Which cut of pork to use?

liney

I am having a Bonfire on Saturday and have decided to provide hot pork rolls with stuffing/sauce/gravy as the snack.

I want crackling (!) and i want to cook the pork slowly so that it is kind of shredable. Am i better off using loin, leg or shoulder for this?

Raspberry_Swirl

if you're slow cooking the pork i would go for shoulder.

lindadykes

I make wonderful hot pork sarnie's - all my family think so anyway!

I prefer to use belly pork. Its very cheap and you get a good proportion of crackling. Don't be put off by it's fatty appearance, once it is cooked much of the fat will have melted off and the lean pork will shred away beautiffully in layers.

I usually pat the meat dry with some kitchen towel, then sprinkle liberally with salt. Roast on the highest oven setting you have until the crackling is a crisp dark golden colour and the pork is well cooked. (No pink juices). Don't worry about such fierce cooking drying the meat out or making it tough, this is where that fat comes in making the meat beutifully moist and tender. When cooked like this the meat will simply seperate from the layers of fat and will shred easily.

I serve the meat in nice bread buns with stuffing, pease pudding, crackling and apple sauce and dip the top of each bun into nice hot gravy.

liney

I can get belly pork as a rolled joint? because i have only seen it sliced before now.

Stephen_Leak

liney wrote: »

I can get belly pork as a rolled joint? because i have only seen it sliced before now.

Yes, even in supermarkets. IMHO, it is a much under-rated joint, probably - as mentioned above - people are put off by the fat and cheap price.

PS. I can add nothing to Linda's cooking instructions and mouth-watering serving suggestion, except that I presume it is the cut face of the top half of the bap that you dip in the gravy. I have got to try that.

maypole

Lindadykes

Can I come to your party, pork sandwhiches sound GORGEOUS

liney

My DH will be pleased: BBQ belly pork is his favorite thing, so he won't grumble at this.

Now you say cook on the highest setting, but do you have a guide to the cooking time at all? Or what kind of size is your joint, and how long do you end up cooking it for, just to give me an idea.

This sounds yummy )

lindadykes

I usually buy my belly pork in a single piece, but not rolled, that is to say with the skin/crackling on the top surface of the meat. Morrisons usually sell it like this. (By the way, to cheat slightly they also sell it hot and ready cooked on alongside their hot chickens).

I can't really give an exact time, as I sort of just cook it till it looks done! Usually though I would check it after about 1 hour and if it doesn't look done, I check every 15-20 minutes till it is.

It should have dark golden crackling that is crisp all over, if there are any bits that are not yet crisp it gets a bit longer. any remaining visible fat should be a golden colour and if you take a fork and prod it in the meat, the meat shold be tender and shred easily. Hope thats some help.

By the way Stephen - yes it's the cut top half of the bun that is dipped in the gravy.

Stephen_Leak

I thought so - dipping the entire top of the bun in the gravy sounded a bit messy, even for me!