Boneless Pork Butt Roast in the Crock Pot

A boneless pork butt roast in the Crock Pot is about as easy as a big dinner gets. Rub the roast with spices, set it on a bed of sliced onions with half a cup of liquid, and cook it on low for 8 to 10 hours, until it falls apart when you touch it with a fork. Then shred it, spread it on a sheet pan, and give it a few minutes under the broiler so the edges crisp before you toss it with a tangy vinegar sauce or your favorite barbecue sauce.

Boston butt, also sold as pork butt, is the upper part of the pork shoulder. It is marbled with fat and threaded with connective tissue, which is exactly what a slow cooker wants. Lean cuts dry out over a long, moist cook. This one gets more tender with every hour.

At a glance: serves 8. Prep 20 minutes. Cook 8 to 10 hours on low, or 5 to 6 hours on high, then about 5 minutes under the broiler.

Gray Shipley, who runs the farm, remembers Keith and the feasts he cooked:

“you remember those special events and those times when, uh, you know, Keith would just sit out by the smoker all night and, uh, and prepare a big, big feast for whoever's coming.”

Gray Shipley

A slow cooker is close to the opposite of sitting up by a smoker all night. You set it in the morning and walk away. What the two have in common is the cut and the patience: pork shoulder, cooked slowly, is still one of the simplest ways to put a big meal on the table for whoever is coming.

Ingredients

• 1 boneless pork butt (Boston butt) roast, 3 to 4 pounds, fully thawed
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar, for the rub
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon lard or neutral oil, if searing
• 2 medium yellow onions, sliced into thick rings
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1/4 cup chicken stock or water
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, for the pot
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, for the sauce
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar, for the sauce
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, for the sauce
• 1 cup barbecue sauce, in place of the vinegar sauce (optional)
• 8 soft buns, to serve

Instructions

1. Make sure the roast is fully thawed before it goes into the slow cooker; thaw a frozen roast in the refrigerator, which takes a day or more.
2. Mix the salt, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder and pepper. Pat the pork dry and rub the mix over every side.
3. If you have 10 minutes, sear it: heat the lard or oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the roast on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. This adds flavor but is not essential.
4. Spread the onions and garlic over the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker and set the pork on top. Pour the stock and 1/4 cup vinegar around the pork, not over it, so the rub stays put.
5. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or on high for 5 to 6 hours, until the pork shreds easily with a fork and a thermometer in the thickest part reads 195 to 205 degrees F. Keep the lid closed as much as you can; every peek lets heat escape and adds time.
6. Near the end of the cooking time, stir the sauce together in a jar: 1/2 cup vinegar, 2 teaspoons brown sugar, the red pepper flakes and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
7. Lift the pork onto a rimmed sheet pan and let it rest for 10 minutes. Strain the cooking liquid into a measuring cup, spoon off the fat, and keep the onions if you like them.
8. Shred the pork with two forks, discarding any large pieces of fat. Toss it with about 1/2 cup of the skimmed cooking liquid and the onions, and spread it in an even layer on the sheet pan.
9. Heat the broiler with a rack about 6 inches below it. Broil the pork for 3 to 5 minutes, watching closely, until the tips are browned and crisp. Stir it and broil for 2 minutes more if you want extra crunch.
10. Toss the pork with the vinegar sauce, or with barbecue sauce, a little at a time, tasting as you go. Serve on buns, over rice, or in warm tortillas.

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How long to cook a pork butt roast in a Crock Pot

On low, plan on 8 to 10 hours. On high, 5 to 6. A roast under 3 pounds may be ready toward the short end of the range, and one over 4 pounds may need all of it. Slow cookers also vary from one model to the next, so start checking at the low end.

Low is the better choice when you have the time; it is more forgiving if you get home an hour late. Either way the test is the same: the pork should reach 195 to 205 degrees F and fall apart when you twist a fork in it. If it resists, it needs more time, not less.

How much liquid does a crock pot pork butt roast need?

Less than you might think. A pork butt gives off a lot of juice as it cooks, and the lid holds it all in, so half a cup is plenty to get things started and keep the onions from scorching. Fill the cooker with liquid and you end up with boiled pork and a watery sauce. The vinegar in the pot is there for flavor; it brightens the juices you toss back into the meat.

Should you sear it first?

Searing adds a deeper, roasted flavor and is worth ten minutes if you have them. If you don't, the broiler at the end does much of the same work, browning the shredded pork after cooking instead of the whole roast before.

Boneless Boston butt roast in a slow cooker: does the bone matter?

A bone-in butt works too; it just takes a little longer and is harder to fit. A boneless roast sits flatter in a 6-quart cooker and shreds faster. If your roast is too big for the lid to close properly, cut it into two pieces. The lid has to seal for the cooker to hold its temperature.

Ways to change this crockpot Boston butt roast recipe

For tacos, swap the smoked paprika for chili powder, add a chopped chipotle in adobo to the pot, and finish with lime juice instead of the vinegar sauce. For sandwiches, toss the crisped pork with barbecue sauce and pile coleslaw on top. For beef cooked the same way, see Beef in a Slow Cooker in the reading list below.

Slow cooker food safety

USDA FSIS has three slow cooker rules worth following here. Always thaw meat before it goes into the cooker. Refrigerate leftovers within two hours. And reheat leftovers on the stove, in the microwave or in the oven until they reach 165 degrees F, not in the slow cooker itself. See FSIS Slow Cookers and Food Safety.

For the pork itself, FSIS lists 145 degrees F with a rest of at least 3 minutes as the safe minimum for pork roasts. Pulled pork goes far past that, but check with an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part anyway. See the FSIS Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart.