2poundsboneless pork loinchops, or country ribs work well for this recipe)
1teaspoonground sage
½teaspoonKosher or sea salt
¼teaspoonground black pepper
1clovegarliccrushed or minced
½cupwater
¼cupfrozen orange juice concentrate
FOR THE GLAZE
½cupbrown sugar (either light or dark will work)
¼cupbalsamic vinegar
2Tbsplow sodium soy sauce
1.5Tablespoonscornstarch
¾cupwater
Instructions
For the Pork:
Turn your slow cooker on to low and place the lid on it so that it can warm up while you're prepping the pork.
Crush or mince a clove of fresh garlic. Depending on how good your knife skills are, this can be achieved in a few ways, but the simplest way is to use a garlic mincer :
In a small bowl, use a spoon to mix the garlic, sage, salt, and pepper. Give the pork a nice massage with it and then place it into the bottom of your slow cooker. NOTE: If you're using pork loin and a small slow cooker, it's perfectly OK to cut the loin in half or even thirds if you need to. If you're using boneless chops, try to keep them in a single layer on the bottom of the cooker if you can. This will assure that they all cook evenly. Otherwise, stack them as necessary.
Combine the orange juice and water and pour it around the pork.
Cook on low for 7-8 hours, or until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 145 degrees.
For the Glaze:
When the pork has about 60 minutes of cooking time left, it's time to make the glaze.
Place 1/4 cup of water into a glass measuring cup. Add the cornstarch to it to form a slurry (a slurry is a thickening agent that will help your glaze to coat the pork beautifully.)
In a medium saucepan, add 1/2 cup of water, the soy sauce, vinegar, and brown sugar. Add the cornstarch/water slurry, and whisk to combine. Gently simmer (don't boil or you'll burn the glaze to the bottom of your pan) over medium heat until the glaze has reduced and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Brush the glaze over the pork every 15 minutes for the final 45 minutes of cooking time, and then use the remainder of the glaze for serving with the pork.