Porchetta recipes - all hands on deck!

Mark_B_Good

Guys, I'm cooking two butts. One will be for pulled pork BBQ, the other I want to use to make a poechetta, for a big family get together this weekend.

I plan on cooking at 275F, smoked with applewood chunks. I've read of a few finish temperatures,  140F, 180F, 190F. In your opinion, what's a good internal temp for porchetta?

I've also picked up these as the seasoning which is applied inside the meat, need to cut and roll open, apply seasoning and then roll it back up and tie with twine. Which one looks best to you? Any other suggestions?

lousubcap

Seasoning a matter of personal preference.  Regarding finish temp I go to around 145*F.  Pro tip- when you start with the high temp sear expect to generate a lot of smoke from the heat and rendering fat.  FWIW-

fishlessman

i get sandwiches from time to time made from belly, those definitely in the 180 internal plus. with butt i would do the same, if theres loin a lower cook. never cooked one but thats my thought from what ive been served locally

Mark_B_Good

My family will want it cooked more rather than less. Any sign of pink (which could be the case at 145F) and they won't touch it. So, I'll probably aim for 180F.

In any case, I'm cooking two butts ... the other one has to go to 205F as I'm making pulled pork from it. That one is smaller (just under 6 lbs), while the one I'm making porchetta from is around 9 lbs ... so I'm hoping the 9 lbs hits 180F about the same time the 6 lbs hits the 200F to 205F ... and they finish more or less at the same time.

Mark_B_Good

This recipe looks good:

Porchetta Recipe — Big Green Egg Forum (eggheadforum.com)

Makes me think ... do I need a pan, and do I need to cook at a higher temp. I have another butt to cook at same time ... for pulled pork to 205F internal. I plan to cook at 275F dome ... but maybe I should raise it to 300F ... and plan to wrap the pulled pork butt when internal hits 160F (to avoid over-drying it).

The porchetta recipe above calls for 400F initial, then 350F ... obviously it will take longer to cook at 300F ... but I'll have at least 7 hours before the pulled pork butt is ready to go.  So, does anyone think there's an issue cooking porchetta at 300F?

Also, is it necessary to put the porchetta in a pot?

Mark_B_Good

Uhmm found this on the forum ... seems to be the way to go!

https://youtu.be/kJZvZ36rVwk

Wonder how long it took him to cook that ... my guess is around 6h?

lousubcap

Found this from SRF-

The Snake River Farms Kurobuta Porchetta Roast is a savory pork specialty that’s delicious served in slices or as the filling for a traditional Italian sandwich. We recommend searing it in an oven heated to 500°F, then finishing at a lower temperature.

1. Be sure to completely thaw your roast before cooking.
2. Place porchetta on a wire rack in a baking sheet and place in the oven, preheated to 500°F. Sear about 30 minutes until browned.
3. Turn oven to 350°F and continue to bake until the center of the roast reads 145°F. This will take about 1.5 to 2 hours.
4. Monitor the baking process and rotate the porchetta so it cooks evenly.
5. Rest the roast about 30 minutes, then slice and serve.  (This is based on  around a 7.5 lb/ 3.4 kg porchetta.)
   

If you are going to do the above L&S, depending on the weight going in I would guess 5-6 hrs.  But that is a guess.  FWIW-

Have fun with the cook. 

Mark_B_Good

OK, I decided to go with Dark Side of the Grill's recipe (see YouTube video above) ... with minor adjustments. Here's the recipe I'm trying:

- Butterfly a shoulder (prefer to remove bone), pork belly, or pork loin      

   roast.

- Pat meat dry, then rub olive oil over meat.

- Apply generous amount of pepper, garlic powder and then sprinkle 

   kosher salt throughout meat, and pat into meat.

- Option: sprinkle some roasted fennel seeds (roast in pan for 30 to 60 

   seconds) throughout meat.

- Apply chopped garlic and onions evenly throughout meat.

- Chop up fresh oregano, rosemary, thyme, cilantro and basil. A medium 

   sized bowl full of chopped herbs is needed. Apply generous thickness of 

   chopped herbs throughout meat.

- Roll meat up and then tie with cooking twine to hold together.

