Hairy Bikers roast pork is a rolled joint cooked on onions and thyme, then served with its crackling, Bramley apple sauce and cider gravy. And as written in British Classics it serves 6, while a 1.5kg joint takes about 2 hours at 630 calories a portion, by my sums.
Hairy Bikers count pork among “the big four roasts”, then add that “none of the others have the joy that is crackling!” And the timing is one simple rule, with no slow stage: 30 minutes per 500g at 220°C/Fan 200°C from start to finish.
Scoring matters most, because each cut has to go right through the skin into the fat below, as the recipe stresses. And as I understand it, that lets the salt and heat reach the fat, which is what blisters the rind into crackling.
Hairy Bikers Roast Pork with Crackling Recipe
Description
Star anise, thyme and thick onion slices sit under the joint as it roasts hot, so the tin is ready for a cider gravy. Meanwhile, a buttery Bramley sauce cooks gently on the hob alongside.
Ingredients
For the pork
For the apple sauce
For the gravy
Instructions
- Heat and score: Heat the oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C/Gas 7. Then check the skin is scored right through to the fat below, and if it isn’t, score it with a clean DIY or craft knife.
- Dry and season: Pat the skin dry, then rub it with the oil and sprinkle it with salt. Then spread the onions, thyme and star anise, if using, in a large roasting tin and sit the pork on top.
- Roast: Roast for 30 minutes per 500g, so 1½ hours for 1.5kg or 2 hours for 2kg. Then check the crackling is blistered, crisp and brown, and push a probe thermometer into the centre.
- Check it’s cooked through: In the recipe, the juices should run clear or the centre should read 63°C. But since rolling puts the outside surface in the middle, I’d follow the Food Standards Agency and hold the centre at 70°C for 2 minutes. So if it isn’t there yet, give it 10 to 15 minutes more, with loose foil over any crackling that’s already dark.
- Make the apple sauce: While the pork roasts, put the apples in a pan with the cider or water, half the sugar and the butter. Then cover and cook over a low heat until they collapse into a thick purée. After that, whisk it well, add more of the sugar if it needs it, and spoon it into a dish to set aside.
- Rest the pork: Snip off the string, lift off the crackling and break it into strips. Then cover the pork with foil on a warm dish and leave it to rest, about 15 minutes by my timing. And if the crackling isn’t crisp enough, put it back in the oven in a smaller tin while you make the gravy.
- Start the gravy: Pour the contents of the tin through a sieve into a jug, leaving a little fat behind, and keep those juices. Then discard the onion or tuck it in with the resting pork, before setting the tin over a medium heat. And sprinkle in the flour, stirring until it lifts the sticky bits from the base.
- Finish the gravy: Pour in the cider and stir to a thick paste, then add all the stock gradually until you have a gravy. Then pour it into a small pan, bring it to the boil and check the seasoning. And stir in the juices from the jug and the resting pork, which I’d skim of fat first.
- Serve: Cut the pork into thick slices, then serve it with the crackling, gravy and apple sauce.
FAQs
How do you slow roast a pork shoulder?
Give a 2kg bone-in shoulder 30 minutes in a 220°C/Fan 200°C oven, then cover it with foil for 4½ hours at 160°C/Fan 140°C. After that, the root vegetables go into the tin under the pork for a final hour, uncovered and still at 160°C. So that’s their slow-roast pork with root vegetables from Meat Feasts, which serves 4 in about 6 hours.
They cook it until the meat is falling off the bone, so there’s no carving to do. But for shoulder you want to shred, their pulled pork with ale and maple braises it at 150°C instead. Or for a joint you slice, their Spanish-spiced rolled pork shoulder starts at 230°C, then drops to 180°C.
How long do you roast a pork loin?
Their Hairy Dieters roast pork loin gets 30 minutes per 500g plus 20 minutes at 190°C/Fan 170°C, so 1 hour 35 minutes for 1.25kg. And it’s a lighter recipe, at 263 calories a portion if you skip the crackling.
The rind comes off first, so the loin can be rubbed with sage, parsley, lemon zest and garlic. Then the rind goes back on top to keep the meat moist, while the gravy is apple juice, ideally cloudy, thickened with cornflour. So anyone counting can leave the crackling, since “you can let the others eat it”.
Why didn’t my crackling crisp up?
Damp skin is a sure way to ruin it, since their farmer friend Peter Gott warns “you’ll never get good crackling from damp pork”. So in Meat Feasts he says to unwrap it at home, pat it dry and keep it loosely covered in the fridge.
For barbecued belly slices in British Classics, they rub salt into the scores and leave the pork uncovered in the fridge overnight to dry. And when crackling is the whole point, their pork belly with apples and sage starts at 240°C to bubble the rind.
Is roast pork good for Christmas dinner?
Yes, and for a bigger festive joint, Hairy Bikers call their rolled porchetta “a great alternative to turkey for a festive meal” in British Classics. That one is 3kg of belly and loin rolled around rosemary, garlic and fennel, so it’s the showpiece version.
Either way, their braised red cabbage with apple is a good match, since they describe it in British Classics as “Great with roast pork”. And the apple sauce here can be made a day ahead and chilled, which is my tip for a busy Christmas morning.
How do I store leftover roast pork?
Cool it quickly, ideally within 2 hours, then keep it covered in the fridge and eat it within 2 days, as the FSA advises. And my tip is to keep the crackling separate, since it softens next to the meat, then crisp it in a hot oven.
Cold slices are good in sandwiches with the leftover apple sauce, though that’s my suggestion. And if you reheat the meat, do it once only, until it’s steaming hot all the way through.
