Pernil

[Katie Meadow]

Okay, I'm making Pernil for the first time. And I've read this thread. Unfortunately my pork shoulder has neither bone nor skin, just a layer of fat on one side. It weighs just a bit over 4 lbs. Prep for tomorrow's meal was done today: made a wet rub, very garlicky, and did the little cuts and inserted rub, then rubbed the remainder on the outside. The hunk is sitting in a bowl covered w/plastic wrap in the fridge.

Then I started reading about cooking time and temps. Wild variations! Here's a small selection:

Start oven 450 and after an hour turn it down to 300 or 350, cook about 1/2 hr per lb total.

Start high, then lower but cover until the last half hour to crisp it up.

Start low uncovered, cook an hour, then cover. Turn up the heat the last 15 minutes.

Cook at 170 degrees six hours. Cook 250 degrees 3 or 4 hours.

Time varied, depending upon heat, anywhere from 3 to 5 hours for a 4 lb roast.

Put it on a rack. Don't put it on a rack. Put water in the bottom of the roasting pan. Don't put any liquid in. Baste. Don't baste.

So....any advice? I'm getting the feeling that since I have only a modest layer of fat and no skin, perhaps I should be careful not to let it dry out. I have no idea what to do.

[djyee100]

Actually, in reading your post I think I've tried all those methods with roasted pork shoulder at one time or another, and they all work. If covered, the pork shoulder will release a lot of liquid. No need to add liquid to the pan. I don't bother with a rack myself. Also, I never baste pork shoulder; it doesn't seem to need it.

These days I like to cook the pork shoulder in a covered casserole dish, like a Le Creuset. I pop it into a hot oven, and immediately lower the temp. Start the temp in the 400's, lower to the 300's (or even the 200's) and let cook for about 1/2 to 1 hr per lb. The trick is not about adequately cooking the pork. With the long cooking times, the pork will be cooked. But will it be tender? Keep testing with a skewer for tenderness.

At the end of cooking time I might zap the meat with extra heat so it's well-browned and crispy on the outside. I raise the temp to the 400's, drain off most of the liquid, and put the uncovered pan on the highest oven rack for a few minutes. I keep an eye on the meat so it doesn't burn.

I usually cook a boneless pork shoulder with plenty of fat on it, like the one you described.

[Katie Meadow]

Thanks! I ended up cooking the pork very much as you describe. I started with Daisy Martinez wet rub, but her cooking instructions worried me: the heat was rather high, the meat uncovered the whole time, so definitely not low and slow.

I started the pork on a bed of onions at 425 degrees, uncovered in a Creuset pot. After half an hour I turned the oven down to 325, added a minimal amount of white wine plus water (less than an inch) and covered the pot. I cooked it for about 3.5 hours more, checking a couple of times to make sure there was still some moisture in the pot. You are right, that was not an issue. I uncovered the pot for the last 10 minutes, cranked up the heat back to 400, and that was it.

Roughly the cooking time was about an hour per pound (the pork weighed just a little over 4 lbs) and the meat was fall-off-the bone tender (well, without the bone) and succulent. There were three of us, including two men who eat like vacuum cleaners, and we still have a generous hunk for leftovers. I have some slaw leftover, so I'm thinking pulled pork sandwiches? Definitely an economical cut of meat--and not fatty, either. Most of the fat is on the top, and melts away into the sauce on the bottom, and as far as I could tell there isn't a lot of interior fat. I would like to try doing a bone-in skin-on roast if I can find one.