Hawaiian Style Slow Cooker Kalua Pork

Hawaiian Style Slow Cooker Kalua Pork

Hawaiian Style Slow Cooker Kalua Pork. Easy to prepare and no hands on cooking make this pork recipe a breeze to make and turns out perfect every time.

Ingredients

1 4-6 lb pork shoulder or Boston butt roast

1 Tbsp liquid smoke, Hickory flavor is best

2-3 tsp red Hawaiian Sea salt (for a smaller roast, 2-3 tbsp for a larger)***

Banana leaves - optional (I personally don't use them)

Instructions

Wash and pat dry the pork roast and place in the slow cooker

Pierce all over with a fork, pour the liquid smoke evenly over the roast and sprinkle liberally with the sea salt.

Place the lid of the slow cooker on and set the time for 8-12 hours on LOW.

Check at about 8 hours for doneness. If not done let go the full 12 hours, checking every hour.

Either remove the pork from the pot and shred with a fork and return to pot or shred in the pot when its done. You can remove some of the liquid and shred then add some back in to keep the pork from drying out.

Notes

1.If using banana leaves, which can be found at any Asian grocery store, place some leaves in the bottom of the pot reaching up the sides. Place the roast on top of the leaves, then add the liquid smoke and salt and wrap tightly with the leaves tucking them back under the roast. you can tie with cooking twine if wanted but its not necessary if the leaves are wrapped tightly enough. Cook the same as a non wrapped roast. This will give the pork more of a Lau Lau style flavor. 2.The reason the roast is pierced with a fork is to get the flavor from the salt and smoke deep into it, it won't dry it out. There is no extra liquid needed since this is made in a covered crock pot. 3.If making in an oven instead, place the roast on a large piece of foil, pierce all over, add the liquid smoke and salt and wrap tightly with foil, place in a roasting pan and pour ¼ water in the pan. Roast at 325 deg F for about 5 hours for 3lbs of pork shoulder, and longer for bigger pieces up to 8 hours. Checking every 30 min for doneness This is excellent with sticky rice, sweet potatoes or steamed veggies like bok choy or cabbage. !

**** I have had so many comments on the amount of salt used and my typos regarding tsp/Tbsp. IF the roast is smaller, 4-6lbs use less salt, 2-3 TSP (tsp) as in teaspoons. UP to a tablespoon if desired. If you have a larger roast say up to 10lbs use 1-3 TBSP as in tablespoons. The only seasoning the roast gets is from the salt and I personally like to err on the side of saltier. If you don't want it as salty, use less. Another way to keep the fat amount down is to trim the roast before placing it in the crock pot, or once the roast is getting close to done, drain as much of the fat out as you can ( I use a ladle and a measuring cup) and reserve the liquid, then shred the pork and add some of the liquid back into keep it from drying out.

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