If you're not familiar, crackling is the crunchy thick skin that is purposely created on pork roasts, traditionally served for Sunday lunch. I adore making this year-round, but there's something super comforting about having it around on the colder months and holidays. This is my method of making it without too much fuss, just a few ingredients! You can use a bone-in or boneless cut, but I prefer bone-in as it is tastier, and you can make a great stock out of it after the fact.
Prep Time: 10 minutes plus dry time
Cook Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes +
Ingredients:
- 4 lb pork shoulder or butt, rind on
- salt
- 3 tsp garlic powder
- drizzle cooking oil
Steps:
- Make sure your pork has been out of the fridge and patted super dry, then left out an hour before continuing. Preheat oven to 460 F. Use a sharp knife to score the rind on top horizontally. Make sure you're cutting all the way through to the flesh.
- Pat dry again, making sure to get the rind super dry.
- Rub garlic powder all over the exposed flesh of the pork. Salt liberally.
- Sprinkle garlic powder and salt in the cuts of the rind, too. Place in a lightly greased baking dish and place in preheated oven for one hour.
- Reduce temperature to 350 F and cook another hour, then increase temperature to 460 F again and cook 10 minutes, until rind is bubbling and super crisp.
- Pork is cooked when internal temperature is 160 F. To serve, use the butterflied segments as guides. Slice downwards between the crackling cuts to make nice steaks. I love to serve this with mixed root mash and other roast veggies.
