8 Juicy Pork Roast Recipes for a Show-Stopping Main Course (2024)

FAQs

What is the most flavorful pork roast? ›

Shoulder (spare rib)

Most often the bone is removed, then the meat is rolled and tied to a neater joint. It has a really excellent flavour, as meat from nearer the head of the pig is always more succulent, with a little more fat to keep it moist.

Brining pork chops is one of the best ways way to guarantee a juicy cooked pork chop. Even a quick 30-minute brine (or up to four hours) makes a big difference. It's not strictly necessary — you can still use this method to make great pork chops even without brining — but if you have some extra time, I recommend it.

You can slow cook it in a slow cooker or oven at a low temperature for several hours until it's fully cooked and tender. This will help break down the tough connective tissues and collagen in the meat, resulting in a succulent and tender pork belly.

Brine the pork to maintain moisture by soaking it in a mixture of salt and water, baking soda, vinegar or even milk. You can also pour hot water over the loin to shrink the rind, which can enable better absorption of brine, milk, oil or marinade.

Once you have scored the skin (or taken the already-scored roast from the packaging) place your roast skin side up on a rack in the sink. Pour a cup or more of boiling water over the skin. This will shrink the rind, allowing the incisions to open and enabling the heat, salt, and oil to penetrate deeper.

A brine is essentially just salt and water. It helps prevent moisture loss during cooking, and the salt also helps tenderize the meat from the inside out. If you want an extra juicy piece of pork, brine it before cooking. You can make an effective brine just with salt and water, but additional seasonings do help.

Low and slow is always the go for a tender pork roast. Depending on the size of the roast and the type of slow cooker, a pork roast is best cooked on LOW for 6-8 hours. If you prefer an oven method, a typical roast will take 3-4 hours in a low (160°C) oven.

One of them is to marinate the meat first, a technique that tenderizes and adds flavour. Ingredients that can help tenderize meat are those with some acidity, such as vinegar, wine, citrus juice and soy sauce, and those with natural enzymes, such as onion or ginger.

Should you cover a pork roast in the oven? ›

Tenting can be suitable for some cuts of meat, but if you want a crunchy crust on your roast, then it's best to leave it uncovered. If you notice that the roasted pork is browning too much, you can lightly cover it with aluminum foil. However, do not cover it for the last 5-10 minutes in the oven.

However, frying, grilling, roasting, or other “dry” cooking method, over an extended length of time, will cook out essential moisture and leave the meat dry and tough. Does pulled pork get more tender the longer you cook it? The short answer is no.

Tenting can be suitable for some cuts of meat, but if you want a crunchy crust on your roast, then it's best to leave it uncovered. If you notice that the roasted pork is browning too much, you can lightly cover it with aluminum foil. However, do not cover it for the last 5-10 minutes in the oven.

Drying out

Meat juices inside can not react when we cook cold meat. We need room temperature for a juicy and tender steak. If you want to cook a tasty, delicious pork tenderloin in your oven, keeping all the flavors, you need to take it out of the refrigerator one hour before.

Viewed as one of the fattiest pork cuts, rib chops are very common in restaurant kitchens because of their robust flavor and extreme tenderness—best prepared seared or grilled. You can also quickly identify a rib chop, because of the large bone that lines the side of this cut.

PORK LOIN ROAST

The loin roast is a larger cut of the loin than the tenderloin. With a bone-in roast, it's juicier and more flavorful, but cooking time will be longer. Whether bone-in or boneless, loin roasts are wonderful when brined, or rubbed with spices and then cooked over indirect heat (low and slow heat).

If you're looking for the best pork in the world, then you need to try Ibérico pork. Ibérico pigs are native to Spain, and they are known for their high-quality meat. Ibérico pigs are fed a diet of acorns, which gives their meat a unique flavor that is unlike any other pork in the world.

Pork loin holds its own when seasonings are kept simple and is the most tender of the two in its natural state. The shoulder, on the other hand has a bolder flavor and can stand up to richer, bolder sauces. Once cooked, the shoulder is luxuriously rich and tender. Pork loin is lean with very little marbling.