Slow-Roasted Pork
Cooking meat slowly at a low temperature produces a tender juicy dish pork butt a less expensive cut is ideal for slow cooking which dissolves both fat and connective tissue creating a rich and savory sauce.
Cooking meat slowly at a low temperature produces a tender juicy dish pork butt a less expensive cut is ideal for slow cooking which dissolves both fat and connective tissue creating a rich and savory sauce.
- Carbohydrate 32.7447561427807 g
- Cholesterol 140.616 mg
- Fat 28.0595277777778 g
- Fiber 0.0428055561714702 g
- Protein 39.5634350000284 g
- Saturated Fat 9.86586511111111 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (291g)
- Sodium 295.106000432263 mg
- Sugar 32.7019505866093 g
- Trans Fat 2.75503977777778 g
- Calories 550 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place the rack slightly below the center of the oven.
- Place pork in heavy pot with a tight fitting lid that is just large enough to hold roast. Sprinkle pork heavily with Worcestershire sauce; turn it over and sprinkle other side heavily as well. Take handful of brown sugar and smush brown sugar all over meat to form a crust. Turn meat over and smush brown sugar all over other side. Pour apple juice in bottom of pan, not over meat. Cover tightly.
- Place the roast in the oven. Five minutes later, turn oven down to 200 degrees (use oven thermometer to be sure of oven temperature). Roast without opening the oven door for 4 hours or until meat literally falls apart when you try to lift it with a fork. Break meat apart and remove the bone, push meat down into drippings (if desired, the pan drippings can be de-fatted). Sprinkle with salt. This salt should not be omitted; it is vital to bring out meat flavors. Serve meat in its delicious juice hot or at room temperature.
Replacing the apple juice with an equal measure of dry hard cider introduces a sharper malic acidity that cuts directly through the rich sweetness of the brown sugar. Pork butt demands a heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid to trap moisture effectively during the long cooking cycle. Cast iron dutch ovens work exceptionally well here because they retain thermal mass steadily. Bringing the meat to room temperature prior to roasting prevents the exterior fibers from seizing when they hit the initial four-hundred-degree oven blast. Dropping the thermostat down to two hundred degrees after five minutes protects the exterior sugars from burning while allowing internal collagen to convert into gelatin.
Scaling and Structural Integrity
Multiplying this preparation requires careful attention to vessel geometry rather than simple arithmetic. Doubling the roast does not require doubling the liquid volume, as a larger cut naturally releases more moisture as it cooks. Keep the pot adequately crowded; excess empty space inside the vessel allows steam to escape prematurely, drying out the surface of the meat before rendering finishes.
- Overcrowding a roasting vessel prevents proper browning on the initial sear.
- Opening the oven door during the four-hour roasting window releases essential ambient heat.
- Failing to incorporate the final measurement of salt leaves the pork tasting flat despite the sugar content.
