pork loin

CupOfChai

So I have a joint of pork which I intend to roast on Sunday (my first ever solo proper Sunday roast!). How do I do this so it comes out just right, that is cooked through, lovely and moist and with great crackling?

I have never ever roasted a joint of pork before, please let me know what info you need and I'll do my best to answer!

Pink.

Do you know which cut of pork it is?

Pink

CupOfChai

It's a loin, without bone.

redfragglebiker

To get good crackling score the skin lots of times with a good sharp knife (I tend to use a stanley knife I keep purely for kitchen stuff but a good sharp knife of any description should do) and rub plenty of salt in it.

maman

CupOfChai wrote: »

It's a loin, without bone.

I love this Jamie Oliver recipe

http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/jamie-oliver/bone-out-shoulder-roast-recipe

You're meant to sieve the vegetables to make your gravy but I generally just eat them (usually long before they get to the table) and make my gravy from the fat/juices in the usual way.

I know the recipe says boneless shoulder but I'm sire it would work with loin. If you look closely, many joints come with the skin already scored.

CupOfChai

My joint isn't pre-scored so I will do that, I might do it the day before to save time but not put the salt on ahead of time in case it goes weird.

The guidance in the Jamie Oliver recipe about temperatures looks good. Not sure I will do the vegetable bit though as I already have carrot and swede mash.

I got the joint RTC, a fiver down from £13! Hurray!

Edit - Just a thought, does all the carry-on with starting at higher temperature then turning it down still work ok when the oven is electric not gas?

joedenise

Yes, doesn't matter what fuel you're using. Start off very high for about half hour to crackle the skin and then turn down for the rest of the time.

Denise

madmary_2

A good tip for getting a good crackling is to leave the meat out of the refridgerator for a few hours till it is completely dry. You can rub with lemon juice instead of salt. One problem I have found with salt is that it can make the gravy really salty if you are not careful.

If you are not going to use vegetables at least slice up an onion and put the meat on top of that, so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

Mary

CupOfChai

I thought I might put sliced up onion and apple in the bottom of the tray. Maybe. We haven't got any apple sauce you see as we never have roast pork at home and I forgot to get some.

No worries about it getting stuck on the bottom as my roasting tin has a rack. Just hope that doesn't make it too dry.

Pink.

Allow it to dry out uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours before cooking, then slash the skin with a knife and sprinkle with salt just before putting into the oven. This allows the fat to drain off and will make a good crackling.

I always put a few slivers of garlic into the pork before cooking for a bit of extra flavour. Just stick a sharp knife into the meat twist and push a slice of garlic into the hole. Do this all over the joint.

To cook, preheat the oven to 250 degrees and cook (uncovered) for 20 minutes. Then turn down the heat to 180 degrees and cook for 45 minutes per pound. You can cover it with tin foil if you want to but if you want the crackling to be crisp then I prefer to just keep draining off the juices and keep them for the gravy. When the meat is cooked let it rest out of the oven for at least 20 minutes to allow the meat to relax.

A tip for the crackling is that if it isn't as crisp as you'd like it then removed it from the meat while the meat is resting and bung it back into the oven for a few minutes while you're crisping up the roast potatoes.

These threads may help:

pork loin

Crackling

I'll add your thread to the first link later to keep the replies together.

Pink