Crown Pork Roast

[QSis]

After buying a beautiful crown roast of pork on sale and freezing it for Christmas, someone told me that Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen does not like that cut at all, because it doesn't cook evenly.

Now, even though I greatly admire those folks, their opinions are occasionally suspect (e.g., they rated "Mad Dog" bbq sauce as #1 in their tests, and it's SO hot that I can't use it even watered down!).

I know that some of you have made crown pork roasts before - Goodweed and Rainee posted some lovely pictures of theirs.

This will be my first time with this cut, and, natch, it will be for my family's Christmas dinner. I'd like to stuff it with my favorite bread, sausage and poultry seasoning stuffing that I use in my Thanksgiving turkeys.

Are there any tips or hints that I should know about before I jump in?

TIA!

Lee

 

[Constance]

This looks like a good recipe to start with:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_29217,00.html

 

[Robo410]

well any roast can cook unevenly if it's not totally thawed. Also bring the meat to "room temp" as much as possible before roasting it. I like the idea of stuffing it towards the end if that is practicable...

Use a meat thermometer to test for doneness, and brine it if it is a very lean roast.

Pork can be eaten a little pink if it has reached the majic temp (about 150-155F, the nasty bugs if any are killed by 140.)

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

When you make a crown pork roast, or a crown roast of any kind, you are cooking the tenderloin, not the ribs. You will need at least 17 ribs to make this roast. The ribs attached the the loin are the baby-back ribs. And so the meat is very good. But you must remove it from between the bones. This is called frenching the bones. Save this meat for a good stir-fry. The rib meat is too thin to hold up for the amount of time required to cook the tenderloin.

Remove any bones and other muscles attached to the tenderloin and trim the tenderloin ends so that when you stand teh ribs upright, and curl the roast so that the ends meet, they meet squarely. The ribs curve away from the center. Also, place an aluminum "hat" on the bone ends to protect them from overcooking. Tie butcher's string around the roast so that it will hold its shape.

Pre-cook the stuffing.

Pork goes great with sage, fruits, many veggies, especially sweet veggies such as roasted garlic, onion, carrots, etc. I marinated mine in a combination of mandarin oranges and mandarin orange juice overnight. And yes I do know that acidic marinades don't penetrate more than the outermost layer of meat tissue. But I didn't know it then.

I used the marinade to baste the roast as it cooked on the grill. But grill, oven, whatever the heat source, cook the roast at a fairly high temperature, say 425 F. until the meat thermometer reads between 130 to 140. At that time, place the stuffing in the circle formed by the upright rib bones. Continue roasting until the thermometer reads 150. Remove from the oven, or barbecue, and let rest for about 15 minutes.

Place the roast on a suitable platter with a nice garnish that suits your theme. Remove the butcher's string you used to tie the roast into a crown and present at the dinner table.

Hope this helps.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Robo410]

perfect step by step Goodweed, thanks!

 

[Raine]

Here is a recipe I posted earlier.

Crown Roast of Pork with Fruit Stuffing

Serves 8 to 12

INGREDIENTS
1 Crown Roast of Pork
1 tablespoon flour
4 strips bacon
salt and freshly ground pepper


DIRECTIONS
Bring the crown roast to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, combine the flour with the salt and pepper and rub it over the outer fat of the crown. Fry the bacon until crisp, reserving the bacon fat. Crumble the bacon and recombine it with the bacon fat. Brush the outside bone with a mixture of crumbled bacon and fat. Fill the center of the crown with Fruit Stuffing (See below) and place a bit of aluminum foil on each of the bone tips so that they will not burn. Roast for half an hour in an open pan. Reduce heat to 325°F. and continue roasting for about 2 1/2 hours. You should allow about 25 minutes per pound for roasting. When roast is done, remove the foil from the bone ends and add frills if you desire.

Fruit Stuffing

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter
2 large onions (chopped)
20 slices bread (broken into pieces)
1 cup apricots (dried)
1 cup prunes (dried)
6 apples (peeled and cored)
salt
1 tsp. nutmeg (scant)
1 tsp. cinnamon (scant)
1⁄2 tsp. cloves (ground)


DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in a large pan. When it is bubbling, add the onions and allow to cook gently until they are transparent. Add the bread pieces to this mixture and remove from heat – after you have stirred well. Meanwhile, parboil the apricots and prunes for about 4 minutes. Drain them and cut into small pieces. Add these to the large pan along with the apples you have chopped into medium size cubes. Stir this mixture thoroughly and add the seasonings. Should you feel the mixture has not melded well, add a little water, wine, or bouillon. When the mixture seems just right, test it for seasoning and add a bit of this or that to bring it to your own taste.