Supermarket Pork Shoulder Experiment

[calibrax]

Decided to test a little theory. We always say that to get good crackling, you should use quality meat.

Well, I want to test that, and see if it's possible to cook a roast pork joint, with good crackling, when using very cheap pork which came vacuum packed from a supermarket.

So, I bought a 2kg pork shoulder from Asda - the price was £5.99 (just £2.99 per kilogram, VERY cheap!)

I unwrapped it, scored the rind well with a freshly sharpened knife, and rubbed salt over it and into the cuts. Then left it for 20 mins uncovered in the fridge, then wiped off the drawn out moisture and excess salt with some kitchen roll.

Then put it uncovered into a preheated fan oven set at 240c. It's in there now. Here are the pics of each side of the joint from just before it went into the oven. Updates to follow!

[Neilsfirst]

You need to leave out for a lot longer. Mine was out for 3 hours beforehand and is also in the oven now. Are you going to judge on taste or just how crisp it is?

[Moominho]

I'm starving now!

[calibrax]

30 minutes later... turned the heat down to 180c until the joint is fully cooked. Will turn up at the end if needed, but from the looks of it, so far so good!

[Shaw Tarse]

calibrax said:

30 minutes later... turned the heat down to 180c until the joint is fully cooked. Will turn up at the end if needed, but from the looks of it, so far so good!

Looks OK,can you spare a couple of slices? (& some crackling?)
I'd like stuffing too

[calibrax]

Neilsfirst said:

You need to leave out for a lot longer. Mine was out for 3 hours beforehand and is also in the oven now. Are you going to judge on taste or just how crisp it is?

Crunch is most of it... it should be crisp, but not so hard that it breaks your teeth, and certainly not soft or chewy. The flavour should be melt-in-the-mouth and not too salty. I usually use farm shop pork, and I am expecting more shrinkage, due to higher water content. But then, it is less than 50% of the cost of farm shop pork joints!

[Neilsfirst]

Shrinkage is massive unfortunately but that's the sacrifice for the price. Enjoy your meal. Mine is 20 mins away......

[Pferdestarke]

The oven dries the crackling out more than the fridge ever will.

Once you turn it up near the end of cooking it'll bubble just how you want it to. Before doing this pour a pint of water in the base to stop the fat exceeding smoking point. The extra moisture from the steam won't prevent the skin bubbling if the heat is high enough.

Edited by Pferdestarke on Sunday 20th October 19:25

[Davey S2]

Anyone do the Michelle Roux trick of pouring boiling water over the skin before cooking?

Supposedly what the Chinese do to get really good crispy duck.

[Pferdestarke]

Yes. Causes it to tighten or shrink. I do this before salting a refigerating.

[calibrax]

Ok, here it is... the finished article. Crackling was definitely good, but not as good as when I use farm shop pork. But the price differential is such that it's a perfectly acceptable option when saving the pennies. The meat itself is the same story, the supermarket stuff is not as flavoursome, but for the price it's really not bad at all.

[Luca Brazzi]

Pferdestarke said:

Before doing this pour a pint of water in the base to stop the fat exceeding smoking point.

Hopefully not a daft question......cold, warm, or boiling water?
:-)

[Pferdestarke]

Any. A pint of cold water over such a surface area in high heat would soon hit boiling point anyway.

[Luca Brazzi]

Pferdestarke said:

Any. A pint of cold water over such a surface area in high heat would soon hit boiling point anyway.

Great stuff. Big thanks for that. Slowly approaching (in my tiny world) roast pork heaven :-). This has helped immensely.