Crown Pork Roast

Lately, I have been trying to get away from eating a lot of meat. I'm trying to achieve a better balance in my diet and add more variety also. Today is the first time this week I've eaten a four legged animal. Since my breathing has gotten better, I decided to roll the dice and go for the grand daddy of all pork related meals and cook a Crown Pork Roast for my coworkers tonight. It was amazing. I've made this before but each time it gets a little better as I adjust seasonings and cooking times. I cooked this at home today and let it finish at the oven in work while I made the stuffing, carrots and gravy. Here are the directions I use if you would like to try this. It looks more intimidating than it really is, especially if you have the butcher french the bones and tie the roast himself.

Cook the stuffing separately from the roast. Cooking with the stuffing in the center or cavity of the roast takes longer and may dry-out the meat.

Cook the roast in a pre-heated oven at 350°. General cooking time is 1 ¼ hours to 1 ¾ hours depending on the number of ribs and thickness of the meat.

Place a tin foil ball or a firm fitting tin can (label removed and washed) in the center of the roast. Both methods will help in retaining the shape of the roast and help it cook more evenly. If using a can it will create a chimney effect that can help the meat cook more quickly and circulate the hot air in the oven.

Season the roast to your liking. I use a combo of dried lemon peel, granulated garlic, fresh ground pepper, meat tenderizer, Spanish paprika, minced onion and sea salt. These are all one tablespoon measurements except for the lemon peel and sea salt which are 1/2 teaspoon measurements. Combine all seasonings in a zip top bag and shake until well mixed. Place a small piece of tin foil as a cap over the tip of each of the bones. Allow the roast to rest on the kitchen counter for twenty minutes before cooking.

Use a meat thermometer. When the internal temperature reaches 140° to 145° the roast can be removed from the oven. Keep in mind that when the roast is removed from the oven and is resting before carving, it will continue to cook a little more and allow the juices to come back to the center of the roast.

After cooking remove the roast from the oven and allow it to rest at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Slice the roast between the ribs allowing approximately one rib per serving or more if serving real hungry firefighters.