The perfect roast pork

Prepare roast pork perfectly - Tips, tricks and recipe ideas

Kategorien: Recipes Food and Drink Cooking Hobby

There are plenty of recipes for roast pork. But what does it take to make it a guaranteed success? A few basics and a few clever tips will help you to cook. No matter which recipe you choose, you will get three stars from your guests for the next roast!
© nioloxs / depositphotos

The meat for the roast pork
"Put good things in, good things come out." It begins, as always in cooking, with the selection of a quality base product. I'm sure you don't get a roast pork every day, if only because of the time involved. That's why it's always worth looking out for good quality meat. Ask for a pork roast in your butcher's shop. Tell them what you want to do with it and with a bit of luck you will not only get particularly good meat, but also the right cut for your menu:

Neck: streaked with fat for a juicy roast.
Back: little fat, results in a lean roast pork; also delicious for cold consumption
Shoulder: lean meat with crispy fat rind

The craft
How do you get the roast pork cooked and still tender and juicy? If you read recipes before you start cooking, you will find that exact information about cooking times with a hundred percent guarantee of success is hard to find. The meat quality, the size as well as the roasting vessels used and the type of oven are too different. Nevertheless, there are some basic tips to significantly increase the probability of a successful roast. The rest is then only individual, culinary leeway.

1. preparation
The roast pork is ideally rubbed with salt a few hours before roasting - ideally overnight. The water escapes, but then remains as a film on the meat, marinating it in this way. The meat should be taken out of the refrigerator at least one hour before roasting. The skin or crust should first be cut lengthwise and crosswise (cupping). Be careful not to cut into the meat!

2. the cooking time
Concrete specifications are not possible in this general way. If there is a choice: it is better to cook for longer, for example three hours at a low temperature (90 to 120 °C) rather than just one and a half to two hours at 175 °C or higher. This makes the meat more tender. The purchase of a roast thermometer (around 10 EUR) is worthwhile. You will never again have to cut a piece of meat prematurely with an uncertain feeling. With a core temperature between 65 and 70 °C, the roast pork is cooked.

3. further tips
For a crispy crust, the piece of meat the first half hour with some water and vegetables at a higher heat (a good 175 °C). Then turn it over, turn it down and don't pour roasting liquid over it again.
For a delicious sauce on the baking tray: vegetables to taste. Fat-rich small parts of the pork (pork paw, cheek or ear) are flavour enhancers for lean roast cuts.
The liquid on the tray or in the pot should always be one to one and a half centimetres high. So check it from time to time and top it up.
Let the roast rest for at least half an hour with the oven door open or outside before cutting it. Caution: the larger the roast, the longer it will cook.

Recipes and inspirations
If you search for recipes for roast pork on the Internet, you will soon discover that they are often braised. Of course you can also braise a roast pork. However, this method is most often used for beef or lamb. Pork, on the other hand, is easy to roast and rarely becomes tough. Roasting means first frying at a higher temperature and then slowly cooking open at a low temperature.

Classic, German roast pork: a neck or back piece; for several people also both (for a particularly good sauce stock); seasoning with salt, pepper, garlic, mustard and marjoram
© studioM / depositphotos

Bavarian roast pork: Choose piece of meat with rind (leg or belly), use dark beer for the roast liquid

Fruit roast pork: cut a pocket into a piece of pork belly; stuffing made of fruit and/or dates; season with cloves, star anise and cinnamon

Roll roast: home-made from a neck, best cut by the butcher; classic stuffing with onions and minced meat or Mediterranean with pesto and Parmesan cheese