Pernil

5 from 7 votes

Pernil is what I cook for my family every year on Christmas Eve! A delicious well seasoned roasted pork shoulder with very crispy skin.

Prep Time20

Cook Time5 20

Total Time5 40

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Cuban

Servings: people

Calories: 389kcal

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
To make the marinade, combine the orange juice, lime juice, minced garlic, oregano, Sazon goya, cumin, salt, and pepper.
Remove the pork skin 3/4s of the way and make several 1-inch cuts into the pork.
Pour the marinade all over the pork except for the skin. The pork skin should remain completely dry. Make sure those garlic chunks get inside the slits.
Place the skin back in place, pat dry the skin with a paper towel, you want it to be extra dry. Season it with salt and pepper, cover it with aluminum foil, and bake for 4 hours. Once the four hours are up, uncover and bake for 1 hour. After the 1 hour, increase the temperature to 450 degrees F. and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the skin is nice and crispy.
Once the skin is crispy, remove it from the oven and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Slice off the skin and set it aside. Shred the meat and place it in the pan with the juices. Make sure not to get the juices on the pork skin otherwise, it will soften. Serve and enjoy!

Pull the skin back from the pork shoulder and pierce slits into the flesh. That's going to help the marinade penetrate the pernil.
Let the meat sit for 10-15 minutes before shredding.
If shredding the meat, make sure you place it back into the pan along with juices.
Make sure you use a bone-in pork shoulder or pork butt. Although, it's part of the shoulder meat it is also known as pork butt.
Let the pork sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before baking. Cold pork will take longer to roast and can cook unevenly.
Make sure the garlic chunks get into the slits.