Dave's West Texas Version of Porchetta

[PizzaPolice]

And the best part? 99¢ a pound!
Hard to believe they allow pork in West Texas.
Great job, Dave!

[Inishta]

Dave,

Envious is not the word......................

It's been a while since we had a nice pork sandwich I'm drooling. Keep up the good work.

[asudavew]

Here is the finished product.

It hit 195f after a total of about 4 hours.

[asudavew]

Then I put it in pan of root veggies. I salted and peppered them then basted them with some of the oil from the pork.

Very nice.

About an hour of cooking the were done. I did stir them a couple times.



And of course ... I had to eat a sandwich.

[Ken524]

Originally Posted by asudavew

And finally a shot of the internal temps of my oven.

Dave,

What's that Pyrex thermometer gadget? How does it work? Is that what you are measuring the oven temp with or the meat temp? Does it have a meat probe?

If it's a cool, inexpensive gadget, I probably want one .

[asudavew]

Other thoughts.

Ok... here it goes.

Things I would of done differently:

1. I would of cooked it in a cooler oven.
2. I would of salted it more while stuffing.
3. I would of used twice as much garlic. I used one head of garlic for each porchetta, but two or three would of been better. The taste of the roasted garlic gloves was awesome.
4. More onions... as per number 3.
5. I think the half of a head of fennel per roast was good. The flavor was there, but not overwhelming.

The reason for cooking it in a cooler oven -- The outside got overdone. It was a bit dry, about 1/4 inch down, and too crusty in spots. The inside, however, was moist and juicy and very tasty.
I probably should of put aluminum foil over it at about the half way mark.

I usually cook brisket and pork butts at 275f. Maybe the evening after firing for pizza would be best. The oven would be much cooler and the porchetta could be stuck in the oven and left in all night long. The 2nd day after firing might be even better.

Thanks for looking.

I hope this helps anyone else with aspirations of cooking porchetta.

Good Eats.

Dave

[asudavew]

Originally Posted by Ken524

Dave,

What's that Pyrex thermometer gadget? How does it work? Is that what you are measuring the oven temp with or the meat temp? Does it have a meat probe?

If it's a cool, inexpensive gadget, I probably want one .

Less that 20 bucks Ken. I bought mine at Bed Bath and Beyond.
Yes, it has a probe that sticks into the meat. It only goes up to 400 hundred, so I have been measuring my oven temps with that. But it is really designed for checking temps on food. It works great because you can stick it in the thickest part of the meat, run the wire out to your thermometer, and close the door. Then just watch.

But I would recommend one that Lowe's and HD carry. It's wireless. Check it out! I think I'm going to get one. I couldn't find them at their online store, but here is a link to one like theirs.

Newegg.com - Oregon Scientific AW129 Wireless BBQ Thermometer

You will enjoy either one.

Dave

[Ken524]

I'm all over it! Thanks Dave.

[Acoma]

Ken, get the Maverick Redicheck remote. Well worth it for under $40. I use it for my smoker. BBB has it.

[dusty]

Awesome as usual pal. But enough typing... I gotta go set some more bricks!

dusty