You all know of my love affair with my slow cooker. If I can slow-cook it, I totally do, so I was on board immediately when I saw this pin for apple cinnamon slow cooker pork loin. Mmmmrmrmrmrm.
Image from Rachel Schultz
I joined a “boot camp” at one of my local gyms, and I made this after my very first session, so my arms were like jelly and I was sort of stumbling around all exercise-drunk. (Is that just me?) I was not reading or following directions very carefully, but hey, when you just throw everything in the crockpot, directions don’t matter too much anyways, right?
So I threw the whole pork loin on top of some apples in the crockpot.
And THEN I realized I should have cut it up to put the apples in it first, but who the hell needs a cutting board anyway? And why dirty up another thing? So I cut that bitch in my crockpot. That’s how we do.
Fine, not as pretty as the pin, but hey, it’s me.
Then I threw all the other shit in.
And then I turned on the crockpot and let it go for 7 hours.
I actually thought I was catching a cold because my nose ran all day, but I think it was maybe just the cinnamon smell cooking into the air. It was pretty strong. (Bad thing about working from home and also making slow-cooker meals is that you have to smell them all day and be tempted to eat it all before dinner.)
So, imagine my surprise when the final product was… bland. It wasn’t bad, exactly, it just wasn’t really sweet or tangy or spicy or anything that would make it that interesting.
A resounding “meh” for me on this one, but I might try it again sometime with a cinnamon rub on the pork loin or maybe just adding the cinnamon in halfway through cooking it or something. I dunno. Crockpots sometimes tend to sap all the flavor out of things… But you know me. I probably actually won’t try it again because I am lazy and I move on from failures quickly (she says, as she wallows in every mistake she ever made in her youth…).
33 Comments
Ha! I made this a while back and my comment was… “bland”!! Added 1 tsp kosher salt and 1/2 tsp Penzey’s Mural of Flavor to the juices and thickened them a little with ClearJel. Served with buttered noodles. A successful dinner, even for the kids. I may add some dried cranberries next time.
I was SO disappointed in this as well. The meat came out super tender and moist, but almost entirely flavorless. Looking forward to the comments to see if anyone found a way to make it work.
throw some bbq sauce on it and defer to pulled pork sandwiches.
I’m about ready to give up on slow cooker recipes except for chili. Everything else turns out bland.
Is crock pot a brand or is it something specific? Because we don’t get them here…
I haven recently learned that it is actually a brand name, used interchangeably with slow-cooker here in the U.S. (Like “hoover” and “vacuum” elsewhere.)
Pretty much everything I make in the crock pot tastes bland. I do have a few recipes that I love… crock pot lasagna (I mistakenly entered it into my recipe program as “cock pot lasanga,” so it has been referred to as such since that time) is one. And apple sauce is another. Oh, and you can make Chex Mix, too (here in Texas they call it “Texas Trash.” I have no idea why).
Peeled ginger and soy sauce are my crock pot ingredients of not-blandification.
I find that whatever salt a recipe calls for in the slow cooker, I need to at least double it for my tastes, or the tastes of anyone who is not my 69 year old mother, who seems to think salt is for chumps.
My goal last month was to make things that actually smell good in the slow-cooker, because everything I had cooked previously smelled so gnarly while cooking that I had no appetite by the time dinner rolled around. I have since remedied that with slow cooker ribs that are perfect, and slow cooker carnitas. Mmm. Long cooked porky goodness.
Well, I can see where you went wrong. You served that baby with Brussels Sprouts, and as everybody knows, sprouts are the Vegetable of the Devil.
And celery is the Stalk of the Devil.
Ha, so my crock pot issues are not just me! Thanks, I feel better….
i had the same problem with this recipe myself… i was just nasty
it*
The first mistake is using red delicious apples, they are the worst. Second need way more spices! Try all spice, ginger, cumin, dry mustard, in addition to the cinnamon. I would also add good salt and some brown sugar.
Mustard is the best with the combination of pork and apples. Salt and a bit of apple cider vinegar can help too.
And yet another reason to love your blog. I wanted to try it, but not before I got some reviews. Sticking with my crockpot buffalo chicken lettuce wraps. Thanks for taking one for the team!
As for the exercise drunk I understand! There is a class I take (rip 60 or TRX) and it makes air heavy. My car keys feel like they are fucking boulders. I love it.
Try lifting your 8 year old child afterwards because she fell! WORST DAY EVER!!!!!!!!!!
I read the original recipe…it needs a liquid.
Cover it in apple juice next time, or white wine.
Is that a loin our tenderloin? Either way, i think it’s not a good choice for slow cooking. Try a pork shoulder next time. It will have more taste and be cheaper, too.
And there’s no need to cover it in liquid. A cup or two of cider, out a beer, will be enough.
Excercise drunk is totally legit 🙁
Pour a can of Dr. Pepper and a half cup of apple cider vinegar over it at the start- nommmms up any pork dish.
the fruit of your loins. apple fruit of your loins, I’d say. heh heh. Where did all the penis jokes go!?
I hear you; I’ve tried to recreate Pork Loin with Apple Pie Filling in the crock but using fresh apples & no preservatives, & all I kept getting was a big ole… meh. Then I found this blogger Stephanie O’Dea, & she can COOK! Here is a link to my favorite of her pork recipes http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2009/03/crockpot-hirino-psito-slow-roasted-pork.html
But really, everything she makes (most are nice & easy) are great & make you look amazing!
You found that once you had it in your mouth, you were disappointed with the blandness of the loin. And next time you will be rubbing it instead, is that what I’m reading? Just want to make sure I understand how the next porking will go…
I usually find pork loins to be disappointing… I know there should be a punch line her, but there’s not!
I made this exact one and I was so excited for it and I also found it to be sadly bland. I was so bummed.
Okay I keep re-read that recipe like 5 times. The problem I see right away is that there no salt in it and nothing even remotely salty. That would explain the bland taste. Also there is no liquid. Add a bit of salt and pepper and maybe a cup of water or stock and this would probably be delicious. This one is definitely not your fault!
I made pork loin with applebutter once, I added chopped up sweetpotatoes, butter and salt. It was pretty good.
it sounded like it had potential. too bad. I recently tried a honey baked pork loin that’s on my recipies pinterest board @tarametblog which is really good though.
This is actually really good as a stew. There is more seasoning than just cinnamon in it, though. Plus you add stuff like onions, carrots, and sweet potatoes…….so it’s not actually like this at all, but it is really good!
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