I'm a pork roasting virgin, please give me your best tips!

[OhFuck]

DP loves pork, I am ambivalent about it. As a treat for him I got a piece of pork for dinner but now I haven't a feckin' clue what to do with it. I didn't think to ask the butcher how to cook the damn thing!

I have to collect DS at 5, but otherwise I have the whole day to worry about it. Where do I start?!

I do mine in the slow cooker, rub it over with sage, salt and pepper and dump it in with chopped onions, apple and a splash of apple juice. You could do the same thing in the oven turned down low. Just leave it til it is falling apart, absolutely delicious.

I then use the leftovers to make pork burritos, or have it hot in baguettes with fried onions.

What joint have you bought, and are you looking for crackling or not?

OK, so the crackling thing, that looks kind of difficult - I'm thinking I'm asking for trouble if i try that too, yes?

Erm, it looks like I would expect a beef rolled roast to look like. And if I was to make crackling there's no way in hell I'd be eating any of it [bleurgh]

at thread title.

I am Poledra, and I need to Grow Up.

Crackling's not that hard - just make sure the joint is dry before you put it in the oven (use kitchen paper).

What sort of joint do you have?

For good crackling, my advice is to roast for about 20 mins in a really hot oven (220 degrees or hotter), then turn down to about 190 for the remaining cooking time. About half an hour before removing joint, squeeze some honey over the crackling. Rest the pork for about 10 minutes before serving.

I love roast pork.

Not necessarily. I have never cooked in a slow cooker, so I don't know how you do crackiling that way, I would have thought it would be too moist. If cooking (open) in the conventional oven, it is a doddle. Shoulder is better than leg for crackling, but leg is possible too.

Make sure that the skin is deeply scored at around 1cm intervals. Rub olive oil in to the grooves, massaging it in with your fingers and then rub in salt.

If it is leg, I would remove the skin about 20 minutes before the cooking time is up and then put it back in the oven after you have taken the joint out to rest. Turn the heat up and allow it to frizzle a bit.

I mean put the crackling bit back in the oven, not the meat!

imo the key to good roast pork is long slow cooking, to get crackling you cut if off at the end of the cooking time and blast it in a v. hot oven while the rest of the joint is resting.
other tips for good crackling: no fat near it, has to be dry and liberally covered with salt before going into the oven

OK, so I don't even know what bit I've got. It's boneless I think. I have put a picture on my profile if that helps ...

I usually get Google to take care of this stuff but I'm at a loss this time around. I'm loathe to call the butcher and ask him what I bought

Ah OK so I can just cook the bugger and then see how brave I'm feeling near the end if I want to do crackling? My oven's not the best, might not get hot enough.

I could pot roast it I suppose, like you'd do brisket. As long as it's cooked, right? I assume like other meats you can cook it early on and then leave it to rest for a while?

That looks huge!

Its not belly, I know that much. If you want crackling, do as Rindercella says, start off full blast for 20 mins or so. Make the scores in the fat really deep ( a Stanley knife is good for this ) and rub in sea salt.

I'd do an apple sauce alongside. Yum.

OK, I'm going to go for it.

FFS it's ridiculous, I'm a grown woman with a responsible job and a child to look after, why am I scared of a bit of meat . If it came in a packet market "beef" I'd not think twice!

Thanks for all the tips, if I remember I will report back later

Just seen the picture. It looks like leg. This means that the removal and heat blast method will give you the best crackling IMHO.

Done, cracklingy bit back in the oven now.

I'll be honest, it smells and tastes bloody lovely!

I've never liked roast pork, it makes me think of slimy school dinners and icky lumps of white fat. But this is divine.

Apple sauce, spuds and veg and I'm there. And the chocolate cake for pudding is almost cooked too [domestic goddess]