Calling all you cooks...

[swee'pea99]

I know there's some keen cooks hereabouts, so I wondered if anyone had any advice on a slow roast pork joint.

Usually I cook it as per Jamie's method - basically, 20 mins hot followed by about seven hours on low - which is fine because we generally have our Sunday roast in the evening. But this week it's going to be lunch...which I've suddenly realised will have me needing to get up at 6 in the morning - not my idea of a perfect start to Sunday. So - can I do, say, four hours the evening before, then just leave it to calm down overnight, then stick it on again for another three hours in the morning?

Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[Scoosh]

err ... try over here ?

 

[TeeQue]

I cook pork shoulder a similar way.

Not much help but I just get up about 8, stick it in the oven on high for twenty minutes ish, turn it down then go back to bed. Should be done by half twelve or one.

As far as I know the first bit on high is just to help the crackling 'crackle' so you could probably just put it on low to start with then take the skin off when it's done and whack it under the grill that way you only have to get up, turn the oven on and get back to bed.

 

[theclaud]

What TeeQue said. There's pretty much no joint that will fit in a domestic oven that won't be meltingly tender well inside of four hours. Get up and put the oven on hot at 8. Joint in 8:10, turn down at 8.40. Remove from oven at 12:30. Eat at 1.30.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

...which I've suddenly realised will have me needing to get up at 6 in the morning - not my idea of a perfect start to Sunday...

Have a word with my 6 year-old would you, he doesn't differentiate between days, every day is an up at 6 like a Tasmanian devil day.

 

[brodiej]

What TeeQue said. There's pretty much no joint that will fit in a domestic oven that won't be meltingly tender well inside of four hours. Get up and put the oven on hot at 8. Joint in 8:10, turn down at 8.40. Remove from oven at 12:30. Eat at 1.30.

I agree with TC and TQ - just to add I would have thought it a positively bad idea to cook it for a while and let it cool then reheat it next day.

At these low temps I would worry about infections.

If you really have to do it all the night before it would be better to leave it in the low oven overnight and until you serve it - I'm sure Jamie's 7 hours on low just equates to "a long time" and longer won't be a problem (although it may dry out a bit)

 

[slowwww]

I know that I've gone on record in this forum before as a Sous-Vide bore, but buy one of these and you can stick the roast in for up to 2-3 days in advance. With some complemetary flavours in there too, boy does it come out tasty and you wont have experienced a roast as tender before.

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks folks. I will try the cooking forum as well...thought I'd ask here first 'cos I know there's cooks about and this forum's still way busier than t'others.

As for the shorter time....I have to say, Jamie's seven hours do seem to make a difference. I used to do 3-4, but as he says, if you give it seven, you don't actually need a knife: you can literally pull the meat apart with a couple of forks - yum!

 

[swee'pea99]

That Sous-Vide sounds really interesting...I've just been reading up about it on Wikipedia. I'd never heard of it. I shall have to give that a go. Can you do it without buying an expensive appliance?

 

[swee'pea99]

[QUOTE 3019031, member: 259"]Depends what you call expensive - I was looking at them in Lakeland at the weekend. They do one for £250.[/QUOTE]
Blimey! You can get a bike for that!

 

[BAtoo]

I know there's some keen cooks hereabouts, so I wondered if anyone had any advice on a slow roast pork joint.

Usually I cook it as per Jamie's method - basically, 20 mins hot followed by about seven hours on low - which is fine because we generally have our Sunday roast in the evening. But this week it's going to be lunch...which I've suddenly realised will have me needing to get up at 6 in the morning - not my idea of a perfect start to Sunday. So - can I do, say, four hours the evening before, then just leave it to calm down overnight, then stick it on again for another three hours in the morning?

Any thoughts? Thanks.

Don't do anything the day before it wont help you.
Set your oven timer so it's on full whack for 8am then you've saved half hour warm-up time; then just dry the skin of the joint (belly or shoulder - NOT leg or loin), rub with salt & maybe some pepper & garlic, and into the oven skin side up. If there's not a decent amount of fat on the joint drizzle with oil. Then down to lower temperature (160'C) for the morning.
Out of the oven and cover with foil and a tea-towel for 30 minutes before serving.

As they say - enjoy!

 

[TeeQue]

Something I've tried recently is fennel seeds on the skin, just smash them up in a pestle and mortar then rub them into the scored skin with sea salt, bloody lovely.

 

[ASC1951]

I don't get this sea salt business. Ordinary table salt is half a billion years older so it isn't full of excrement, heavy metals and marine diesel.

 

[theclaud]

I don't get this sea salt business. Ordinary table salt is half a billion years older so it isn't full of excrement, heavy metals and marine diesel.

Ah, but does it come in cute little pyramids and claim to have a unique "salty" taste?

 

[ASC1951]

Ah, but does it come in cute little pyramids and claim to have a unique "salty" taste?

Nope, nor a white cotton bag trimmed with blue, with a drawstring - they always have drawstrings! - and a unique salty price.

TBH I haven't used any salt in cooking for 20 years. You don't really need it and most people take in far too much.