Crackling Roast Pork

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1hr 20 minutes

Difficulty Easy

Servings 4

 Ingredients

• 1 to 1.5kg rack of pork
• Olive oil
• Salt

 Method

Step 1
Prepare the barbecue for indirect cooking over high heat (230°C to 260°C). If using a Weber ® Q ® barbecue, set up your barbecue with a convection tray and a trivet.
Step 2
Dry the skin of the pork and score the skin if the butcher hasn’t done so already. Score through the rind and just into the fat, about 3mm deep and score at approximately 1cm intervals.

Step 3
Rub a little olive oil all over the pork. Season and rub salt all over, especially giving the rind a good coating with salt.
Step 4
Roast the pork over indirect high heat with the lid closed for 20 to 30 minutes to crackle the skin; avoid lifting the lid during this time. Adjust the barbecue temperature to indirect medium heat (190°C to 230°C – ‘roast setting’), continue to cook for the remaining cooking time.
Step 5
Once the pork has cooked, remove from the barbecue and allow to rest for at least 5 to 10 minutes before carving.

---

Tips

 

• Avoid buying vacuum sealed pork, which has been packed in plastic, as it is much harder to crackle.
• If the skin is pale and not dry, leave uncovered in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours to dry out the skin. You can cover the flesh with plastic wrap to prevent the flesh from also drying out.
• To calculate the cooking time for your roast, measure the thickness (not length) of the roast and calculate 1 minute per millimetre. For example, the pictured roast measured 80mm thick, therefore the cooking time was 80 minutes. Alternatively use an internal meat thermometer. To cook pork to a medium doneness the final temperature is 63°C, keeping in mind the temperature will continue to rise 3 to 6°C while it’s resting.
• If the pork has cooked but the rind hasn’t crackled, remove the rind and return the rind to the barbecue and roast over indirect medium heat (190°C to 230°C) for 15 minutes to crackle whilst the pork roast is resting.