Ingredients

• 8-10lb. pork shoulder
• 2 T Olive oil
• 2 T Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 T Lemon juice
• 1 T Liquid smoke
• 2 T Salt
• 1 T Black pepper
• 1 T Garlic powder
• 1 T Onion powder
• 1 T Dried rosemary
• 1 t. Ground Thyme
• 5 Bay leaves
• ½ c. water
• 1 c. water or chicken broth

Instructions

Seasoning roast: Mix dry ingredients in bowl and set aside. Combine olive oil, Worstershire, lemon juice and liquid smoke in bottom of a roaster that has a lid. (If you don’t have a roaster with a lid, a large shallow pan will do but you’ll need heavy duty aluminum foil to cover and seal edges to baking pan). Place roast in roaster. Repeatedly turn roast over, coating all sides with the liquid in bottom of the roaster. With fat side up, sprinkle half dry ingredients over top of roast, flip roast to fat side down, and sprinkle other half of dry ingredients. With hands, rub dry ingredients into all the sides of the roast. Leaving roast with fat side down, pour ½ c. water or broth in bottom of roaster. (Do not pour over roast)

Browning roast: Adjust oven racks so that roast will fit in oven with the lid on. Turn on broiler, and place uncovered roast in oven. Brown for 15-20 minutes. Remove roaster from oven and flip roast to fat side up. Return to oven and brown under broiler for an addition 10-15 minutes.

Baking roast: Turn off broiler and turn oven to 250 degrees. Arrange 3 bay leaves on top of roast. Place 2 bay leaves in bottom of roaster. Pour 1 cup of water or chicken broth in bottom of roaster. (Again, do not pour over roast) Cover with lid or heavy duty aluminum foil (sealing edges). Bake for 5-6 hours. When roast is done, meat should be falling off of bone.

Prepare to serve: Remove roast from oven, remove lid, and let it rest for 15-20 minutes. Using large spatulas, transfer roast to a large plate to finish cooling. When roast is cool enough to handle, remove the fat and bone separating roast into lean pieces of meat ready for slicing. Discard fat and bone. Or, make a stock from the fat and bone for later use in a soup or stew. See my blog on making a homemade stock. Pour any unused roast juices into your stock.

To serve roast as pulled pork on slider buns: Transfer lean roast pieces to cutting board and slice in big chunks. Shred meat for sandwiches.

To serve roast as a main dish with gravy: Remove roast pieces from juices and set aside. Pour juices in to a large measuring cup or deep bowl. Using a ladle, skim off excess fat. Return juices to roaster. Place roaster with juices over two stove burners. Bring to a simmer. Measure 3/4 c. all purpose flour into a large bowl and gradually add 5 c. cold water whisking to remove all lumps. When juices in roaster are simmering, gradually add flour and water mixture to simmering juices while whisking continuously. Gravy will thicken as it returns to a simmer. Cook gravy for 2-3 minutes. Transfer roast pieces to cutting board, and slice to desired thickness using a sharp knife. Serve sliced roast with rice or potatoes and roast gravy. Also delicious served as open faced pork roast sandwiches with gravy.