Oven Roasted Pork Roast | Fork-Tender Juicy Easy

Hubby has become a master smoker, treating our family and extended family to succulent slow smoked pulled pork on many a fourth of July. It’s no easy task managing a small water smoker but he skillfully juggles tending the butt while getting his own into the pool for one of our good-natured uncompetitive volleyball matches. Wisconsin winters, however, send our smoker into hibernation so to combat potential barbecue withdrawals I decided to try adapting Hubby’s outdoor recipe to oven roasting. The results blew us away. This is bar none the juiciest fork-tender oven roasted pork roast you will EVER make, adapted from The Renowned Mr. Brown recipe from the book Smoke & Spice with reduced sodium.

Begin by mixing a rub that will transform into a sweet tangy layer of crispiness.

Rub:

2 T ground
2 T paprika
2 T turbinado sugar (aka sugar in the raw)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne (optional)
1-2 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil
4 lb pork shoulder roast

Mix dry ingredients well, adding 1-2 Tbsp of oil to form a paste.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300F
Rub the paste into the roast, covering every nook and crevice and place seasoned roast in Dutch oven or roasting pan.
Pour 1 1/2 C of water to cover the bottom of pan.
Cover tightly with lid or foil and roast 4-5 hours, checking for fork tenderness.
Remove the lid or foil and increase temperature to 375F and roast for another 15-20 minutes for the top to get nicely browned and crispy.Allow to rest 15 minutes before transferring to board or platter and begin pulling.

Sound too simple to be true? Not at all. Besides being the juiciest fork-tender oven roasted pork roast it’s also the easiest!

Before:

After: (ooh, look at that crispiness)

Proof of fork-tenderness, or in this case tong-tenderness, below. The roast fell apart as I pulled it out of the Dutch oven.

This pork can actually be used in a variety of ways as the seasoning lends itself to be adapted to a variety of cuisines. As for me and my brood, we crave a taste of summer during the doldrums of winter so it’s barbecue all the way.

I was hooked at first bite of pulled pork topped with creamy slaw. Put all of this in a crusty Dutch roll and oooh la la. There’s only one other addition that makes it a taste of heaven and that’s a generous pour of barbecue sauce from Fat Matt’s Rib Shack in Atlanta, GA. (After seeing Fat Matt’s featured on an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, we just had to check it out ourselves. That was one tasty road trip.)