The Ultimate Family Meal – Roast Pork With Crackling
If you have ever had a delicious pork roast, there is a pretty high chance that the part that made it delicious and memorable, was the crispy and crunchy crackling! Now it isn’t the healthiest thing or something you should eat in large quantities, but it is a beautiful thing to have alongside your pork roast and your 3 veg for dinner. For me, a beautiful roast pork with crackling dinner symbolises family, togetherness and community. It is something you cook when you want to bring people together.
“Perfect Pork Crackling Every Time”
In the last 5 years, we have lived in 5 different houses, with 5 different ovens. Each time I cook a pork roast, I am always wary that a different oven will yield me different cooking results. While this is normally the case, this pork roast recipe has been a tried and tested winner, giving me perfect pork crackling every time. It has not once failed me. I am hoping it serves you well as it has served me!
How To Make Roast Pork With Crackling – Lets Get Cooking!
I have heard from a number of families that cooking a roast dinner is too expensive, which couldn’t be further from the truth! You don’t need to buy the expensive pork belly cut of meat to nail this dish. I personally buy the cheapest cut or whatever is on sale, which is normally the boneless shoulder or loin roast. These are priced anywhere between $6 to $8 per kilo, which is enough (after cooking shrinkage) to feed a hungry family of 4. When I have friends or family over, I just buy a bigger cut and follow the same simple steps. For the recipe below, I will base it off a 1kg (2.2 pounds) roast, but just follow the cooking guide if you are using a different sized cut of meat.
Kitchen Utensils
- Oven tray
- Oven
- Paper towel
- Wire Rack
Ingredients
- 2.2 Pound (1kg) Boneless Pork Shoulder
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp Salt
Method
Step 1
The morning of, or even the night before cooking, take the roast out of its package and pat dry with paper towels. Most roasts come with the skin pre-scored. If it hasn’t been scored yet, with a sharp knife cut strips in the skin about half an inch wide and 2-3 millimetres deep. Place the scored and dried pork on a tray in the fridge uncovered to continue to dry out.
Step 2
An hour before cooking the roast, take it out of the fridge and allow it to warm up to room temperature. Preheat your oven to the max temperature which should be around 500℉ (240℃). Have your oven set to grill or fan-grill mode. Boil a full jug of water.
Step 3
Place your pork on a wire rack in your kitchen sink and pour the boiling water over the scored skin. You should see the skin/fat start to shrink and the scores start to open up. Pat the skin dry so there is no moisture being absorbed by the paper towel.
Step 4
Transfer the pork to your oven tray and pour the olive oil over the skin and rub in with your hands. Sprinkle the salt over the oiled skin and rub in making sure all the skin is coated and the scores are filled.
Step 5
Put the pork in the oven on the top shelf for a max of 5 minutes. We just want to kick off the cracking process while the oven is on grill mode. Make sure the top of the roast is at least 1 inch away from the grill elements at the top of the oven (we don’t want to burn the precious crackling). After 5 minutes, change the oven to the standard fan-forced or conventional mode, keeping it at the max temperature. Cook for a further 45 minutes (regardless of the size of the roast, this initially 50 minutes will always stay the same).
Step 6
After 50 minutes on the high temperature, reduce the temperature down to 350℉ (180℃) and cook for a further 30 minutes for every 2.2 pounds (1kg). So for a 1kg pork roast, we will cook it for 5 minutes on high on grill mode, another 45 minutes on high on fan-forced or conventional mode and then another 30 minutes on the lower temperature.
Check the roast 10 minutes out, if the crackling doesn’t look puffy and crunchy, then turn the grill mode on with the same medium temperature to give the top a little more heat to crisp up.
Step 7
Take out of the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes. The crackling should easily pull away from the meat, making it a breeze to slice up the crackling and meat separately.
Recipe Tips
Suggested Side Dishes
- Serve with your 3 veg of choice. My family loves sweet potato, pumpkin and zucchini so we put them in the oven with the pork for the last 45 minutes. Just drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Gravy – you can’t have a roast without gravy! Using some of the pan juices, mix this in a frypan with a little butter, flour, pepper and salt and stir until it is thick and creamy.
- Pork Burgers – Brioche buns, coleslaw with apple, a slice of cheese, chopped up crackling, and you will have everyone begging for more!
What to do now?
- Try this recipe! It’s super affordable, amazingly easy and is a sure fire way to impress your family and dinner guests
- Check out the Suggested Side Dish Recipes above or pair it up with another family friendly recipe that will suit your family the best
- Leave us a comment on your experience with this recipe
- Last but definitely not least, subscribe for new recipes so we can share what we are winning with, in our kitchen.
Easy, family friendly, delicious – ENJOY!
