Porchetta

[Hendo]

Oh and the porchetta shop right down the street

Drew,

This sure brings back some fond memories. It also reminds me of the main reason I?m building a brick oven, which, according to my daughter will be used for slow overnight roasting of Porchetta!

On this point, does anyone on the Forum have any experience in roasting a Porchetta in their brick oven? I?m not talking here of roast pork with crackle, but a long slow roast where the skin crisps up nicely without forming ?crackling? (ie blisters). Any tips appreciated. I have a good Italian butcher who can provide the meat, so it?s mainly preparation and cooking tips that I?m after.

As a matter of interest, can any of you walk into a shop and see a sight like the one above? I?ve never seen anything like it anywhere in Oz, except perhaps for an annual Italian ?Carnivale? Festival here in Adelaide. But the Porchetta is much smaller and far less appealing visually. This one is truly stunning!

Cheers, Paul.

[nissanneill]

Re: Porchetta

Hi Paul,
when you get it going, don't forget to invite the critics for a judgement!
I'm not that adventurous yet, but who knows what is around the corner.

Neill

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: Porchetta

Here in Denver Colorado, I have never seen anything like this, but I searched it out in Italy...here are some more photos to keep you salivating...

FYI, these are in the photogallery, so you should be able to click through to see a larger image...



This is the Market Day in Siena, way too crowded, but I got this excellent sandwich for breakfast...Also check out the head cheese in the first shot!







Drake

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: Porchetta

I was able to zoom in on the porchetta in the sienna market day, check out the garlic and the skin...

[Hendo]

Re: Porchetta

Drew,

Wonderful shots! The Porchetta stand is probably the same one we saw at the Certaldo market last year ? a great concept and everyone gets to have freshly cooked pork as it goes from one town?s market day to the next.

If/when you go over that way again and want to avoid the market in Siena, there is good Porchetta to be had at ?Pizzicheria de Miccoli? (2001) at Via di Citt?, 93/95 (a couple of streets east of the Duomo) and Dario Cecchini?s Macelleria in Panzano (2006). Dario?s was the best I?ve tasted anywhere ? family agreed. Or you could just follow that van around from one village market to the next!

Ahh! ? I?ve just noticed that you already know about Dario?s ?.

One cultural question for you ? the term ?head cheese? is not known to me ? can you please explain?

And have you done a Porchetta in your oven yet?

Cheers, Paul.

[RTflorida]

Re: Porchetta

Drew,

You didn't happen to bring back an authentic recipe did you?. I've already sold my wife on the idea for Christmas dinner (we usually have ham or rib roast). Her only conditions are that I find a proven recipe - she hates experimentation on holiday meal...and of course a local supplier of suckling pigs....I figure a 20 -30 lb pig should fit in a 36" Pompeii.

RT

[asudavew]

Re: Porchetta

.and of course a local supplier of suckling pigs....
RT

Yeah, it looks wonderful.......

A pig. a pig.

My wife would freak!

[RTflorida]

Re: Porchetta

Paul,

Real headcheese is made with the meat parts of the pigs head - boiled with spices and geletin, is molded, cooled and sliced. taste is great on a sandwich. It just looks too much like what it is....meat chucks glued together with geletin.

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: Porchetta

Hey RT, I have not cooked a whole pig in the oven. The problem as I see it, is the large pigs used in Italy make a better, meatier roast. I have cooked a few small whole pigs, and they are great, but not really Porchetta, more like pulled pork...

Here is one we did in an offset barrel smoker. It was good, but the skin was not that golden crackling that you want...


Then, my Dad owns this device, the Caja China. Used a lot by Cubans in my native Miami...It does an excellent, I would say fool proof, job, but you still don't get this huge center section you can season and slice...



I would say if you really want to emulate a Porchetta in the pizza oven, you would do best with a fresh ham with the skin on. I think I would debone it, then season it and tie it up.



I have not done that yet, but I have roasted many many pork shoulders in the 400 degree oven after baking and they come out really well...

Drake

[Hendo]

Re: Porchetta

Drew,

Thanks for your input. I too am aiming for a large piece of meat ? not a suckling pig which I think is too small. I?d like to cook one of those too one day, but perhaps on my old (c.1975) Cannon rotisserie, rather than in the brick oven.



