Which cut of pork for roasting

The Lovely Muffin

Hi,

I want to cook some roast pork this week and am looking for recommendations on what cut would be nice.

I don't want chops or ribs, I've had pork belly before and would like to try something different.

I don't want anything that's hugely expensive, in fact, the cheaper the better!

Would appreciate any help.

mitosis

The Lovely Muffin wrote: »

Hi,

I want to cook some roast pork this week and am looking for recommendations on what cut would be nice.

I don't want chops or ribs, I've had pork belly before and would like to try something different.

I don't want anything that's hugely expensive, in fact, the cheaper the better!

Would appreciate any help.

Can't have it both ways, sadly. Leg, every time.

The Lovely Muffin

Thanks for your reply.

I also forgot to mention that only two of us will be eating it.

ASJ112

Ham hocks are delicious and cheap, can usually get them for around 2 euros each. One would easily feed a person. They have a nice bit of fat/skin

Markcheese

Yep ham hocks are great BUT I wouldn't try roasting one....ham is ham, pork is .... Well pork ....
If you can get really good pork( free range, organic, or even just a small producer) then do .... You'll really taste the difference ... But a small leg joint ( ie a piece not a full leg) should do you both and leave some for sambos later...mmmmm pork and apple sambos.

The Lovely Muffin

Thanks so much for the replies guys, am not after ham/bacon really.

How much roughly is pork tenderloin? The bf said it is lovely stuffed.

Just looking at this and the leg of pork is €45 :eek: http://www.jameswhelanbutchers.com/proddetail.php?prod=6437

Tbh I've only ever cooked pork chops and pork belly, sausages, never any other cuts of pork so I am clueless as to how much pork usually costs.

greengold9999

Although it is too much for two people, if you in the future have a bigger group then a shoulder of pork is hard to beat - €10 in butcher near me at work and will feed 6 easy - takes a long time to cook though

Markcheese

A whole leg would be massive, just get a cut off a leg ... Make sure there's a bit of skin on it for the crackling...
Pork steak or tenderloin is the pork equivalent of fillet steak , nice but I wouldn't roast it plain .... Maybe stuffed, or wrapped in pastry...

Merkin

Go to a decent butcher and tell him that you only want enough for a dinner for the two of you and maybe sambos afterwards. Get him to cut a small leg joint for you (preferably organic - there shouldn't be any added water) or from a small local reputable supplier. Make sure to get a joint with the crackling on it and ask him to score it for you as it's difficult to score. Then massage it well in lots of oil for a few minutes and cover generously in sea salt....absolutely delish.

The Lovely Muffin

Thanks everyone for the replies, much appreciated. I was in the butchers today and have to go back in tomorrow as they only do pork leg on special order so I need to see the guy who deals with all that.

Markcheese wrote: »

A whole leg would be massive, just get a cut off a leg ... Make sure there's a bit of skin on it for the crackling...
Pork steak or tenderloin is the pork equivalent of fillet steak , nice but I wouldn't roast it plain .... Maybe stuffed, or wrapped in pastry...

I actually picked up some pork steak for a fiver today, was going to roast it plain, as I'm not a fan of stuffed meats (unless it's roast chicken), might just rub it in olive oil, sea salt and black pepper, hopefully it'll come out nice.

Guill

Hi Op, where are you located?

Best thing to do is find a good butcher, one who wont mind answering these types of questions.

Have you tried a shoulder of pork? If you ask a butcher he will cut it 'enough for two people'. Slow roast it with just salt and freshl cracked pepper, delicious.

annieoburns

I often do a pork steak for two. Sometimes I pan -fry having cut meat into medallions (thin slices and battered thinner) and add in cream/mustard/honey/scallions/mushrooms. Othertimes I marinade with Balsamic vinegar/olive oil/garlic and roast whole having made a few cuts to allow sauce to be taken up. I also roast with a coating of breadcrumbs/onions/herbs (maybe bit of apple if to hand or even a layer of apple sauce under crumb topping) having fried off onions first. It is same as a stuffing recipe and can use that way but coating on outside keeps it moist. I like to serve with apple sauce, Colmans from jar is fine.

Melendez

This post has been deleted.

Merkin

The Lovely Muffin wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the replies, much appreciated. I was in the butchers today and have to go back in tomorrow as they only do pork leg on special order so I need to see the guy who deals with all that.

