Larger roast: My roast is 4.8 pounds. How long should I cook it? It will be my first slow-cooker effort!

HappyHugs
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4 Comments

Gammy May 9, 2019
As you are not familiar with your slow cooker, I would start testing at about 3-1/2 hours by piercing with a large fork. You want the meat all-but-fall-apart tender. It may be done then, or at 4 hours, or even 4-1/2 hours. If done and the rest of your meal is not turn the slow cooker to low or warm and check to make sure there is still liquid in the cooker (add a bit of water if it looks too low). This looks really yummy!
 
HappyHugs May 10, 2019
Thank you! I am doing experimental cooking on my friends and I am anxious (but also somewhat confident because I trust Mr. Eric and you, Gammy, have given me advice. I feel foolish testing out my slow cooker for a dinner party, BUT is it really OK to cook big pork roast on "high"? The manual (sketchy at best) says "try to use low." Is it OK to cook on "high"??
 
Gammy May 10, 2019
Winging it here.... I would start out on high, check the bottom of the roast and the liquid level after about 30-40 minutes and again at about an hour and a half to judge whether 1.) the roast is caramelizing on the bottom too quickly (if so, turn the roast over) and 2.) the liquid is evaporating too quickly (if so, add more liquid). There is a lot of sugar in this recipe between the brown sugar and the balsamic vinegar and you don't want to burn the bottom of the roast. I would keep checking the roast and the liquid level throughout cooking until you know this recipe and your slow cooker better. If necessary, turn down the heat and delay dinner... your friends will understand. You may use an instant read thermometer to check the doneness of the roast, but you will want the internal temp to be quite a bit higher than that for say grilled medium pork chops. I would use the fork test, too... if the meat pierces really easily, it is done. Enjoy and let us know how everything turns out!!!
 
HappyHugs May 12, 2019
My roast pork was amazing. People asked for seconds and thirds! Thank you so much for the advice. Since the piece of meat was large, I used 1.5 cups of water to start and it was swimming in liquid. I cooked it for 4.5 hours then added the sugar/vinegar glaze and cooked it another 90 minutes. Still swimming in liquid but fall-apart tender and so very delicious (the liquid sauce was full of flavor and very good on rice). We've christened it "fusion adobo" and it has made me a slow-cooker fan! Thank you Eric Kim and Gammy!
 
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