Slow roast pork

I reckon this is my new standard way of slow roasting a joint of pork such as shoulder, belly or hock.  Bone-in shoulder seems very exciting to me (e.g. https://thegingerpig.co.uk/products/bone-in-pork-shoulder).

Ingredients

Joint of pork
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable oil
Onions
Garlic
Bay leaf
Thyme
Cider, wine or water

Technique

Score the pork fat deeply with a Stanley or other sharp knife, without cutting through to the flesh beneath.  Season well with salt and pepper.  Wrap in a tea towel and leave in the fridge overnight.

The day you wish to cook it, bring it out of the fridge as early as you can so it can come to room temperature.

Massage lightly with 1 tbsp of veg oil and place in a tray with the fat upwards.  Season again.  To the tray, add 2 onions, washed and quartered but skin left on and a few whole peeled garlic cloves.

Place straight into a low oven at say 160C.  The length of time to cook it is very flexible, but for a 3kg shoulder of pork I would want to give it probably 3 hours at this temperature.

After half an hour to 1 hour, spoon off excess fat from the tray and add the liquid and herbs.  During these initial slow roasting hours, you need to check every now and then that the liquid does not dry up.  Basting is optional.

After the initial hours phase, remove it from the oven and turn your oven up to max temperature. Add plenty of liquid to the tray because you can always reduce it later and you really don't want your lovely gravy to burn.

Add the pork back and roast at this high temperature to allow the cracking to fully form.  This may take another 20-40 minutes.

Rest the meat for 20 minutes minimum and job is done.

I guess what I am getting at is, pouring boiling water over the fat the day before is not a vital step.