In this guide
If you are anything like the KR Castlemaine team, a weekly pork roast is an absolute staple, so we do get a bit of practice when it comes to cooking a big piece of pork. However, if you don't often get the practice in, how can you guarantee absolute perfection when cooking up a roast for family and friends? You guessed it, right in this article! We have spoken briefly before about how to cook pork perfectly, where we covered some basics. Today we will get into the Pork Roast in more detail. Here are 5 tips to level up your roast!
1. choose the right cut
If you have a lot of people to feed, then choosing the right cut of pork to roast is essential to the experience. Whilst cuts like the chops, belly and rib rack are great for a table for two, bigger cuts like the shoulder and the leg are great for feeding a hungry crowd. Remember that the roast will shrink a lot during cooking, always allow for more than you think. If you have the opportunity, always cook with the bone in, this is great for keeping the roast beautiful and moist, and if not, then a fatty cut of pork cooked to perfection will still be just as delicious.
2. Score and dry
Both of these are absolutely essential to the perfect roast. Scoring is the act of slicing the skin of the pork to create gaps to allow salt to enter, and makes it much easier to cut once it's cooked. Usually, your butcher would have pre-scored your roast, as they have knives much sharper than yours, however, a stanley knife will do the trick if you are lacking a sharp knife.
Secondly, it's essential that you allow the skin to dry out properly, which leads to superior crackle. To do this, pat dry with paper towel, and if possible, allow to sit overnight uncovered in the fridge, or at least a couple of hours before cooking. We have been known to use a hair dryer if needed, so make sure it's well and truly dry.
3. boiling water trick
This one is lesser known, however, once you have done all the hard work of drying out the skin, go ahead and place the roast on a rack and pour boiling water over the skin, whilst it is in the sink. This helps to prep the skin to crackle as its now "pre-cooked" so to speak. Make sure to pat dry with paper towel to further dry afterwards.
4. Stuff and roll
Pork roasts are absolutely delicious when cooked with stuffing. You can do this with the bigger leg and shoulder cuts, or with the belly and loin cuts and roll them up with string. You can look up some great stuffing recipes, however if you want to add stuffing, now is the time!
5. Oil and salt
It's almost time to cook, however now is the most important part. Enough salt will cause the fat to really pop and crackle as the salt reacts with the fat when cooked. Choose a nice olive oil to lightly cover the whole roast, and then apply salt liberally to the skin, making sure there is enough the enter the score marks. If you want to add in herbs like rosemary, put them in now also.
Final Thoughts
Just like that, it's ready to go. Beautiful isn't it! Now, the key to cooking is to smack it with heat first to achieve the great crackle, and then reduce to cook the actual roast. To do this, 240 Degrees C is great for the first 40-50 minutes (or until it crackles), then turn down to 180 Degrees C to further cook the roast depending on your preference, and it's size. Use an airfryer if you have one, as the heat is instant and close to the skin, causing great crackle. If you are using a BBQ or Webber, under no circ*mstances open the lid until the time is right, as you will let the heat out and effect the crackle!
Now go get roasting!