I actually picked up some pork steak for a fiver today, was going to roast it plain, as I'm not a fan of stuffed meats (unless it's roast chicken), might just rub it in olive oil, sea salt and black pepper, hopefully it'll come out nice.

Loin of pork is absolutely lovely and a nice juicy cut. In addition to your oil and seasoning rubbing some mustard on it works a treat, really enhances the flavour! I normally use Coleman's hot English mustard but Dijon is milder and just as tasty. I normally serve with roasted potatoes, roasted ren onions and roasted carrots - (all roasted together with thyme from the garden and oil/sea salt/black pepper). You've made me hungry now, going to order some pork during the week!

all_smilz

I know you said you werent a fan of stuffed meat but I recently got a stuffed fillet of pork stuffed with a giant sausage, black pudding and wrapped in bacon-8 euro! divine! Fair old eating in it!

The Lovely Muffin

Guill wrote: »

Hi Op, where are you located?

Best thing to do is find a good butcher, one who wont mind answering these types of questions.

Have you tried a shoulder of pork? If you ask a butcher he will cut it 'enough for two people'. Slow roast it with just salt and freshl cracked pepper, delicious.

I am in Mullingar, normally go to Tormeys Butchers in town.

Merkin wrote: »

Loin of pork is absolutely lovely and a nice juicy cut. In addition to your oil and seasoning rubbing some mustard on it works a treat, really enhances the flavour! I normally use Coleman's hot English mustard but Dijon is milder and just as tasty. I normally serve with roasted potatoes, roasted ren onions and roasted carrots - (all roasted together with thyme from the garden and oil/sea salt/black pepper). You've made me hungry now, going to order some pork during the week!

This sound scrumptious.

I actually just roasted it plain in the end and it was a slight bit over cooked, will try it again and try your suggestion.

all_smilz wrote: »

I know you said you werent a fan of stuffed meat but I recently got a stuffed fillet of pork stuffed with a giant sausage, black pudding and wrapped in bacon-8 euro! divine! Fair old eating in it!

This sounds fab, when I said I'm not a fan of stuffed meat, I meant herb/bread stuffing, any stuffed meats I've tasted that have had herb stuffing I've never liked, I just don't like herbed stuffing really.

I must ask my butcher if they have the fillet of pork stuffed with the sausage and pudding.

Quick question with regards to cooking pork - how do you know that it's fully cooked, without over cooking it?

the beer revolu

The Lovely Muffin wrote: »

Quick question with regards to cooking pork - how do you know that it's fully cooked, without over cooking it?

Pork is tricky because it is very unforgiving (at least the leaner cuts-fillet/steak, loin or leg) when over cooked and it is so drilled into us to cook pork well done.

The best thing to do is to weigh it and accurately apply cooking times - google pork roasting times or any cook book should have a chart. These will all vary slightly as the temp you cook at will change the duration and different writers will have different opinions on how well done pork should be.

General consensus is that pork needs to be cooked through - that is no rareness in the meat (I like a touch of pink but I don't recommend that unless you really know and trust your pork source) but that doesn't mean you should cook it through and then a some more just to be sure.

Apply your times let the pork rest and carve it - if it is too pink you can put the carved pork on a plate, pour over some juice, cover it in foil and put it back into a warm oven for 10 minutes or so.

Over cooked pork is awful and dry.
Undercooked pork is potentially dangerous.
Experience is the best thing - so trial and error.

Or make it easy and get cuts suitable for slow roasting - hock, shoulder, belly - hard to go wrong with slow roasting!

The Lovely Muffin

the beer revolu wrote: »

Pork is tricky because it is very unforgiving (at least the leaner cuts-fillet/steak, loin or leg) when over cooked and it is so drilled into us to cook pork well done.

The best thing to do is to weigh it and accurately apply cooking times - google pork roasting times or any cook book should have a chart. These will all vary slightly as the temp you cook at will change the duration and different writers will have different opinions on how well done pork should be.

General consensus is that pork needs to be cooked through - that is no rareness in the meat (I like a touch of pink but I don't recommend that unless you really know and trust your pork source) but that doesn't mean you should cook it through and then a some more just to be sure.

Apply your times let the pork rest and carve it - if it is too pink you can put the carved pork on a plate, pour over some juice, cover it in foil and put it back into a warm oven for 10 minutes or so.

Over cooked pork is awful and dry.
Undercooked pork is potentially dangerous.
Experience is the best thing - so trial and error.

Or make it easy and get cuts suitable for slow roasting - hock, shoulder, belly - hard to go wrong with slow roasting!

