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Lately, I have been drawing inspiration from other bloggers. And who could blame me? There is soooo much talent out there! One particular blogger has had a very strong influence on my menu planning and its no secret that Gina at Skinny Recipes is the inspiration for this dish.
As an avid reader and someone who has tested out her recipes, I can say that this woman knows her stuff. But while perusing her site and stumbling upon a Pernil recipe, I started to doubt her. She made pernil (which is a roasted pork shoulder typically made in hispanic homes) in a SLOW COOKER!
And if you know what Pernil is and have had it before, you might have done the same thing as me.
FREAK OUT.
And then I doubted her.
How dare I!?!?
If I have learned anything thus far in my years of blogging is that if they wrote about it and said they loved it… then they did and there is nothing more to it.
So, with a dinner party in a few short weeks, I planned on testing out her recipe. And the post is live which should tell you something…
If I can leave you with anything today, I hope its “GET A SLOW COOKER”. k?
Of course, I made a few tweaks to Gina’s recipe and mainly copied her method of preparing the beast.
Ingredients:
1 pork shoulder, 5-6 lbs trimmed of all fat and skin
6 garlic cloves roughly chopped
1 packet sazon
2 T low sodium adobo
Method:
Trim off all the visible fat on the shoulder and save the skin (optional). With a good knife, stab the shoulder with once inch slots and stuff the slits with garlic. Go nuts. Get some aggression out. The more garlic, the better.
Once you have stabbed and stuffed, season your shoulder liberally with the sazon and adobo all over. If you don’t have these spices readily available, Gina lists the spices she used on hers which are more readily available in the spice aisle.
When the shoulder is seasoned on all sides, transfer to a slow cooker.
I used my small 4 Qt cooker for the 5 lb pernil. Its good to cook something that fits perfectly in the slow cooker so it can cook evenly. If your slow cooker is too big, the food will cook faster thus increasing your chances of possibly drying out your food… no bueno.
I set the cooker on LOW for 8 hrs. Went to work and thought about pork ALL DAY.
With the skin, I decided to make some cracklings for Mickey so I placed the skin on a baking sheet and set the oven to 475. I let the skin cook for 1 hr and then lowered the oven to 350 for 30 minutes.
The result was crispy pig skin that Mickey was all too happy to devour. I even snuck a piece and thought it was pretty damn delicious and disgusting all at once!
The pernil smelled AMAZING. As good as any pernil ever smelled from the oven!
I tried to remove the beast from the slow cooker and it was so tender and coming right off the bone that I had to use two large spoons to remove it from the slow cooker.
Using just two dinner forks, I shred the meat off of the bone…
And couldn’t resist taking bites as I went along. Good lord this was amazing. And if you are a skeptic…
Peep them bones… CLEAN! aint it amazing???
There was some liquid in the pot when the pork was done, I decided to reserve 1/4 cup of it and pour onto the shredded meat for a little more moisture. But this recipe was perfect! I was confident at my dinner party when I made my pernil in the slow cooker and made every hispanic present doubt me the same way I doubted Gina!
Even my own mother who has been making pernil in the oven since before I was born shook her finger at me. “Crock Pot? NO way!”
Yes way Mami. I brought her some and she is now a believer.
And even my friend Patty gave me that funny look when I told her I made pernil in the slow cooker. I brought some over to her. Shortly after she ate it she sent me a text “So, uh, where do I get a slow cooker?”
Do you believe me now?
My aunt was over this past weekend and was telling me all the meals she cooks in her crockpot…including steak! I couldn’t believe it! My MIL bought me a crockpot the Christmas before last – its not a good one since I put chicken on low for eight hours and after four it was burning. I think I definitely need to get a new crock that actually works properly because almost anything can be made in it! xo
This is just genius. I never thought I would see the day that a pernil would be made in a slow cooker. You have made a believer out of me. Can’t wait to give this a try for myself.
I have been waiting for this recipe! Thanks Mo! My Irish husband who thinks he’s Spanish will be thanking you soon as well ha!
Damn right he will! Dont even tell him how easy it was! make him think you did all the hard work. Then, after dinner make him do the dishes
Enjoy!
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Monique,
I am new to slow cookers. I just got a Hamilton Beach 5 quart slow cooker. I’d like to make pulled pork in it. What size pork shoulder or butt do you recommend for a 5 quart slower cooker, as I understand the amount of food you put it is key to slow cooker success.
Hi Amanda!
First off, Congratulations on your new appliance. My slow cookers have got to be my best tools in the kitchen! I hope yours is as helpful to you as mine is to me.
The one thing i love about slow cookers, is that its virtually impossible to have a fail! I mean, with regards to cooking things like meat, they say low and slow and the longer the better. There are extreme cases where that doesnt work but in your case, you should be just fine.
The cooking time is the only thing that varies when you have a small roast in a big slow cooker. When I made this pernil, I used a 5lb pernil in my 4 qt slow cooker and the only reason i did so was because the roast fit perfectly in the smaller one. The cooking time was a perfect 8 hrs on low. However, when i upped the ante with a 9 lb pernil in my 6 qt slow cooker, i had to cook the beast on high for 6 hrs to get the same effect.
If I were you, i would get a 5 or 6 lb pernil to place in the slow cooker and let it cook on low for 8-10 hours. If yours has a timer, like mine does, once it hits the amount of hours you desire, it will swtich to warm until you turn it off.
I hope that is helpful to you! And if you have any more questions, I would be more than happy to help!
And BTW,Yum on the Pulled Pork!
-Mo
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