Roast Pork with Crackling British Style
Crispy roasted pork loin is served with homemade onion and cider gravy. The salt helps the fat crisp into wonderful crackling. Serve this with mashed potatoes and vegetables.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Roasting
- Cuisine: British
Ingredients
Scale
- 5 lbs (2¼ kg) pork loin with bottom bone removed and top bone left in
- 1 peeled, halved white onion
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 10 fl oz (275 ml) vegetable stock
- 10 fl oz (275 ml) dry apple cider
- Coarse salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F (240 degrees C).
- Score some thin strips in the pork skin, even if it is already scored, cutting lines with a sharp knife.
- Cut no further than about halfway through the fat under the skin.
- Put the pork in a baking pan skin side up.
- Wedge the onion halves partly underneath it.
- Sprinkle a tablespoon of coarse salt over the skin, pressing it in.
- Roast the pork for 25 minutes on the highest rack in the oven.
- Now turn the heat down to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Cook the pork for 35 minutes per pound (450g) minus the 25 minutes it has already had. This should work out another 2½ hours if your pork is exactly 5 lbs (2¼ kg).
- Insert a skewer into the thickest part of the meat to check there is no pink in there and the juices run clear.
- Remove the pork from the oven and put it on a platter.
- Cover the platter with foil and let the pork rest for 30 minutes.
- Spoon out and discard the fat from the baking dish, leaving the onion and meat juices in there.
- Put the dish over a direct low heat and sprinkle in the flour.
- Stir it using a wooden spoon. Turn the heat up a bit and add the stock and cider.
- Mix it using a balloon whisk.
- Once it reaches a simmer, the gravy should be rich and smooth.
- Grind in some salt and pepper to taste.
- Discard the pieces of onion.
- Serve the pork in slices with the gravy.
Notes
- You can use hard (alcoholic) cider or, if you prefer, apple juice or another non-alcoholic version.
- Roast pork is juicy and succulent. Adding plenty of coarse salt into the fat on top helps it crisp up and turn into the amazing ‘crackling’ which, according to some, is the best part of the meal.
- Serve this flavorful pork with mashed potatoes and vegetables, along with homemade gravy.
- Add some applesauce too.
- This is a great meal to prepare on a Sunday afternoon so the whole family can sit down together and enjoy this wonderful dinner.
- Unless your family is huge, you will have some pork left over. Why not enjoy it in a sandwich the following day?
Keywords: roast pork with crackling, roasted pork with crackling, british roast pork recipe, how to roast pork loin