Hickory Smoked Garlic Rosemary Pork Rib Roast with Pan Vegetables

 

This recipe was updated on 30 June 2013. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

This is one of my favorite roasts to make. Pork rib roasts only appear in the USA around this time of year (early Spring for Easter) or late in the year (for Thanksgiving and Christmas). You can, of course, special request a pork rib roast anytime from your friendly local butcher. I happen to have many rosemary bushes growing in my backyard that seem to supply an endless amount of fresh rosemary anytime of the year. So it’s natural to include rosemary with any pork roast that I make using my gas grill, which together with hickory wood, gives this roast a great flavor. Did I mention that there’s also a bunch of garlic on top of the roast? Finely sliced garlic is placed into slits made into the roast, so the exposed garlic is toasted and the garlic in the roast infuses the meat with more flavor.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

4-5 lb.	2-2.5 kg.	Pork Rib Roast (about 4-5 ribs)
4-6 cloves	4-6 cloves	Garlic, sliced thinly
4-6 Tbs.	60-90 ml.	Fresh or dried rosemary
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Ground black pepper
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Salt
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Olive oil to coat the pork roast
2 lb.	1 kg.	Carrots, cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
2 lb.	1 kg.	Red potatoes, cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) wedges
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Olive oil to coat the vegetables

 

Equipment

22.5 in.	57 cm.	Covered charcoal or gas grill (or larger)

 

Preparation Instructions

1. Prepare the charcoal or gas grill for indirect cooking following the manufacturer’s instructions. Light the charcoal or preheat the gas grill accordingly. Soak the hickory wood chunks or chips for one hour before cooking, if desired (I use my wood dry and do not soak it).
2. Take the pork rib roast out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
3. Wash and cut the potatoes and carrots. You want fairly large pieces since the pork will be roasted on top of the vegetables. Put the vegetables into the roasting pan and add olive oil to coat the vegetables. Mix the vegetables with the olive oil to minimize sticking to the pan. Form an even layer of vegetables on the bottom of the pan.
4. Put the pork roast into the pan with the vegetables.
5. Thinly slice the garlic. The garlic slices are to be inserted into slits made on top of the pork roast. The slits in the pork should just be deep enough to hold the garlic slices. I like garlic, so I completely cover the top of the pork roast with slits for the garlic.
6. Rub olive oil over the pork roast and then sprinkle the salt and pepper on the roast.
7. Crush lightly, and then rub and press the rosemary onto the surface of the pork.

 

Cooking Instructions

1. If using a charcoal grill, arrange the lighted coals by dividing them on two sides of the grill, leaving enough room to cook the pork roast in the middle of the grill where there are no coals. For a gas grill, follow the manufacturer’s instructions as to which burners to leave on for indirect cooking. Add the hickory chunks or chips for smoking.
2. Put the pan with the pork and vegetables into the grill and cover the grill. Cooking should take from 75 to 90 minutes depending upon the thickness of the roast and the amount of vegetables. On my gas grill, the initial temperature is 450⁰F (230⁰C) and then drops to 350⁰F (175⁰C) for the rest of the roasting time. The pork is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the roast registers 135⁰F (57⁰C) to 140⁰F (60⁰C).
3. Remove the pan from the grill at the end of the roasting time. Remove the pork roast from the pan and place onto plate. Allow the roast to rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.
4. Remove the vegetables from the pan and place into an oven proof bowl. Put the vegetables into a 250⁰F (120⁰C) oven to keep warm until serving time.
5. Use the drippings from the pan to make a gravy (I won’t give any instructions now to make a gravy, but if you need instructions, you’ll have to wait for another recipe from me!).
6. After allowing the roast to rest, carve the roast by making cuts between the rib bones. If the chine bone hasn’t been removed, you won’t be able to or it will be difficult to separate the rib bones at the spine. If this is the case, you can carve the roast by deboning the whole loin from the ribs (have your knife follow the rib bone to separate the loin from the ribs, thereby removing the loin meat from the bones) and then carve the loin meat into individual servings. If the chine bone has been removed, you can cut rib chops from the roast.
7. Serve the pork roast with the pan roasted vegetables and pan gravy.