Pork Roast the Old-Fashion Way (Cast Iron Dutch Oven)

"Very tender roast, wonderful rich gravy. Serve with mashed tatters or French fries. Wonderful as left over for hot pork sandwiches. I've made this type roast for over 50 years!"
 
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photo by Food.com photo by Food.com
photo by Food.com
photo by Anonymous photo by Anonymous
photo by olivera1975_11900898 photo by olivera1975_11900898
photo by Keith K. photo by Keith K.
photo by Food.com photo by Food.com
Ready In:
1hr 15mins
Ingredients:
10
Serves:
4-5
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ingredients

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directions

  • Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
  • Melt lard in cast iron dutch oven, or very heavy bottomed pot with lid, over medium high heat.
  • Salt and pepper all sides of pork roast.
  • When lard just begins to give off smell of being hot, place roast in pot.
  • DO NOT move it for a minute or so, then rotate it to brown all sides.
  • Lay garlic cloves and onion slices around the roast and stir to brown them a bit.
  • Mix Kitchen Bouquet into the 2 cups of water.
  • Pour in the water mixture.
  • Bring to a boil.
  • Cover tightly and place in lower portion of the oven.
  • Roast 1 hour for boneless roast; 1-3/4 hours for bone-in roast.
  • Half-way through roasting time turn the roast over.
  • Remove roast from pan and cover to keep hot.
  • Mix 2 Tablespoons cornstarch into 1/2 cup water.
  • Using a whisk, stir the cornstarch mixture into the pot drippings, breaking up the garlic cloves as you mix.
  • Bring to a boil, taste and season if needed with salt and/or pepper.
  • NOTE: Pork roast made this way is ALWAYS tender.
  • It makes wonderful hot pork sandwiches!
  • The gravy is out of this world!

Questions & Replies

  1. Have been struggling with the recipe using a pork loin roast as recipe mentions butt or loin as suggested cut. First few attempts were good and tender meat resulted but last several were not as tender... the large amount of flavorful gravy is the clincher for our family with potatoes and gravy and sauerkraut. Asked before about a reference for minutes per pound and maybe a lower temperature. Finally found on pork website to NOT braise loin roast as it can get tough. Butt is fine to braise and recommended but NOT loin roast which may be reason for my mixed results. So just sharing this finding with all.
     
  2. love the recipe and gravy but pork roast was dry this time ... followed recipe exactly except after an hour checked temperature and didnt know what is safe and when inserted probe it seemed tough not tender as others say in reviews. so cooked a bit longer..needless to say made it worse probably So looking for a temperature to know cooked but not dried out Thanks Also has anyone tried lowering oven to 325 and cooking a little longer thanks
     
  3. Help...! Seems Steve and I are the only ones having issues. My roast is in oven right now. Followed to a T the instructions and at 1 hour I got rubber. Luckily I left extra fat and there's good collagen so another round in the oven and hopefully I too will have a succulent roast! Any extra tips, hacks? All ears. Thanks Héctor
     
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Reviews

  1. Wow. Despite the various substitutions and "make-do"s that I had to do...this was by far the easiest and best pork roast I have ever made. My husband and 2 1/2 year old twin boys agree. I used 2T cold bacon fat instead of lard, I used 1 cup beef broth, 1 cup water, season salt and dried parsley instead of the Bouquet/water mix, and I did all the "before oven" steps in my cast iron skillet, then transferred everything into my giant ceramic dutch iven type pot that I let preheat with the oven. Then, since my adventuresome twins have long since broken the ceramic top, I covered as tightly as possible with foil. And it still came out beautifully. AND it was perfect after only and hour. And the gravy?? Oh my goodness, no other gravy will ever be good enough again, this one was soooo perfect...THANK YOU!
     
  2. Okay. This is the second thing that I've cooked in our Le Cruset Dutch Oven that we got from our friend Betty at our wedding. I used olive oil and butter to brown. I didn't have any onions so I omitted those and the garlic. I just rubbed it with salt, white pepper, and the "Tuscan Sunset" seasonings from Pensey Spices that we have. I put in 2 Cups of Chicken Broth and set it in the oven. The recipe called for an hour, but it took almost 1:45 to cook the entire roast to 160 degrees.<br/><br/>I just added some corn starch/water mixture to the juice and brought it to a boil then strained it.<br/><br/>Amazing. I'll be serving this with mashed potatoes (I boil the Yukon Gold Potatoes in Heavy Cream and Milk and then use half of that and some butter before I mash - thanks Tyler!) and some carrots!<br/><br/>Awesome!!!!
     
  3. I just purchased a Le Creuset 7.5 Dutch Oven -- A dream of having one is over 30 yrs old.. I made this recipe and IT WAS AWESOME!!! It was the best pork roast I had ever eaten. I used olive oil instead of the lard for a more healthy choice. I never liked pork gravy until I tried this one. I will make this recipe again...
     
  4. This turned out wonderfully! I didn't have any lard so I used an equal amount of bacon grease (which is basically bacon-flavored lard). Is there anything that bacon can't do? The roast was tender and very juicy, not dry like some I've had. I'll be making this often. Thanks for posting this. I can see why you've been making this for 50 years, Peg. I hope I can enjoy this for many years to come, too.
     
  5. This is an awesome recipe! I was very skeptical of making a pork roast like this. I usually do mine in the crock pot on low for 8 hours so the meat is nice and tender. This roast came out very tender...no knife needed! The best part was I took the leftovers and shredded it up and added some Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ Sauce and had pulled pork BBQ sandwiches the next day. Definitely a keeper!
     
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Tweaks

  1. I've been doing my pork loin roasts this way for a while. One thing indo differently, is i roast it at 200F and use a bluetooth thermometer to see when it hits 140F. The roasts come out tender. I slice the roast thinly on a meat slicer, and warm in gravy for roast pork sandwiches, over mashed potatoes, over rice and mixed veggies. Lower and slower sometimes will help the fat break down, and it certainly works for me. I will post a pic when it gets done roasting.
     
  2. I didn't have kitchen bouquet so used beef stock along with just the salt and pepper came out beautiful
     
  3. This recipe is OUTSTANDING in more ways than one! Easy, simple..........and the results are best tasting, moist pork you have EVER cooked. The gravy you can drink.......it's that good ya'll. I will never use another pork recipe again, this one is a keeper. Family had a FIT over this one! Can't wait for the leftovers! I had a 5 lb. pork roast, seared it in canola oil (really good) added the onions and I added extra garlic cloves (we like garlic) and used beef stock instead of water. This recipe produces lot of love on the plate for those you love folks!
     
  4. After searing, I deglazed with a bit of white wine for acidity and a little sweetness. I would use rice/ac/white vinegar if I didn't have white wine. I also added a sprig of fresh rosemary. I browned the outside a little too long so I decreased the cook time to keep the inside tender. It came out nicely, though next time I'd sear less and lower the oven to 300-325 so it cook a bit more slowly.
     
  5. This cooking method is amazing. I used bacon grease instead of lard because my husband prefers it. I never found the kitchen bouquet, so I used Montreal Chicken and Smoky Steak seasonings. Instead of water, I substituted a can of beer and 3/4 cup chicken stock. My husband raves about this, and requests it every time we get a pork roast. My oven is "cold," and it still came out perfectly in about an hour. Note - in order for cornstarch to thicken the gravy, it must be mixed with cold water.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

"Older" gal...I've been cooking for 45 years...and am at my best when in the kitchen. My favorite skillet and dutch oven are "cast iron". I have the newer non-stick versions, but always go back to my oldie-goldies.
 
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