Slow-roasted pork shoulder

Yesterday's all-day cooking adventure was the slow roasted pork shoulder, with a deboned and trussed 8+ lb pork shoulder!  I followed the recipe fairly faithfully, with the exception of slightly reducing the amount of fennel since I'm not a huge fan. (More fennel was requested for the next iteration, however.)  In my oven it took almost exactly 8 hours to get to an internal temperature of 195 degrees, the temperature for pull-apart pork according to the internet.  I think next time I might take it up to 200 or so--parts of it were meltingly tender and shreddable, while a few other areas were a little more solid.  The fat of course was delicious, melting into the meat and making it moist and very flavorful!  There wasn't much orange or onion flavor, however, unless you were eating a piece that had sat on top of the fruit during the cooking.  I didn't mind much, but maybe next time I'll experiment with getting a little more in there?

Leftovers--of which there were many--were delicious for lunch today.

Pork spare ribs in the crockpotribs

Ingredients;

• 2 racks of pork spare ribs
• a can of diced tomatoes
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 chopped onion
• ~3/4 tablespoon anchovy paste
• ~1.5 tablespoon soy sauce
• ~2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• ~1/2 tsp green chile paste
• 1 tblsp tomato paste
• salt and pepper

I put all this in the crockpot for 8 hours on low.  The flavors came out pretty good!  However, it really didn't need to be in there for 8 hours. Maybe 4 or 6 next time! 

Slow cooker pork loin

I needed a crockpot dinner on Friday but all I could find without pulling the entire pig out of the freezer was a boneless pork loin.  Not ideal!  But I tried it anyway...

I rubbed it all over with salt and pepper, oregano, basil, and thyme.  Then I poked slits in it and inserted about 4 cloves of garlic cut up into chunks.  This went in the crockpot on a bed of onion slices and orange and white carrots.  I poured a mixture of chicken broth and balsamic vinegar over it, and cooked it on low for 6 hours (it was still a little frozen in the middle when it went in!).

This came out not too bad!  The flavors were good, and while it was dry it wasn't inedibly so.  It would probably be really good with a fattier cut of meat.

Slow roasted pork shoulder

A little while ago Lurene and I split a local pastured pig with a trainer at our gym.  It turns out a pig has a lot more meat than I expected, so two full freezers later we'll still eating pork at almost every meal!  Today's pork adventure is a roasted bone-in pork butt.  I based it on the recipe at Cook's Illustrated , but slightly modified.

1. Last night, I scored the fat cap of the roast into little one-inch squares, and rubbed it all over with kosher salt and sprinkled it with Chinese five-spice powder.  (I use this all the time on pork.  It tastes like it should be in cookies, but there's no actual sugar in it!)  Then I double-wrapped it in plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge overnight.
2. This morning, I unwrapped the roast and brushed off any remaining salt.  I sprinkled it with pepper and put in on a V-rack in a roasting pan.  I added about four cups of water to the bottom of the roasting pan, and put it in the oven at 325 degrees with a thermometer set to go off at 185 degrees.
3. This takes about 5-6 hours to cook. (Mine was about 5.) Twice during the cooking process I pulled it out to baste it.  (Of course I don't have a convenient basting device, so I have to use a spoon.  I make Lurene do this if I feel like I might burn myself today.)
4. Wen the timer went off, I pulled it out of the oven, covered it loosely wit tinfoil, and let it rest.  I was supposed to let it rest an hour, but we only made it 30 minutes.

We had this with some steamed carrots.  I also made a quick pan sauce by deglazing the roasting pan with some chicken broth and apple cider, and added a little black pepper and garlic powder.

I think this was one of the best things I've ever made.  Probably a lot of credit goes to the pig, though.