On Saturday, April 30, 2016 at 8:06:35 AM UTC-7, Steve Freides wrote:
> We've been using our slow cooker for a few months and are very fond of
> it. A couple of things we don't understand, though.
>
> 1. Our favorite thing to make is a 5 lb. pork butt with some root beer,
> brown sugar, a couple of onions, and a small can of chipotles in adobo
> sauce. (And we salt the meat liberally, too.) We don't understand why
> the meat comes out tasting great, with just a hint of hotness, but the
> sauce in the pan is _much_ hotter, and the onions are positively
> flaming. We throw out the onions, and put just a little of the sauce
> into the pan when we make a bbq sauce to put on some of the pork.
>
> 2. Is there any formula for cooking time? For a 5 lb. pork butt, we do
> overnight, about 9 hours, on high, and that seems to work out well. We
> do notice, however, that not _all_ the fat is rendered, and we're
> wondering if maybe another hour or three would be even better - but 12
> hours on high seems like a lot. What does it look like if you overcook
> something in a slow cooker? So far, we have undercooked but never
> overcooked.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> -S-

I've never cooked a pork butt that long on high. The last one I did was around 5 lbs. I did the first 4 hours on high and then turned it down to low for the last 4. The bone pulled out clean, it was pull apart tender.

As for the drippings. I would not think that unusual for the heat to melt away into the drippings. Simply because the fat rendering out of the pork would take the seasoning with it. I think you are using too much chipotle. If you use less the meat won't be any different and you will be able to de-fat and stir some of the drippings back into the meat after you have pulled it.