Nothing says quintisential English fare better than a cup of tea and a slice of Victoria sponge, cream tea’s and a good roast dinner. My meat of choice will always be either a shoulder of pork or a gammon joint for one reason and one reason only… the crackling. Nothing makes a roast dinner or a pork sandwich better than a glistening, salty, piece of pork fat capping it off. So below is the supremely easy, most effective way to get the best our of your pork.
What you will need:
- 1 joint of smoked gammon (fat on) usually around 1.5kg on average
- Sea salt
- large roasting tin
- Heat the oven to 170°C/fan 150°C. Put the gammon in the tin, sprinkle the skin with salt, then pop into the preheated oven to roast for 2½-3 hours until the internal temperature reads 65°C when measured with a digital thermometer (see tips). Be sure to take a reading from the centre of the joint.
- Increase the oven temperature to 230°C/fan 210°C. Wrap foil around the baking tray. Return the ham to the oven to cook for a further 20-25 minutes, until the the skin has crackled. You may have to turn the ham to crisp up the parts of the skin not open to the hot air.
- When the fat starts to look like real crackling, remove the ham, take off the foil and rest uncovered on a trivet for 30 minutes. Carve the ham in decent slices and serve with whatever you like!
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