My butcher, who also supplies the Italian Carnivale Festival with uncooked rolled and seasoned Porchetta, sells it by the foot, but I?m not sure what cut of meat he uses ? it could simply be rolled loin. It is cooked on a charcoal rotisserie at the Carnivale and while the meat is wonderful, the skin just doesn?t have time to crisp up nicely. I don?t know about you and your family, but around here, folks are always disappointed if the skin on a cooked piece of pork is soggy, no matter how tasty the meat!

Last Christmas I was treated to a Porchetta cooked in a conventional oven. It was a de-boned pork shoulder, and the stuffing recipe was provided by a local Italian chef. It cooked slowly over several hours and was delightful! I?ll try to get the recipe for the stuffing asap.

Cheers, Paul.

[rberg02]

Re: Porchetta

Drake,
Re: pork shoulder in 400 degree oven after baking. What internal temperature do you cook them to - are they cooked to a carving temperature (140-150 degrees internal temp.) or a pulling temperature 190-200 degrees internal temp.)? I have always slow roasted or braised them the next day to pulling temp. when the oven temp has dropped to around 300-350 degrees. I'm always looking for new ways to cook pig.
Ron

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: Porchetta

Ron,

Cooked to a pulling temp...I aim for 180 or more...

The outside gets carmelized, but is it so fatty it never burns...

Lots of garlic and rosemary.

Drake

[christo]

Re: Porchetta

I've read the whole thing and still not sure exactly what a Porchetta is..... and what makes a stuffed baked pork loin not one.

Is it a piece of pork with skin on one side and rolled about some kind of garlicy filled goodness of filling?

Paul - please provide your recipie - the weekend is already calling to me!

Thanks

[Hendo]

Re: Porchetta

I've read the whole thing and still not sure exactly what a Porchetta is .... and what makes a stuffed baked pork loin not one. Is it a piece of pork with skin on one side and rolled about some kind of garlicy filled goodness of filling?

My understanding is that Porchetta is traditionally a boned whole pig (or close to it), skin on, that is seasoned inside the cavity with garlic, salt, rosemary and other herbs, tied up and cooked slowly over several hours.

I found this photo of one on the web – WOW!



while an earlier photo in this thread shows part of the torso:



Now imagine making a vertical cut along the length of the torso, seasoning and rolling it. You’d end up with one loin instead of two (a mezzo Porchetta?!), like this:



This, I’ve just discovered, is what my butcher sells as Porchetta, and is designed to fit in a conventional oven. So yes – it can just as easily be one loin with some belly, seasoned, rolled and slowly cooked. It’s more common from my (limited) experience to see a whole (double loin) torso in Italy – perhaps they have bigger ovens!

Paul.

[Hendo]

Re: Porchetta

Paul - please provide your recipie - the weekend is already calling to me!

Now having said all this, my daughter regularly uses a de-boned shoulder for her Porchetta, as that?s what the recipe (by a prominent Adelaide restaurateur) specifies. And the garlic is chopped rather than being left whole. But she says she wouldn?t vary anything as it works out so well and tastes so good!

Ingredients:
De-boned pork shoulder approx 3-4kg (6? - 9 lbs)
8 cloves garlic
1 bunch rosemary
1 bunch sage
1 tsp fennel seeds
3 Tbsp salt

Method:
Lay the meat out flat, skin side down, on a chopping board or bench. Chop garlic, rosemary and sage and mix with fennel seeds and salt. Rub herb mixture evenly over the surface of the meat. Roll tightly and secure at intervals of about 2? with kitchen string.

Rub skin with olive oil and salt. Place on a wire rack in a baking tray with two cups of water and bake in a slow oven 110-120?C (230-250?F) for 5-7 hours. If you have access to a wood oven, preheat to about 180-200?C (355-390?F), place Porchetta in oven, close the door and leave overnight.

Remove from oven and rest until it reaches room temperature before slicing.

Well I?ve gone full circle with this thread. I?ve just had my question answered about cooking a Porchetta in a brick oven - it was with my daughter all along!!! I still think I?ll be traditional and use a rolled loin & belly though ? it could be a long night!

RT ? my daughter really does swear by this recipe, so I can only hope that you can convince ?she who must be obeyed? that the seasoning is reliable and proven.

Cheers, Paul.