• Box of Kosher Salt (about 3 pounds)
• 3 pounds of pork shoulder or butt (shoulder preferred)
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 cup black peppercorns
• Pack of fresh rosemary
• 1 cup water

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Rub the pork with a mixture of the black pepper, garlic, and rosemary.  You can add whatever else you like to the rub, for example cumin, chili powder, etc.

2. Mix the salt with the black peppercorns and add the water a little bit at a time.  You want a texture that resembles wet, grainy sand.

3. Take a roasting pan and make a base of the salt mixture to rest the pork on.  Place the pork on the salt base and cover the entire piece with the remaining salt.  You want to form a crust that is roughly a half-inch thick.  When you are putting the salt on the pork, it may seem that the salt is falling off or not cohesive enough to stick together and form a proper crust.  Don’t worry about that – when it gets in the oven, the salt will come together and harden around the pork.

4. Roast at 375 degrees for about 2 hours for a 2-pound piece of meat and closer to 2.5 hours for a 3-pound piece of meat.  It will be hard to check the temperature of the pork during cooking, so plan on using a thermometer after you break open the salt crust.

5. After the pork is done roasted, take it out of the oven and let it sit for a few minutes.  Now the fun part – break open the salt crust.  We found that our crust had hardened to the point where we needed to use a few light taps with a hammer to break it open.  Remove the meat from the crust and let it sit for a few minutes before carving to your liking.