I have struggled to make roast pork with the perfect crackling forever and a day.

Until now!

Scott Rea guarantees perfect crackling if you follow his pork roast preparation and oven directions. They really do work and I have even tried to prove him wrong. He isn’t and I have linked to his video at the end of the post.

I know what you are thinking, surely it won’t work in a charcoal weber BBQ.

Scott’s Key Tips:

• The best tool for scoring the pork skin is a Stanely knife. Not only are the blades super sharp but you can set it to the right length to slice the fat but not the meat itself.
• Bring the joint out of the fridge at least an hour before cooking to bring it to room temperature. This time will vary depending on the climate.
• Don’t salt the pork fat until right before you cook it. Too early will make the fat moist and it won’t crackle properly.

The Day Before

1. Buy your pork joint at least a day or two before you intend to roast it.
2. Take it out of the vacuum pack, if that is how you got it, and pat it dry.
3. Use a Stanley knife to score the fat of the pork cut you are using.
4. Put the pork, uncovered, into the fridge overnight to let the fat dry out (don’t salt it at this point).

The Next Day

1. Take the pork out a few hours prior to cooking to bring it to room temperature.
2. Preheat your fan-forced oven to 240C.
3. Rub salt into the fat’s cuts.
4. Optionally get some fennel seeds and or black pepper into them too.
5. Cut a bunch of onions or potatoes into slices and layer them in an oven tray to keep the pork off the bottom of the tray.
6. Add some water to the tray to stop the vegetable bed from burning and also keep the meat moist.

COOKING TIME

Cook the pork at 240C for 30 minutes so that the crackling looks like this.

Then lower the oven temperature to 180C and cook the roast for another 45 minutes per 450g (~1lb). I also check that the meat’s core temperature is 77C (well done).

Let it rest for 15 minutes and then it will carve perfectly and the meat will melt in your mouth.

Serving

Apple sauce and gravy of course. You could even try Roasted Apples for that something different. 🙂

The Scott Rea Project’s Video

 

Drop Scott a line if like me, this has cured your crackling problems,

PK

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