Thanks so much, all my life I have been told to cook meat fully and I suppose it is why I like all my meats well done, although I've tried medium/rare and just couldn't stomach them.

Last night pork was fully cooked, just a little over done. It was a wee bit dry on the outside, but lovely on the inside, although there were no juices.

I looked up a few websites and one website said to cook the pork steak for 25-30mins at 150 degree's, I checked it at 25mins and it wasn't cooked, still half raw, so I had to turn the oven up to 180 degrees and for the last five minutes I took the tin foil off and tried to crisp it up on the outside, but rather than crisping it up, it was just dry, even the juices in the pyrex dish were dried up.

I guess it is as you say, trial and error, though I never say no to cooking tips :P

the beer revolu

The Lovely Muffin wrote: »

Thanks so much, all my life I have been told to cook meat fully and I suppose it is why I like all my meats well done, although I've tried medium/rare and just couldn't stomach them.

Last night pork was fully cooked, just a little over done. It was a wee bit dry on the outside, but lovely on the inside, although there were no juices.

I looked up a few websites and one website said to cook the pork steak for 25-30mins at 150 degree's, I checked it at 25mins and it wasn't cooked, still half raw, so I had to turn the oven up to 180 degrees and for the last five minutes I took the tin foil off and tried to crisp it up on the outside, but rather than crisping it up, it was just dry, even the juices in the pyrex dish were dried up.

I guess it is as you say, trial and error, though I never say no to cooking tips :P

Well, a pork steak had no skin or fat on it so will dry out very quickly and the outside won't really crisp up as such - that is why it is often wrapped in bacon. 25 minutes at 150 seems a bit low for a pork steak alright.
What I might do with that is brown it well in a pan then put in in the oven for 25 minutes at 150 - that way it should be nicely coloured on the outside and can finish cooking gently in the lowish oven.

Pork steak would roast quite differently to other cuts of pork because of its small diameter.
Try getting a small leg joint and roasting that.
Hugh F-W says to roast @ 220 for 15 minutes, then 160 for 25 minutes per 500g.
I think 160 is a bit low - I'd go at 170-180 and maybe knock a few minutes off. Every oven is different.

The Lovely Muffin

the beer revolu wrote: »

Well, a pork steak had no skin or fat on it so will dry out very quickly and the outside won't really crisp up as such - that is why it is often wrapped in bacon. 25 minutes at 150 seems a bit low for a pork steak alright.
What I might do with that is brown it well in a pan then put in in the oven for 25 minutes at 150 - that way it should be nicely coloured on the outside and can finish cooking gently in the lowish oven.

Pork steak would roast quite differently to other cuts of pork because of its small diameter.
Try getting a small leg joint and roasting that.
Hugh F-W says to roast @ 220 for 15 minutes, then 160 for 25 minutes per 500g.
I think 160 is a bit low - I'd go at 170-180 and maybe knock a few minutes off. Every oven is different.

Thanks so much, I will try your suggestion.

Markcheese

+1 on beers suggestions , for roasting a nice covering of fat on the top of the joint keeps the meat moist during roasting ....

The Lovely Muffin

Hi all,

I was in with the butcher today about the pork leg and he said the one they have is a bit bigger than the full hams you get a Christmas, he said even if he cut it into four smaller pieces there would still be too much meat on the smaller pieces for two people, he reckoned it'd feed maybe 4-5 people.

He recommend pork loin which is apparently the same as pork chops, has anyone tried this roasted? What was it like? What's the shoulder of pork like?

BailMeOut

Roasting a "rack of pork" is lovely and looks great. I always however recommend brining first which is such a simple way to guarantee really moist meat. Just google "pork brine", the web is full of instructions!

Markcheese

He's right a piece of loin is what they cut the chops off , if it's good pork it'll make a nice roast, especially if they leave it on the bone... But it won't be a patch on a leg piece with a layer of fat and skin for crackling... Try asking in a different butchers shop ....

MissFlitworth

The Lovely Muffin wrote: »

What's the shoulder of pork like?

Delicious. It has to be slow roasted* but results in melty chunks of pork & caramelised fat. If I buy a pork shoulder (between 2 of us) we divide it up & get 2 - 3 meals out of it. 2 if we want a piggishly huge meal of carnitas complete with meat sweats & left overs to keep going back to & picking at all night or 3 meals if we're not being disgusting. There's a killer recipe for pulled pork in the Cooking Club using pork shoulder.

