Ultra-Crispy Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder
Posted by J. Kenji López-Alt, December 19, 2011
Note: If you want to serve your pork with a sauce, try sweet and spicy nuoc cham, Chinese style char sui, Cuban mojo, a sweet Memohis-style barbecue sauce, or a bright Argentinian chimichurri. Or better yet, a whole selection. Alternatively, do not use aluminum foil when roasting. After roasting, drain off excess fat and deglaze rimmed baking sheet by heating over a single burner and adding 2 cups of white wine, chicken stock, or a combination of both. Scrape up browned bits, transfer to a small saucepan, season to taste, and whisk in 2 tablespoons butter off heat. Serve liquid with the pork.
Ingredients
serves serves 8 to 12, active time 10 minutes, total time 9 hours
1 whole bone-in, skin-on pork shoulder, 8 to 12 pounds total
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Procedures
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 250°F.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil (see note) and set a wire rack inside it. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the wire rack. Season pork on all sides liberally with salt and pepper and place on parchment paper. Transfer to oven and roast until knife or fork inserted into side shows very little resistance when twisted, about 8 hours total.
Remove pork from oven and tent with foil. Let rest at room temperature for at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours. Increase oven to 500°F and allow to preheat. Return pork to the oven and roast until skin is blistered and puffed, rotating every 5 minutes, about 20 minutes total. Remove from oven, tent with foil and allow to rest an additional 15 minutes. Serve by picking in the kitchen or just bring it to the table and let guests pick meat and crispy skin themselves, dipping into sauce of their choice on the side (see note).