Roast Pork with Crackling

Method

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1. Pat the skin completely dry, rub the coarse salt into every score, and refrigerate it uncovered on a rack 24 hours.

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2. Wipe the excess salt off, dry the skin again and rub the flesh — not the skin — with the oil, pepper and fennel.

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3. Lay the onions in a roasting tin and set the pork on top, skin up.

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4. Roast at 240C fan / 260C / gas 10 for 20 minutes, until the skin has blistered all over.

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5. Reduce to 170C fan / 190C / gas 5 and roast a further 90 minutes, until the meat reaches 65C at the centre.

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6. Lift the pork out, cover the meat but not the crackling with foil, and rest 25 minutes.

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7. Meanwhile, cook the apples with the water over low heat 15 minutes until collapsed, then beat in the sugar, lemon juice and salt.

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8. Skim the fat from the tin, add the cider and stock and boil hard, scraping, until reduced by half. Strain.

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9. Cut the crackling off in one piece and break it up, then carve the meat and serve with the gravy and apple sauce.

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Chef’s Tips

• A day uncovered in the fridge. Wet skin never crackles.
• Hot first, moderate after — and never the other way round.
• Bramleys, barely sweetened. The sauce is there for acidity.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• Vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock makes this meat-free without changing the method, if that is what you need.

Pairing Suggestions

• Roast potatoes
• Braised red cabbage
• A dry cider

Storage & Reheating

Refrigerated for 3 days. Re-crisp crackling in a hot oven; never microwave it.

Common questions

Nutritional Highlights

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.