How to tie a roast

[crankin]

Could someone please refer me to a good guide / video on how to tie a roast (i.e. pork loin)? I saw Alton do it on Goods Eats (YouTube - Good Eats S6E17P2: Fit To Be Tied) but no matter how many times I watch it I cannot get it. I know I could just do tons of single knots but I'd like to learn how to use one long piece for the whole piece of meat.

[Andy M.]

crankin, I have watched Alton Brown, Jacques Pepin and others tie a roast like that with one long piece of string. I don't do it often enough to get good at it. I cut lengths of string and tie them individually to give the roast a uniform shapre so it cooks evenly.

If you find a better video, you'll have to practice to get good at it. Maybe you could buy a dozen roasts and have a bunch of us over for dinner!

[crankin]

Okay well nevermind the tying with one piece then. But, changing the subject, I also saw on Good Eats once when he was talking about types of kitchen twine. He said that there are a few types and that one of them is best because when the food cooks the twine does not dig into the food, making it hard to remove the twine. Well that always happens to me, so I must not have the type he has referring to. Do you know what type of twine would be best?

[Andy M.]

There are several types. Some are thicker and some thinner. I prefer the thicker twine. Either will dig into the roast if you tie it tightly enough.

The point of tieing a roast is to make it more uniform in shape so it will cook evenly. The AB video is for a tenderloin roast. If you tie a tenderloin, it changes the shape of the meat to be rounder rather than flatter. I tie the twine tight enough to get that round shape and end up with the thread embedded in the roast. That doesn't bother me. It gets sliced before being served.

Also, the best place to get twine is the hardware store where it's much less expensive than in a cooking store. Just look for 100% cotton twine. IT will often say on the twine that it's for tieing roasts.

[crankin]

Do you ever watch Top Chef?

[Andy M.]

No, I don't

[Maverick2272]

That is interesting, never occurred to me to use it to make the roast round, don't know why. I just always associated it with stuffing and rolling a roast or other meat.
I have bought roasts that were pre-twined, is it better that way or better to just do it yourself (assuming the quality of the meat itself is the same)?

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by Maverick2272

...I have bought roasts that were pre-twined, is it better that way or better to just do it yourself (assuming the quality of the meat itself is the same)?

Pre-tied is probably just as good as home-tied.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by crankin

Could someone please refer me to a good guide / video on how to tie a roast (i.e. pork loin)? I saw Alton do it on Goods Eats (YouTube - Good Eats S6E17P2: Fit To Be Tied) but no matter how many times I watch it I cannot get it. I know I could just do tons of single knots but I'd like to learn how to use one long piece for the whole piece of meat.

Crankin....Practice on a 1/2 used or so roll of paper towel..or other round object...after two or three practice sessions...you'll be good to go on your next piece of meat...

Fun!!