*I stand to be corrected on the 'has to be' slow roasted bit, it could be perfectly delicious cooked in other ways but have only ever come across it in slow cooked dishes

Dizzyblonde

I bought a piece of pork neck a couple of weeks ago and was amazed at how tender and flavoursome (and cheap) it was. It too needs to be slow roasted. I used it for pulled pork but you could just roast it slowly. The cheaper and fattier cuts of meat are delicious cooked slowly.

The Lovely Muffin

MissFlitworth wrote: »

Delicious. It has to be slow roasted* but results in melty chunks of pork & caramelised fat. If I buy a pork shoulder (between 2 of us) we divide it up & get 2 - 3 meals out of it. 2 if we want a piggishly huge meal of carnitas complete with meat sweats & left overs to keep going back to & picking at all night or 3 meals if we're not being disgusting. There's a killer recipe for pulled pork in the Cooking Club using pork shoulder.

*I stand to be corrected on the 'has to be' slow roasted bit, it could be perfectly delicious cooked in other ways but have only ever come across it in slow cooked dishes

I might try pork shoulder so.

Is this the recipe? http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056106123

I am hoping to try it soon, just have to get a few more ingredients for it first.

MissFlitworth

The Lovely Muffin wrote: »

I might try pork shoulder so.

Is this the recipe? http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056106123

I am hoping to try it soon, just have to get a few more ingredients for it first.

Yes, that's the one. I do something similar to this Jamie Oliver Recipe as well at times if I want a roast-dinner style roast pork shoulder
(the only thing is if you use a whole pork shoulder for the recipe below you'll be eating pork for a week, pork shoulders I get tend to come in at 1.8 - 2.2 kg each and cost 11-14 euro depending on where I buy them)


http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pork-recipes/bone-in-shoulder-roast

Chewabacca

Heres a really simple and cheap option that I think is gorgeous and would feed two and, as said before, will leave enough for a few sambos.

Buy a pork steak and some prosciutto (can get prosciutto for something like 1.50 in aldi). Make a basic stuffing of breadcrumbs, butter and some sage or thyme. Then, to make it interesting, stir some pesto through it or if you're a meat lover crumble some black pudding through it. Season the stuffing well as the meat isn't very salty. Cut it open until its flat (youtube is your friend here) and put the stuffing on. Then lay the ham slices on cling film,put the meat over it and roll it with the cling film to its original shape. fold over the sides and wrap in a few layers of foil.

Put it in the oven at 180 for 30 minutes. NO the tinfoil will melt and YES this is enough time to cook it through as long as its left to rest in the foil for 10 minutes after. Pork meat is perfectly fine if slightly blushing and rosé.

Very good with veg and gravy.

brinty

Got to say a shoulder slow roasted over night or all day, at a minmum of 12 hours cooking on a very low heat is unbelivable.

I got one in my butcher just before Valentines this year, my wife and i ended up getting 10 dinners out off it, and our dog enjoyed some too.

Its a huge joint but absolutely worth getting and cooking well. Get it scored in your butchers if possible, their knives are sharper and better for scoring than domestic knives, and you'll get great and plentiful crackling. To get good/ great crackling!! I recommend bang it in a preheated oven at full heat gas mark 9 or whatever and roast for half an hour, then leave at GM 1 for 1/2 hours...then turn off for a few hours/overnight.. then repeat the above but increase time at GM 1 to 6/8 hours

I got another recently and tried it Donnie Brasco style (check Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's "Meat" for recipe) it wasn't as nice, crackling wasn't as good but all in all better than most other roasts i've had

Have a party coming up and am thinking of getting two shoulders and doing barbeque pulled pork sandwiches like you'd see on Man vs Food, whenever he visists BBQ places!!

Yumm Yumm

moorele

This recipe is delicious. Really full of flavour. Pork tenderloin is really tender too.

Pork Tenderloin with Jack Daniels BBQ Glaze
1/4 cup Jack Daniels
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (you can grate in some fresh garlic if you dont have powder)

1. Place all the above ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Then let simmer until the sauce reduces down to a thick syrupy consistency.

2. Place the pork tenderloin in a ovenproof dish and pour over the jack daniels bbq glaze. Roast in the oven at 200C for about 45 mins or until pork cooked through.

We usually pour the excess sauce into a gravy boat & serve on the table so you can add more/pour over your spuds etc.

It really is delicious and its very simple to make. Worth a try!