Bourbon Brown Sugar Pork Loin Roast | Slow Cooker Recipe (2024)

Sometimes you might need a recipe to impress, where you’re willing to take a few extra steps to make it just right. Enter this slow cooker pork recipe for Bourbon Brown Sugar Pork Loin Roast. It’s sweet & savory, with the perfect crispy coating from a two-minute optional broil.

Let’s Talk Pork

I was invited by Indiana’s Family of Farmers to tour the farm of Heather & Marc Hill, proud pork farmers for4generations.

At the Hills’ farm, they raise corn, soybeans and wheat, but their main business is as pork farmers. A majority of their hogs are sold to Tyson Foods, but they also sell a small amount under their own private label, The Pork Shoppe, to two local farmers Marcets, an orchard and a food hub.

Something you may not know is that pork is actually more nutritious than chicken and other meat, with less fat and more protein. How does Heather prefer hers? In burger form! After I said I had never tried a pork burger, she promptly raided her mother-in-law’s freezer (shhh!) and handed over frozen pork burgers for my family to try. Thanks Heather!

Be sure to read more about my tour of the Hills’ farm right after the recipe, below. I even asked the tough questions.

Bourbon Brown Sugar Pork Loin Roast

I’ve been wanting to try more slow cooker recipes, especially in the summertime so I can avoid turning on the oven. Most recipes are no-fail – it’s really hard to mess anything up in the slow cooker. This pork loin roast recipe is no exception!

It does have a couple of added steps, but they’re totally optional – if you’re pressed for time, or you just want to set-it-and-forget-it, by all means it will still be tender and delicious. But I *highly* recommend the extra effort – it will pay off with complimentsand requests for seconds, even if just from your spouse & kids!

Heather recommended a pork loin as being one of the leanest cuts, very tender, and great for slow cooking. I bought a 6-lb pork loin, but because I was only feeding my family of 5, I asked the butcher to cut it in half and wrap separately. One half went straight into the freezer for another meal at another time!

Let’s get started!

First, start a skillet heating up on medium-high, and add 2 tbs of your favorite cooking oil. Then,make a rub with about 2 tsp Kosher salt and 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper. Rub all over the pork.

Next, sear each sidein a heavy skillet on medium-high heat, 1-2 minutes on each side until golden.

Here’s the easy part: Place in slow cooker with 1/2 cup water, and cook for 5-6 hours on Low. {Safety tip: Fully cooked pork should be 145degrees and no pink in the middle. Learn more about handling pork.}

Before the last hour, make the Bourbon Brown Sugar Glaze. You’ll need:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup bourbon (could replace with apple juice or balsamic vinegar)
• 2-3 Tbs corn starch
• 4 Tbs soy sauce

Whisktogether all ingredients in a small pot, heating until boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 3-4 minutes, until glaze thickens a bit (it will still be runny).

Baste pork loin 2-3 times during the last hour.

This next step is optional, but it’s where the carmelized goodness on the top of the pork comes from.

Heat broiler on high setting. Line a casserole dish with aluminum foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Carefully remove roast from slow cooker and place into foil. Brush more Bourbon Brown Sugar Glaze on top and sides, and broil for 1-2 minutes (I set my oven timer, because I would totally get distracted and poof! goes dinner). Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes.

Because I’m a super-freak about the broiler, I checked it after 1 minute, popped it back in the oven for another 1 minute …

Perfect!

I chose to slice mine, but it falls apart so easily you could pull the pork with a couple of forks and have on sandwiches. Drizzle a little more glaze on top before serving.

Rosemary SkilletPotatoes

As a complementary side dish, try Rosemary Skillet Potatoes!

Peel potatoes. A rule of thumb I use for roasted potatoes is one less than the number of people being served, so I used 4 for my family of 5. Of course, it also depends on the size and variety of potato; I used a Yukon Gold variety which explains why they’re so yellow!

When you’re cutting potatoes for skillet roasting, it’s good to have them fairly even-sized pieces for even cooking, and the thinner they are, the faster they’ll cook.

Place potatoes into a medium-sized bowl and drizzle about 2 Tbs of olive oil. Add maybe 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, and 1-2 tbs dried Rosemary. Toss to coat evenly.

Pour potatoes into skillet and cook on medium heat, stirring often to avoid sticking. Plan on about 15 minutes, give or take.

Place Bourbon Brown Sugar Pork Loin Roast onto a platter, and scatter Rosemary Skillet Potatoes around the roast.

Hope you enjoy these family-favorite recipes!

Before you go, you might also love to try my Slow Cooker Pork Tacos recipe:

More on my Pork Farm Tour

Stalls vs Pens

I asked Heather about the controversy surrounding gestational pens vs individual stalls. There are, for sure, pro’s and con’s of each placement for gestation. The Hill’s farm uses both. On one hand, in individual stalls they’re not able to turn around; but when they’re nursing, the bars help to protect the piglets from mama pig laying on them. On the other hand; while pens do allow the sows to move around freely, Heather described how some sows are like “nasty girls in high school”. The boss sow won’t let others eat if she doesn’t want them to eat, and they fight (I saw a fewin the pens with scratch marks). Individual stalls can provide protection, and the farmer can make sure they’re getting the exact amount of water and feed that they need. Marc agreed, and said there’s a hierarchy in every pen. If you mix the pigs up into different pens, they have to start the hierarachy battle over again. “There’s always one boss.”

Heather says, “I think it’s hard for me when someone hasn’t been to a farm, or they haven’t talked to a farmer, and they question if we’re doing what’s right for the animals. My husband wasn’t forced to be a farmer, it’s what he wanted to do.”

Marc is the 4th generation to raise pigs in Hanco*ck County, and Heather saysthe processes they have in placetoday are based on what they’ve learned throughschool, and what past generations have done. Marc’sparentsraised pigs outside. and Heather’s grandfather raised pigs outside, but raising pigs outdoors in Indiana is “not fun.” Weather conditions and coyote predators are two reasons to keep pigs safe in climate-controlled barns.

When Pigs Get Sick

When your kids are sick, you follow your doctor’s orders, and sometimes that means medication. The same applies to farm animals. A lot of trust is placed into their veterinarian, and if he advises antibiotics are necessary, thenthey need to treat the pigs. To see “antibiotic-free” on a label in the grocery store is “interesting”, Heather says, because any meat (or milk) you buy at the grocery store is antibiotic-free because there are withdrawal periods to follow. When they go to market, it’s out of their system.

And if you wonder about artificial growth hormones –it’s illegal to use hormones in the production of pork or poultry.Period!

Thanks to the Hill family

At the core of every farm is family, and as Heather states, “These people want to do what’s right, because it’s how their family makes a living, and it’s a part of who we are. It’s not just one day, ‘Oh, let’s raise pigs!’, it’s what our families have been doing for generations. You want to do it right to make those past generations proud.”

Thank you to Heather & Marc for showing me around your farm, answering my newbie, suburban-girl questions and being incredibly graciousin sharing life on your farm! Be sure to visit Heather’s take on my visit to her farm in this post about One Pot Spaghetti!

This post was sponsored by Indiana’s Family of Farmers, but all words and opinions are 100% my own.

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