Hairy Bikers Roast Pork With The Best Crackling Recipes

PORK ROAST WITH CRISPY PORK CRACKLING

Steps:

• Dry skin: Pat the skin dry with paper towels. If time permits, leave in the fridge uncovered overnight (even 1 hr helps). If not, pat extra well.
• Preheat oven to 220°C/430°F (200°C fan).
• Season flesh: Sprinkle pork flesh with 1 1/2 tsp salt, all the pepper and all fennel seeds and 1 tbsp olive oil. Rub into flesh, right into all the crevices and cracks.
• Salt skin: Flip pork, drizzle skin with 1 tsp oil, then rub all over with fingers. Sprinkle all over with remaining 1 1/2 tsp salt, taking care to get even coverage. Un-salted patches will not become bubbly crackling, it will be a hard flat sheet.
• Garlic & onion bed: Place halved garlic bulbs and onion in roasting pan. Place pork skin side up on top of them.
• Wine: Carefully pour wine into the pan, being sure not to wet the skin. Transfer to oven.
• Lower oven: Immediately turn oven down to 160°C/320°F (140°C fan).
• Slow roast: Roast for 2 1/2 hours.
• Level at 1 1/2 hours: Check pork after 1 1/2 hours to see if the pork is warped and the skin's overall surface is significantly unlevelled. If so, adjust to make the skin surface as level as possible using balls of foil and moving large dislodged pork pieces to the side (key tip for crispy crackling, Note 3). Then return to oven for the remaining 1 hour.
• Check pan & salt on skin: If pan is drying out, add some water. If there are bald patches on the skin without salt (eg it fell off), spray lightly with oil spray (or brush lightly with oil) then sprinkle with salt. (Remember, salt = bubbly skin!)
• Increase heat: Turn oven up to 250°C/485°F (all oven types), or as high as it will go if your oven won't go this high.
• Make skin crisp: Return pork to oven for 30 minutes, rotating pan as needed, until skin is crisp and bubbly all over. If needed, use foil patches, secured with water soaked toothpicks, to cover parts that are done and keep crisping up remaining patches.
• Rest: Transfer pork to serving platter, tent loosely with foil (don't worry, crackling stays super-crisp) and rest for 20 minutes (stays warm up to 1 hour). Then slice using a serrated knife.
• Serve with gravy. Don't pour gravy over crackling - pour it off to the side! See note for reheating.

STUFFED ROAST PORK

Steps:

• For the filling, either put all the ingredients in a small food processor and blend until well combined - the mixture doesn't have to be completely smooth - or pound with a pestle and mortar. Season with salt and pepper. Lay the pork out, skin-side down, and rub the filling over the meat. Roll it up as tightly as you can and secure at intervals with butcher's string. If you have time, leave the pork in the fridge, uncovered or loosely wrapped in kitchen paper, overnight - or even better, for 2 nights. This gives the flavours time to permeate the meat and allows the skin to dry out. An hour before you are ready to start cooking the pork, remove it from the fridge so it can come up to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 150°C/Fan 130°C/Gas 2. Arrange the potatoes and onion slices on the base of a large roasting tin and season with salt. Pour over the white wine or cider and the stock or water. Make sure the rind of the pork is dry and season it with salt. Place the pork on top of the potatoes and onions. Cover it with foil and put in the oven. Roast for 4 hours until the pork is cooked through. Check with a meat thermometer if you have one - the internal temperature should read 68°C. Turn the oven up to its highest setting and cook for a further half an hour to crisp up the skin. Remove from the oven and transfer the meat and potatoes to separate serving dishes. Leave the meat to rest for half an hour, uncovered, but keep the potatoes warm.

HAIRY BIKERS: ROAST PORK WITH THE BEST CRACKLING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220°C. Make sure the pork skin has been scored. If not, score it now, making sure you cut through the skin to the fat below.
• Pat the skin dry, then rub it with the oil and sprinkle with salt. Put the onions, thyme and star anise in a large roasting tin with the pork on top.
• Calculate the cooking time - you need to roast the meat for 30 minutes per 500g. So if you have a joint that weighs 1.5kg, the cooking time should be an hour and a half. Check for doneness after this time - the crackling should be blistered, crisp and brown and the meat should be cooked until the juices run clear.
• Meanwhile, make the apple sauce. Put the apples in a pan and add the cider or water, half the sugar and the butter. Cover and cook over a low heat until the apples have broken down into a thick purée. Whisk thoroughly to make sure everything is well combined, then taste and add more sugar if you think the sauce needs it. Spoon the sauce into a serving dish and set it aside.
• Remove the pork from the oven. Take off the crackling and break it into strips. Transfer the pork to a warm serving dish and cover it with foil. If the crackling isn't crisp enough, put it back in the oven in a smaller tin while the meat rests.
• Strain off the contents of the roasting tin, including most of the fat, and reserve. Discard the onion or add it to the resting pork. Set the roasting tin over a medium heat and sprinkle over the flour. Stir vigorously until the flour has picked up any sticky bits from the base of the tin. Pour in the cider and stir until you have a thick paste. Gradually add the stock and continue to stir until you have a gravy. Pour into a small saucepan - the base of the roasting tin should be clean.
• Bring the gravy to the boil and check the seasoning. Add in any strained meat juices reserved from the roasting tin and the resting pork. Serve the pork cut into thick slices, with the crackling, gravy and apple sauce.