Porchetta - Kamado cooked

[Narmnaleg]

One of my favourites is Porchetta, yet for some reason I haven't cooked it in ages. Yesterday I thought I'd right that wrong by making the biggest one I've ever made.
I hope someone finds this post of some use.

I asked my butcher to get me just the right cut of pork loin. Fortunately he arranged to keep the whole side and cut it with me there so that it was just the way I wanted it.
I was looking for a nice skin-on loin with a long flap of the meat that goes over the ribs so that I could roll it properly.
When I make porchetta I don't aim for crackling as such, but the skin is crucial in the rolling and cooking process.


This is the Porchetta loin cut. The piece initially weighed 7.5Kg, but then we took the ribs off, so the final cut that you see here weighed around 5.5kg:



The ingredients are really simple:
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Lots of chopped up fresh rosemary
- Chopped up garlic
- A few fennel seeds
In the first bowl I have the rosemary and garlic mix, in the second bowl I have the ground fennel seeds with some salt and in the third bowl I have the ground black pepper:


I firstly rubbed a layer of salt on the loin, followed by the pepper, then the rosemary-garlic and finally the aniseed-salt:


You need to tie the Porchetta really tightly. I struggled with this as I don't do it very often, but I think I got there in the end. At this point I took the tied porchetta and placed it in a tray in the fridge uncovered for almost two hours:




The cooking:
- Started in the BSK at 250c for 30 minutes.
- Lowered the temp to 200c and kept it there for around 3 hours

The only thermometer I use is a Thermapen. When the internal temp read 65c I took the Porchetta out and placed it in a tray with the gap in the skin down (it will drain lots of fat while sitting there until it cools down, which will be many hours later):


Once it cooled down enough it went in the fridge.
We ate some for lunch today and although it is a little difficult to describe I can summarise it as delicious. It has a butteriness (is that a word?) to it which means that you can make a roll with it and nothing else and still get a great moist mouth feel. I found it hard to stop eating lunch

Here it is on the slicer:


This is the finished and sliced product:

[pasey25]

I did one for lunch today in my weber using the rotisserie attachment, indirect setup with two baskets of charcoal. I confess I bought mine, from brenta meats in Fairfield (melb), as it's one of their specialties. I cranked it up to 250-275 for the first 30-40 mins to get the crackling blooming, then down to 200 lid temp for another hour or so, then off at 70deg internal on the thermapen. Yours looks great, but you didn't get the crackling going?

We smashed ours for lunch while hot, but I have a few slices left for rolls/sandwiches.

[Narmnaleg]

Hi Pasey, no I didn't want to get crackling this time. I'm going to be storing it for a while and I need the skin to act as a protective shell for the goodies inside.

I must admit I prefer the flavour of it cold as a deli style sliced meat. We smashed quite a few portions for lunch, but even though we all ate too much we can't tackle so many kgs in one sitting. Half has been sliced and the other half has been vac sealed and I might even freeze it for a month or so.

[pasey25]

Hi Pasey, no I didn't want to get crackling this time. I'm going to be storing it for a while and I need the skin to act as a protective shell for the goodies inside.

I must admit I prefer the flavour of it cold as a deli style sliced meat. We smashed quite a few portions for lunch, but even though we all ate too much we can't tackle so many kgs in one sitting. Half has been sliced and the other half has been vac sealed and I might even freeze it for a month or so.

I love it cold too. I often buy it from the deli sliced. I find it's best on the day it is sliced though, it sweats a bit if in the fridge sliced for too long. On balance, I think I prefer it freshly cooked. It's a close call though, it's delicious either way

I need to get myself a slicer. Just gotta find room to store it!

[Narmnaleg]

You're right Pasey, when storing it in the fridge it really needs the right kind of storage or it loses appeal. I have a tupperware container that does the trick. Mind you, it'll only be in the fridge for a few days.

[Gumb]

That is mouth watering.....it's on my list of things to do.

[Narmnaleg]

Thanks Gumb. I'm looking forward to eating some more tonight for dinner

[pierre]

the Roman empire still rules, long life to the porchetta!

[pierre]

[Narmnaleg]

I'll have to do this again one of these days

[Bear]

Thanks for this thread. My wife is Italian and we love the old Porchetta, it's great in the wood oven. We also haven't done one on a while, but I bet we will be now. Excellent cold but won't last long. If anyone does this, keep as much roasting juices as you can, including from the resting period. If there are any juices leftover after eating roast hot, pour them over the remaining meat & wrap well. Makes the cold sliced pieces just that little bit more awesome.

[Narmnaleg]

Thanks Bear. I'd love to learn how you do it in your WFO. I really wanted to try it in my little WFO but was worried it'd cook unevenly and I'd have to keep fiddling with it which isn't easy in a small oven.

[Bear]

My WFO is massive and retains heat. I basically cook every roast on a falling heat after a pizza cook - wait till the floor and walls are 250'C then throw it in and shut the door. The fire snuffs out but imparts a great smokeyness and you get a nice crackling.

[Narmnaleg]

Thanks Bear, in that case I think I better stick to the BSK for Porchetta. I think my oven is too small for it and is geared for pizza with it's low ceiling so it wouldn't be very practical. Plus I must admit the BSK has never let me down with Porchetta.

[Groovy Gorilla]

Very nice mahogany crackle.