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Cuban-Style Grill-Roasted Pork on a Charcoal Grill

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1. TO BRINE THE PORK: With sharp paring knife, cut 1-inch-deep slits (about 1-inch-long) all over roast, spaced about 2 inches apart. Dissolve sugar and salt in 6 quarts cold water in stockpot or large bucket. Stir in garlic and orange juice. Submerge pork in brine and refrigerate 18 to 24 hours.

2. TO APPLY THE GARLIC-CITRUS PASTE: Process garlic, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper in food processor until they reach consistency of coarse paste, about ten 1-second pulses. With machine running, add orange juice, vinegar, and oil through feed tube and process until mixture forms smooth, wet paste, about 20 seconds. Remove pork from brine and rinse under cool running water; pat dry with paper towels. Rub paste all over pork and into slits. Refrigerate pork until ready to grill.

3. TO GRILL-ROAST THE PORK: Using chimney starter, light 4 quarts charcoal (about 60 briquettes) and burn until fully ignited and partially covered in gray ash, about 15 minutes. Empty coals into grill; build modified two-level fire by arranging coals to cover one-half of grill in even layer. Position cooking grate over coals, cover grill, and heat until hot, about 5 minutes; scrape grate clean with grill brush. Place roast with skin side up on cool side of grill and shield with foil according to photos below. Cover and cook until grill temperature falls to 225°F, 2 to 3 hours (coals will be gray and partially disintegrated). After 1 3/4 hours, heat oven to 325°F with rack in lower-middle position.

4. When grill temperature has fallen to 225°F, remove foil and transfer roast to wire rack set over rimmed baking sheet or to roasting pan with rack. Roast pork in oven until skin is browned and crisp and instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of meat registers 190°F, 2 to 3 hours. Transfer roast to cutting board and let rest 1 hour. To carve, first remove skin in one large piece. Scrape off and discard top layer of fat, then cut pork away from bone in 3 or 4 large pieces. Slice each piece against grain into 1/4-inch slices. To serve skin, scrape excess fat from underside and cut into strips. Drizzle Mojo Sauce (see related recipe) over pork just before serving.

Serves 8 to 10

Notes

Letting the cooked roast rest for a full hour will yield noticeably more tender meat. This roast has a crispy skin that should be served along with the meat. Top the meat with Mojo Sauce (see related recipe). Traditional accompaniments include black beans, rice, and fried plantains.

Why this recipe works:
We wanted a boldly flavored, Cuban-style pork roast recipe with crackling-crisp skin and tender meat infused with flavor. To speed up cooking, we abandoned cooking the pork completely on the grill (which required constant refueling and rotating over several hours) in favor of a combination cooking method: cooking the pork on the grill for three hours (the time it took for our initial supply of coals to die down) and then finishing it in the oven. To give our Cuban-style pork roast recipe added flavor, we again combined methods, first marinating the pork in a powerful solution that included 2 heads of garlic and 4 cups of orange juice, then rubbing an exterior paste into slits cut all over the pork.

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