These pictures could never do this piece of pork justice! My husband makes this incredibly simple pork roast with crackling that I get so excited for every time!
It starts with a Pork Picnic roast. It must have the skin on it, not just fat, but skin! Score the skin like this. My husband uses an exacto knife to do this because it is very thick. You want it cut down to the flesh so that you have small pieces of crackling once it's ready to eat. Salt it generously. Make sure the salt goes into the score marks in all the nooks and crannies.
That's it! We bake ours in a cast iron skillet uncovered. That's all the prep needed! Bake at 425F for 20 min. then reduce the oven to 325F for 3.5-4 hours depending on size. This roast was about 3 lbs and 3.5 hours was perfect. Don't even open the oven between temperature changes - just trust the process! Let it rest for 15-30min. before slicing. Then you'll have a delicious plate of pork with some amazing pieces of crackling - PORK CANDY! Tonight we had it with pan fried broccoli and leftover spaghetti squash. Eat this pork candy with your hands, it tastes better that way, dipping each piece along the way into the vinegar dip (if you appreciate a sour contrast!).
My husband made up this vinegar dip and I think its a perfect pair to this buttery melt in your mouth pork! Mix up a batch and keep it in your pantry and it gets better over time. Every once in a while, top it up with a bit of each of the ingredients so you always have some on hand.
Vinegar dip:
1/4 cup finely chopped onions,
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 Tbsp jalepeno chopped,
1/2 tsp salt,
Pepper,
1 cup vinegar.
For those of you on THM, this is an S
Vinegar dip:
1/4 cup finely chopped onions,
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 Tbsp jalepeno chopped,
1/2 tsp salt,
Pepper,
1 cup vinegar.
For those of you on THM, this is an S