Porchetta

[Hendo]

Porchetta Recipe Amendment

Although the original recipe did not include fennel seeds, my daughter has just pointed out that a teaspoon of fennel seeds were included in the stuffing at the demonstration she attended, and make it even nicer!

I've amended the recipe in the previous post, should you wish to include some.

Cheers, Paul.

[dmun]

Re: Porchetta

In the US a "fresh ham" is unsmoked pork leg. A "picnic ham" is a pork shoulder, either fresh or smoked.

[Hendo]

Re: Porchetta

RT - thanks for the clarification of head cheese. I figured it must be something like that, but the word 'cheese' had me guessing, as cheese it certainly ain't!

Another cultural question. Here we can buy a leg of pork (uncooked), or a leg of pickled pork (pickled in brine) to cook up, but ham is (usually) a leg of pork that has been first pickled and then smoked over a slow fire for a good period of time. Come Christmas time, legs of ham here are skinned, the fat scored into a diamond pattern and studded with cloves, then basted with a nice glaze.

As far as I know, prosciutto is dry-cured in salt, and is quite dry. Our ham is quite moist by comparison.

So when you say you're going to buy a 'fresh ham', is it raw pork or something else?

Paul.

[RTflorida]

Re: Porchetta

OK, looks like I have enough evidence to present my case to the presiding judge of Christmas dinner (my wife). I may give this a try this weekend as a trial run. My local market always has small to medium fresh hams (shoulders) with the skin on, boning and spices should not be a problem....I can't wait for a sandwhich like the one posted by Drake...mmmmmm

[Bacterium]

Re: Porchetta

Cool thread....just another step of maximising the oven heat once its been fired

Eg.
-Entree
-Main
-Desert or Bread (for the next day)
-Roast Nuts or Marshmallow

and now Porchetta

[Hendo]

Re: Porchetta

I'm yet to do one myself, but as I understand it, the skin just slowly dries out and crisps up, compared to the 'high heat' method where it blisters and puffs up quickly. My daughter says that it starts to crisp up nicely after about 4 hours, so I can only suggest you check it from time to time.

Good luck!
Paul.

[asudavew]

Re: Porchetta

Do you think after a low-temp, long, slow-roasting that it will require a fire to heat up the oven at the end, in order to crisp the skin?

[BrianShaw]

Re: Porchetta

Looks like I'm going to be hunting a deboned pork shoulder for the weekend!

Me too... all of these porchetta pics are making me really, really hungry.

[christo]

Re: Porchetta

Thanks Paul!!

Looks like I'm going to be hunting a deboned pork shoulder for the weekend!

Christo

[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.

[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.

[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

[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

[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

[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.