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Rosemary Pork Roast

This sweet and salty rosemary pork roast is not your mother's pork roast. It is fall off the bone tender with a sweet and salty crust on the outside, giving it a real depth of flavor.
Course Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American
Prep Time 18 hours
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 1 day 2 hours
Servings 8 -10
Author Keegan

Ingredients

  • 8 lbs Bone-In Pork Shoulder Pork Butt depending where you are from

Brine

  • 11 Cups of Hot Water
  • 2 Cups of Ice
  • 1/2 Cup Kosher Salt
  • 3 Tablespoons Seasoned Salt
  • 2 Teaspoons Ground White Pepper
  • 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar

Pork Rub Mixture

  • 5 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons Granulated Garlic
  • 2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
  • 1.5 Tablespoons Dried Thyme
  • 1.5 Tablespoons Dried Rosemary
  • 1 Tablespoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Bed of Vegetable

  • 4 Whole Carrots - Peeled Cut in 3-4" sections
  • 4 Celery Stalks Cut in 3-4" sections
  • 1 Large Onion Quartered and pulled apart
  • 5 Cloves Garlic
  • 8 Baby Potatoes omit if making another side of potatoes

Instructions

  1. The day before cooking the pork... Add hot water to a large pot - I use an 8 quart pasta pot.

  2. Mix in the dry brine ingredients and stir together.
  3. Add ice to cool the mixture and let stand until room temperature
  4. Rinse the pork shoulder and trim any excess fat off all areas.
  5. Add pork shoulder to the pot and cover. Refrigerate overnight.
  6. The morning of the dinner, pull the pork shoulder from the brine. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry with a paper towels.
  7. Heat your oven to 450 F

  8. Mix up the rub and apply an even coating of the rub all around the pork shoulder.  You will have excess rub. 

  9. Roughly chop the vegetables and add to a roasting pan.
  10. Place the pork on top of the vegetables

  11. Add 2-3 cups of hot water to the pan. Enough to have 0.5 to 1 inch of water, but not so much the vegetables are floating around.

  12. Place in the oven at 450 F for 15 minutes - this helps develop the crust.
  13. Reduce heat to 300 F for 3 hours
  14. Reduce heat to 275 F for the rest of the cook. Let go uncovered for 3 more hours.
  15. At 6 hours into the cook, cover the pan with a large piece of foil.
  16. Cook for another 90 minutes.
  17. Pull and let rest covered for 30-45 minutes.
  18. Pull apart the pork for serving
  19. Drain pan juices and reserve for a nice Au Jus at the table, to spoon over the pork & vegetables.

Recipe Notes

Add or reduce time depending on the size of the Pork Shoulder. I would plan on 30-45 min for each pound. When fall off the bone tender, the internal temperature should reach around 200 F.  Check with a fork for tenderness.