vessel to the shredded pieces.
  • Then, add the other 2 and ½ tablespoons of liquid smoke to the shredded meat.
  • Now, lightly toss everything together just until the ingredients are incorporated.

Notes

Salt- You don’t want to add too much salt. Pork is salty enough on it’s own sometimes and when adding salt to the pork during a slow cooker process it, the meat really absorbs the salt so don’t go overboard. If using Kosher salt, this salt gives a saltier taste, so cutting the salt in half may be the better choice.
Fat side up when cooking- To make sure you get tender meat, cook the meat with the fat side up to help keep the meat from drying out while it cooks.
Liquid Smoke- Use hickory liquid smoke instead of mesquite flavored smoke. The hickory smoke gives it more of the smoky flavor we’re going for.
Recommended meat selections- Stick with the Boston butt for this recipe. Look for more marbling (fat) when choosing your roast. Leaner meats won’t be as moist.
Flavor- Piercing holes in the meat helps the liquid smoke and salt infuse every part of the meat with smokey salty taste.
Cooking times- The amount of meat you use will definitely change the cooking time for this recipe. Six pounds or more can take up to 10 to 16 hours to cook. A smaller roast make take less time to cook, so check your roast at the 6-to-7-hour mark if you use a smaller roast than what the recipe calls for.
How to remove fat- You can place your reserved juices (make sure they have cooled) from the cooking vessel in a bowl in the freezer for about 20 minutes to help the fat separate from the juices. The grease will separate and become solid at the top of the juices, and then all you have to do is use a spoon to scoop it off the top and discard. (If you choose to do this, make sure to remove the cooked roast from the crockpot when shredding so that you can easily use this tip.) 

Nutrition

Calories: 150kcal | Protein: 21g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 85mg | Potassium: 384mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 1mg