- Rub the outside of the pork roll with olive oil and sprinkle with black 

   pepper, garlic powder, and kosher salt.

- Cook at 275F to 300F indirect until internal temperature hits 165F.

- Wrap in foil and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes, then cut and serve.

Mark_B_Good

Here's some progress pictures ...

JohnInCarolina

Please tell me you are also playing the same background music that Dark Side has in his video.

Mark_B_Good

Looking good. Took 6h 15 min to cook this 9 lb (well, was 9 lb with bone in before I removed it) to 175F internal. Now resting.

lousubcap

He!! of an undertaking and looking good with the crust.  Great documentation.  Now that you have teased us...

Mark_B_Good

Turned out well. Next time, the following adjustments.

- I'll stop the cook at 155F to 160F. 165F is okay, but some parts were a little on dry side.
- after cutting pieces ... add oil, and check salt, add if necessary, then gently mix into the pieces.  I found that we could have used more salt. I added salt to a sample, and it tasted way better.  The herbs definitely gave it a nice flavor, but a bit more salt and some olive oil turned it magical.

fishlessman

Mark_B_Good said:

Turned out well. Next time, the following adjustments.

- I'll stop the cook at 155F to 160F. 165F is okay, but some parts were a little on dry side.
- after cutting pieces ... add oil, and check salt, add if necessary, then gently mix into the pieces.  I found that we could have used more salt. I added salt to a sample, and it tasted way better.  The herbs definitely gave it a nice flavor, but a bit more salt and some olive oil turned it magical.

some dryness has always been a problem for me with any rolled meat except with braising to finish up with. wonder with it being a butt that it may have needed just a few more degrees internal, that seems to be a problem with that cut

Mark_B_Good

fishlessman said:

Mark_B_Good said:

Turned out well. Next time, the following adjustments.

- I'll stop the cook at 155F to 160F. 165F is okay, but some parts were a little on dry side.
- after cutting pieces ... add oil, and check salt, add if necessary, then gently mix into the pieces.  I found that we could have used more salt. I added salt to a sample, and it tasted way better.  The herbs definitely gave it a nice flavor, but a bit more salt and some olive oil turned it magical.

some dryness has always been a problem for me with any rolled meat except with braising to finish up with. wonder with it being a butt that it may have needed just a few more degrees internal, that seems to be a problem with that cut

The inside was perfectly fine at 165F ... it wasn't tough at all, given we were using a knife to cut it ... and even chewing the pieces was no issues. But the outside was probably a good 190F to 200F ... huge temperature gradient between outside and inside ... even though my dome was 275F.

Canugghead

Challenge with significant temp gradient in vs. out when you're dealing with a big 'log' is real. I'm thinking sous vide followed by infrared rotisserie in your Pro 665? fwiw, I cooked my turducken inside out to overcome this issue.

caliking

Bravo!! That looks phenomenal!

Given the temp gradient for a big ol' roll like that, what about cooking to 140ish internal? Temp will rise some during the rest, and the outside may end 160-170ish?

I know its not the same cook, but I've done butts to 150ish, to cut up as steaks, and they turned out well.

Mark_B_Good

caliking said:

Bravo!! That looks phenomenal!

Given the temp gradient for a big ol' roll like that, what about cooking to 140ish internal? Temp will rise some during the rest, and the outside may end 160-170ish?

I know its not the same cook, but I've done butts to 150ish, to cut up as steaks, and they turned out well.

I would probably want to see at least 145F ... just in case you aren't probing exactly the rawest part ... and then foil wrap and let sit for 20 minutes.  Even 150F will still be juicy ... probably leaving the outside temperature around 175F to 180F.  

Now, another thing to note ... because this was a shoulder, only about 1/2 the outside was covered in a fat layer ... the part with the fat layer was PERFECTLY fine on the outside ... it was the part that didn't have the fat layer on it that was a bit dry on the outside.  I cooked fat down (and that did render the fat nicely still ... was very crispy) ... but I wonder if fat up wouldn't have been better with an indirect cook.

Alternatively, some are doing this with pork belly ... and that will get the outside completely protected with fat all around.  So, I think this issue disappears completely with pork belly.  I'm not a fan though, I think pork belly has too much engrained fat for a porchetta.