SLOW COOKER PORK LOIN ROAST RECIPE

Pork loin OR shoulder slow cooked in an incredible Honey Butter sauce! I love the way the pork soaks up the flavour of the sauce - and how it only requires 5 ingredients!

Prep Time    : 10 mins

Cook Time   : 10 hours

Total Time    : 10 mins 10 mins

Servings      : 4

INGREDIENTS

·       1.75 - 2.5 kg / 3.5 - 5lb pork loin OR shoulder/boston butt ,or scotch fillet, skinless (Note 1)

·        1.5 tbsp olive oil , separated

SPICE RUB

·         2 tsp EACH paprika, thyme

·         1 tsp EACH garlic powder, onion powder

·         1/2 tsp cayenne pepper , optional

·         1/2 tsp pepper

·         2 tsp salt

HONEY BUTTER SAUCE

·         3/4 cup / 225 g honey

·         125 g / 1/2 cup butter , unsalted

·         5 cloves garlic , minced

·         1/4 cup / 65 ml cider vinegar

·         1/2 tsp salt and pepper, each

THICKENER

·         3 tsp cornflour/cornstarch mixed with splash of water

INSTRUCTIONS

1.   Spice Rub: Rub pork with about 1 tsp oil. Mix Rub together then sprinkle over pork. Pat to adhere all over.

2.   Brown: Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add pork and sear all around until deep golden brown (don't let spices burn). Place pork in slow cooker.

3.  Honey Butter Sauce: Wipe pan. Add butter and melt. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute until golden. Add remaining Sauce ingredients, mix, simmer rapidly for 30 seconds.

SLOW COOK

1.   Pour Sauce over pork. Cover slow cooker.

2.   Pork loin - Cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours.

3. Pork Shoulder - Cook on LOW for 10 hours (Note 6 for oven, IP and pressure cooker).

4.   Remove pork onto serving platter, cover loosely with foil (10 - 20 minutes rest).

5. Pour all juices in slow cooker into large saucepan. Add cornflour water mixture, mix.

6.   Thicken Sauce: Simmer on medium high for 5 minutes or until it reduces down to a syrupy consistency (Note 2).

7.  Slice pork into thick slices (1.5 - 2 cm / 3/5 - 4/5" thick). Serve with PLENTY of Honey Butter Sauce!

NOTES

·   Pork cuts: recipe is ideal made with pork loin, shoulder / Boston butt (boneless) or scotch fillet/neck, these are the 3 cuts I've make this recipe with. This is a highly flexible recipe that is ideal for any roast-size cut of pork, lean or well marbled.

Needs to be made with skinless pork, trimmed of excess fat (don't want loads of surface fat melting into braising liquid which becomes the sauce).

·        Different pork sizes:

1 kg / 2lb - Pork Loin 3.5 hours on low, Shoulder 8 hours on low

1.5 - 2.5kg / 3 - 5lb: Per recipe

3kg / 6lb: Pork Loin 6 hours on low, Shoulder 11 - 12 hours on low

Use times closest to your pork size.

·        Sauce reduction: Reduction time to thicken dependent on how much juice comes out of the pork. Go by eye - when sauce is thin maple syrup consistency, it's ready (will thicken bit more when it cools a bit)

·       Other cook methods:

Pressure Cooker - Pork shoulder 1 hour 20 minutes on HIGH. To save time, this is how I did the pork in the 2nd photo in post. Have not tried pork loin so am unsure of required time.

Instant Pot - Brown pork in IP, remove, melt butter and make Sauce in IP, then add pork back in, spoon over sauce. Then either cook using Pressure Cooker time for shoulder, or Slow Cooker time for pork loin or shoulder . Remove pork and make Sauce using sauté function.

·        MAKE AHEAD  - Brown pork and make sauce up to 1 day ahead, pour into slow cooker then remove insert and refrigerate until ready to cook. If preparing ahead more than 12 hours or so, keep the sauce separate (because it will make the pork sweat).

Leftovers - Keep in the fridge for 3 days, or freezer for 3 months. I pour the sauce over it, it soaks through the pork and I love it.

·        Pork Doneness - Loin is a lean cut of pork so it's cooked for a short period of time than shoulder. Pork shoulder needs to be cooked for longer to let the tough fibres break down. Shoulder is more prone to falling apart (ie semi shredding) when slicing so be sure to rest it per recipe directions to minimise this.

·         Nutrition - per serving, assuming a 2 kg/4lb pork loin and 8 servings with all sauce consumed (which is unlikely).

Recipe from recipetineats.com

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