Roast Loin of Pork in Cider

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Time for a nice, relaxing recipe.

Before you do anything else, clean out your oven and fire it up to at least 250°C.

Get your loin of pork (stuffed, trussed or otherwise) and put it into a baking dish (one that has high sides to it will not give you good crackling).  Rub olive oil and salt and ensuring that the skin is nicely scored and that this mix lodges in the little slashes.

Get a bottle of hard cider and pour in enough cider that the bottom of the baking dish has at least a centimetre over the base.  Put the loin in the very hot oven for 30 minutes, taking care to turn the dish around every 10 minutes or so if your oven doesn’t cook evenly (most don’t – my current one is a shocker).  DO NOT TURN THE LOIN OVER OR YOU WILL RUIN THE CRACKLING!!

After 30 minutes, the skin should be blistering and crisping nicely.  A blowtorch can assist if it’s not crackling evenly.  If it’s not crackling well, leave it in on high for another 15 or so minutes.  Then, when you’re satisfied that the crackling is well on its way, turn the oven down to 180°C and sprinkle loin with powdered garlic if you like.  God, this makes the crackling so delicious!  Put back to cook and ensure that the pan isn’t boiling dry by adding cider as required.  Your total cooking time for the pork should be 1 hour per kilo including the high-heat start.  Feel free to start adding your baked vegetables any time after this point.  They will taste delicious put into the cider around the roast or on a rack by themselves with some seasoning.

When the loin is cooked, put it aside to rest for at least 10 minutes in a warm, dry place (like a turned off and slightly cooled oven) and pour off the cooking juices.  Remove as much fat and oil from the juices as you can, and then reduce.  If you’re cheating and using a commercial gravy mix, instead of using water to mix it up, use more of the cider.

Remove crackling, slice pork, serve with whatever accompaniments you like (a good potato mash is excellent for soaking up the fabulous gravy) and enjoy.  The cider and crackling keep the meat moist and tender, and the cider really makes the gravy.  If you want to get enthusiastic, you could – if you’re that way inclined – flame the roast with apple brandy.

Notes:

• Do NOT pour the cider over the crackling and do NOT baste the roast during cooking.  The sugar in the cider will burn on the pork and make the crackling soggy
• Try to use a dry cider rather than a sweet one.  Try to use a hard (alcoholic) cider over a fizzy soft-drink like one.  You don’t want to have too much extra sugar floating around – it will caramelize like mad and make the roast taste bitter and burned.
• Don’t wimp out with the hot oven at the start – the oven has to be up to temp before you put the roast in as you need the hot air to make the crackling crackle. 
• Allow more roast and gravy than you think you’ll need.  People tend to make pigs of themselves with this one.

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