Who is roasting a pork loin for New Years Day?

[FarPoint]

I am doing such an adventure. I roast it with rinsed, fresh sauerkraut, lots of onions, Yukon Gold potatoes and polish kielbasa.

The kielbasa is a Christmas gift from a coworker....it's from the Cleveland West End Market...6 pounds! It is homemade, garlicky and fresh. I even have some extra garlic kielbasa she gave me and I will save for another day when I make pirogies in the very near future.


I brined the pork loin in an apple cider-herbed solution over night. I'm getting ready to cook thing here real soon.

I season the pork with tiny slivers of garlic where I poke sporadically into the meat throughout...then salt, pepper and sear in a cast iron skillet. I then use a V-rack to sit the roast in...surrounded by lots of onions, the kraut which is sprinkled with brown sugars and the potatoes. The last 30 minutes I add the kielbasa. Some of it is sliced in half laying on top of the pork to add juiciness to the pork.

Tell me about your plans.........

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

1. I roasted a pork loin two days ago

And made twice-cooked pork last night.

Yes, I know, it should be boiled, not roasted. However, pork loin is tender enough that roasting was fine. I followed a variant of the recipe fromhere.

[FarPoint]

2. I do like the asian flair!

Using leeks is a great idea! I wish I would of thought about that....next year I will use leeks.

[rdharma]

8. I got a killer post-New Year deal on pork loin today. $1.88 a pound!

I'm all "porked out" right now but I couldn't resist the deal and intend to try your Hui Guo Rou recipe in a week or two.

It looks good!

[rdharma]

3. I'm cooking my pork loin on a bed of and blanketed with paprikash sauerkraut.....

To give the paprikash sauerkraut "kick" I use a small can of Rotel and some Szeged sweek paprika. I bake this in a covered casserole dish. I insert sliced garlic cloves into the loin and cover with partially cooked strips of bacon (not crisp but with some of the fat rendered out). I place this on half of the paprikash sauerkraut and cover the loin with the other half. Insert a temp probe into the center of the loin and stick into the preheated 325 oven. Keep in mind that the loin will coast up in temp after removal.

Will have with mashed potatoes.

[FarPoint]

4. I get mixed feedback regarding the internal temperature.

They say 140....I think I will stop at 135 and count on the creeping up to 140. Do you think 135 is too much?

[rdharma]

5. I've always heard that 145 AFTER it's rested is ideal for pork loin roasts.

Not knowing what size of loin you are cooking, what cooking method you are using, and what your cooking temperature is, it's impossible to predict how much it will coast upward in temp.

I don't think pulling it at 135 is going to be "too much"

I use my thermometers a lot. The thing I've been guilty of, is not keeping written notes on the results.

[FarPoint]

6. thanks..

135 it is...

[Nac Mac Feegle]

7. It's called 'carryover'

The temp is higher at the edges, since that's where the heat is applied. It has to 'soak in' to the center. It also lets the juices redistribute back throughout the cut of meat, which is why you DO NOT pull out the thermometer or carve until after the meat has rested.

I'm also a big proponent of not using a roasting rack, but resting the meat on a bed of vegetables: celery, carrots, onions, potatoes, whatever (try sweet potatoes, parsnips, or turnips for a change). Spice the veggies, and you have a side dish with no extra cooking vessel. If you use the drippings to make gravy, you have dialled the flavor up considerably. Roasting the veggies intesifies their flavors.

And you don't have to wash a V-rack.