Crock pot...make pulled pork and add bbq sauce. Yum.

The shoulder can go in the crock pot, low and slow. 8-9 hours. Season as desired, with two or three cups of water or chix broth. The meat will be super tender and will make lovely broth for your soup. I would let it sit overnight in the fridge for the fat to rise to the top, and can easily be removed. After the pork chunk is done, you can let it cool enough to remove big pieces of fat, then season it with asian spices and glaze, and put in under the broiler to carmelize for your char siu. The tenderloin, you can roast in the oven with with the glaze instead, if you would prefer that, or freeze for another meal later. Chinese five spice blend is often used, but not mandatory. Just my 2 cents. I love Turkey Vultures. They are so ugly, they're cute.

I agree with low/slow for the shoulder…perfect for it.

This is a good marinade for the tenderloin...also chicken or lamb. Smear it all over, cover and park in the fridge for several hours. Roast or grill.

Dijon Mustard Marinade

2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
2 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. soy sauce
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, thyme or herbs de Provence
1/4 cup olive oil

How like is a pork to a beef? Hobbitmom's answer makes me think of the bison chucks I cooked back when Whole Foods wasn't Amazon. Whether slow cooker, low oven or sous vide, they turned out awesome. Best was brushed well with really good barbecue sauce and finished in the oven. I know nothing of cooking pork, but the process sounds similar for the similar cut. This could be fun! I hope you like it.

Just thinking again. This is a sauce I use for boneless country stle pork ribs. They actually come from part of the shoulder (back of it)…not the ribs. This sauce is tasty and should be good with the shoulder pieces cooked low/slow. This makes enough for about 2 pounds of country style ribs. The amounts can be easily increased.

Sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
5-6 T. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 small clove garlic, chopped

The pork tenderloin, I cook on the grill, pan grill, on the stove top, or cook in the oven. Take the tenderloin and rub wirh olive oil. Cook however. I like a honey mustard glaze, but BQ is good also.

The rest, if you want BQ, do a rub and continue. However, I like to cook plain, pull apart and then season for what I want. Freeze the extra and season as needed.

Thanks so much, all of you. You gave me some good ideas and motivation for those chunks of pork shoulder — that was, for me, a weird cut. I took your suggestions and slow cooked them. I looked that cut up — aha. They are used a lot for making ”carnitas,” which I was not familiar with. So I looked at images and web pages online and got a sense of the seasonings wanted. I slow cooked in my InstantPot for about 6 hr. but fell asleep, woke after it had been simmering 5 hours and asked DH to check it and taste it. Okay. So he let itcool and put in the fridge. Later today of to orrow I will have to figure out whay to do. I guess use that little bit of meat for enchiladas or that sort of thing.

I couldn’t locate our bay leaves, but approximated the recipe below.

The stuff is in the InstantPot in ”broth” in the fridge. Maybe I will buy some flour tortilla, avocado, enchilada sause…. Oh, and I guess greatly reduce that broth. All this IF there is enough meet there to make it worth while. I have not made enchilads for ages. Forgot. But one of the sites gave some interesting instructions with images.

💡Idea! Maybe I will run out to the groc store and buy a bit of pork shoulder/butt (or grab a couple of our frozen loin chops), add those to the broth with a bit more seasoning) and slow cook or pressure cook until tender. That will give me enough cooked meat to make a decent batch of enchiladas.

Here is the site with the interesting looking recipe. I like Mex tasting food, but am only familiar with a couple of entrees.

Link: https://www.mykitchenescapades.com/simple-pork-carnitas-enchiladas/

I think I will ”cheat” and use ready-made sauce (or maybe Lynn’s sauce, yum).

I am always so tired and behind on things thatI like recipes that create leftovers. DH and I are on the same page here.

Thanks also, for the good suggestions for the Pork Tenderloin. Great ideato cook it as cutlets.

I’ll make Char Siu another time.

My garden Rhubarb is maturing quickly. Another 10 days or so. We got afewnights of 27°F weather and it was rough on my may daffodils and the Star Magnolia.

Thanks again.

I just got my first cutting of rhubarb from the farm... I bet you could find a nice way to use yours with the carnitas...

Ahhh…rhubarb! We had a neighbor who’d share his crop with us. Sure do miss that.

The pork tenderloin is very tender and not dry like other cuts of pork. I make it a very simple way and it is delicious! All I do is season it with a cajun seasoning(Tony Cachere's type) and brown in a skillet with a little bit of oil. Then once browned some on each side, I cover the pan to cook until done. That is it! Then you just slice it into medallions and serve. We like it with some gravy with a side of mashed potatoes. You can eat it without gravy of course.

This is also good with pork tenderloin. It calls for a loin but I’ve only used the tenderloin for it. We also grill vs roast…good either way. I’ve made this with peach jam, too. Sauce is so good with pork and can be made ahead. I often make a little extra sauce.

Roast Pork with Plum Sauce

1 (2 1/2-3 lb) boneless pork loin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground sage
1/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

1 T. olive oil

Plum Sauce:
1/2 cup plum jam
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Preheat oven to 325.

Combine garlic, sage, pepper, salt and oil. Rub mixture over pork. Place in roasting pan and bake uncovered till meat thermometer reaches 140-145.

Combine all sauce ingredients and bring to boil. Reduce heat and cook for 2 minutes. Spread some of sauce over roast during last 1/2 hour of cooking. Serve remainder of sauce at the table.

For the pork tenderloin you do not need a recipe. Coat with olive oil. Pan grill, oven cook, or charcoal grill, all is the same. Cook to medium well, I like a thermometer.

Mix honey, whatever mustard you like, and black pepper. Cook and coat with topping just before done.

I really prefer the tenderloin grilled, and usually marinated first. Something we do often.