Why This Recipe Works

Pork and sugar play well together, so we wanted to enhance a holiday-worthy pork roast with fruity, floral honey. A Boston butt (or pork butt) was a good starting point since it is relatively inexpensive and has plenty of fat and connective tissue that—with low, slow cooking—melt out as the meat becomes tender and silky. Coating the roast in honey before roasting resulted in an overcaramelized (read: burnt) roast, no matter how low of an oven temperature we used. Instead, we stirred together a spiced honey with spicy red pepper flakes and aromatic five-spice powder. We waited to brush this onto the pork until the final half-hour of cooking, which created a juicy roast with a beautiful brown crust and a shiny honey glaze. To make it even better, we topped the finished roast with an extra layer of spiced honey and saved some to drizzle over the sliced meat. This allowed all the pork, even the interior pieces, to be saturated with that bold, sweet honey flavor.

Before You Begin

Plan ahead: The roast must be seasoned at least 12 hours before cooking. We developed this recipe with clover honey.

Instructions

Combine salt and sugar in bowl. Using sharp knife, cut 1-inch crosshatch pattern about ¼ inch deep in fat cap of roast, being careful not to cut into meat. Place roast on 2 large sheets of plastic wrap and rub salt mixture over entire roast and into slits. Wrap roast tightly with plastic. Place on large plate and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and set wire rack in prepared sheet. Unwrap roast and place on rack. Cover sheet tightly with foil. Transfer to oven and cook for 2 hours. Remove foil and continue to cook until meat registers 180 degrees in several places, 2½ to 3½ hours longer.

Combine honey, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper flakes, and five-spice powder in bowl. Remove roast from oven. Brush top and sides of roast with ¼ cup honey mixture (set aside remainder). Return roast to oven and continue to cook until meat registers 190 degrees and fork slips easily in and out of meat, 30 to 45 minutes longer. Transfer roast to carving board and let rest for 1 hour.

Using boning or paring knife, cut around inverted T-shaped bone until it can be pulled free and removed from roast (use clean dish towel to grasp bone if necessary). Brush pork with 2 tablespoons reserved honey mixture. Using serrated knife, slice roast ½ inch thick. Drizzle with remaining honey mixture and serve.