IAQ: infrequently asked questions: slow roasted pork loin

IAQ instead of FAQ

Ever wondered if you could slow roast a pork loin, say while you were gone to church Sunday Morning?    I did and couldn't find a good answer, so I tried it on a day I was home to watch the oven thermometer.  

Result:  at 225 it works well.   It turned out very well for my newest offspring's baptism lunch.

I browned the top (fatty side) of the ten pound loin ( cut in two pieces to fit in my pan) over high heat on the stove.   Turn off the heat, flip the pork (so fat side is now up, which will make it all juicy!), season*, then place in a cold oven and turn oven to 225.   From this point anywhere from 3-4 hours would have been on that sweet spot of a medium pork roast (144 at 3 hours, 150 at 4).

* seasoning:  mix and match -  garlic, onion soup mix, generous salt, pepper, thyme, finely chopped onion, lemon or lime juice, Apple cider vinegar, rosemary ...

pork, pineapple, peppers

Stir together in a crockpot:

2.5 pounds pork chops, seasoned with salt and pepper, seared for color, then cut into bite sized pieces

1 pound frozen pineapple, thawed (canned, in juice, would be fine too)

1 pound frozen pepper strips, thawed

2 large sweet onions, sliced into half moons

crushed garlic - 3-4 cloves, juice of two limes

1 can or two cups chicken broth or reconstitute bullion.

Starring diva ginger, with her back-up sisters, the pepperettes:

Cook for 6 - 8 hours in the crockpot on low. (about the time you start cooking rice, add some fresh ginger or some extra powdered ginger to the mixture to give it an extra kick)

Cook some sticky rice:

Serve by the ladleful, over rice:

Tea Brined Pork Chops, part I

Why brine, you ask? It infuses the meat with flavor, and is something of a guarantee against tasteless shoe leather meat. Works great with turkey as well!

The leading actors: Salt (1/3 Cup), Sugar (1/2 Cup), Loose Decaf tea (scant 1/4 cup) - mix these into 4 cups boiling water.



The supporting actors: ginger, whole cloves, whole allspice, whole peppercorns, onion (fresh or dried). Add to the boiling mixture:

This smells wonderful. Too bad for you this isn't a scratch and sniff blog!
Add a cup or two of apple cider:

When the mixture is cool enough, put the pork chops in plastic bags:

Pour the brine over the pork chops, and refrigerate overnight:

Rainy Saturday Pork Roast

1 picnic pork roast (sometimes called a fresh ham) - mine was about nine pounds.

applesauce - 1 quart

3 granny smith apples, chopped

apple cider vinegar

salt

pepper

sage

thyme

garlic powder

onion powder

The radar map looked a bit like this ALL DAY today as Tropical Storm Hanna passed over the Philadelphia region:

When better than during pouring rain to make a classic comfort food like a roast?

Preheat oven to 350.

First, use a knife or kitchen scissors (the type that can go in the dishwasher for sanitizing) to remove the skin:

Heat a large pot on high, and then quickly sear top and bottom of the roast (this is to start the maillard effect, by which browning makes everything taste better:

Remove the pot from the heat. Add around the roast a jar of applesauce (if you don't have homemade just make sure to use one that is just apples -not sweetened or spiced). I happened to have three granny smith apples I had peeled this morning for something else, so I added them as well. I normally add carrots and/or parsnips, but I didn't have any parsnips, and my carrots were too slimy for consumption.

On top of the roast add a GENEROUS amount of black pepper, salt (if you've never done this before add WAY too much, and it might turn out right), rubbed sage, thyme, garlic powder and onion. Sometimes I throw in whole garlic cloves and a chopped onion, but today I did not. Pour some apple cider vinegar over the roast and around the edges.

Roast in the oven until at least 144 degrees. If you want to follow the stricter US government rules, go all the way to 165, but I take no blame for your dried-out roast. From my research I'm comfortable with 145. If you live in a developing country, however, with less stringent rules about animal feed, you might want to err on the side of caution and use the higher temperature.

Slice long, thin slices with a bit of the salty crust on each plate. Incredible! I wish this were smell-o-vision for your sake.