Recipe Requested What should I do with this

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Gshep91

Gshep91

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Got this as a gift, what should I do with it?

I don’t have a smoker or sous vide so it’s oven/gas grill/pan cooking only.

Just cut into steaks and call it a day, same as pork chops?

Currently defrosting in the fridge and planning to cook on Tuesday for dinner

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Roast it whole on a 375-400 oven with salt and lots of rosemary on top. Go to 135-137 and let it carry over to 145.

The top is the other side, should have a fat cap on it.

It’s hands down the number one easiest roast to cook. You can find a million more complicated recipes, I find all those sweet glazes just detract from the roast
 
By the way, you may need to put it in a bowl of water in the fridge. Leave it sealed. Should defrost by Tuesday morning then you can unwrap it and salt it, leave it uncovered and in the fridge. I’m not really used to frozen meat so. Someone else may have a better idea
 
Wonderful gift. Tuesday might be pushing it.

I'd do as little as possible to detract from the natural flavor. I'd want to dry brine but that won't be at all possible by Tuesday. I'd probably roast it as is and call it good. Chops would be good though too. Cut 'em thick so as not to dry out.
 
Blumbo said:
Roasts are nice and all but it’d probably do you good to dry brine it once it defrosts - but that might not be ready by Tues. I’d personally take a few slices, pound them out, bread in panko and shallow fry tonkatsu style to serve with curry!
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1/2tsp salt per pound, so about 2.5tsp rubbed on the entire roast and just Saran Wrap tightly and set in the fridge for a day or 2?

I’ve never brined anything honestly. I never cook roasts since im only ever cooking for 2 people
 
Gshep91 said:
Nah. My FIL is in charge of carnitas. Not me 😂 his family recipe is insanely good
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Its time he meets a challenger! but yeah 99% of the time if its a pork loin it becomes carnitas or katsu for me.... never tried roasting it whole as it is nearly impossible to finish in one meal (both carnitas / katsu allows it to be used as weekday lunch) without turning into a hockey puck by the next.
 
DoYoon Kim said:
Its time he meets a challenger! but yeah 99% of the time if its a pork loin it becomes carnitas or katsu for me.... never tried roasting it whole as it is nearly impossible to finish in one meal (both carnitas / katsu allows it to be used as weekday lunch) without turning into a hockey puck by the next.
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Fair point. Might cut it in half and do katsu on Tuesday and leave the rest for Fridays dinner
 
Gshep91 said:
1/2tsp salt per pound, so about 2.5tsp rubbed on the entire roast and just Saran Wrap tightly and set in the fridge for a day or 2?

I’ve never brined anything honestly. I never cook roasts since im only ever cooking for 2 people
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I never wrap when I dry brine. Just rub some salt and touch of brown sugar if you like over all exposed surfaces. Doesn't haven't to be a crust, just sprinkle it on as if you were cooking. That's a good safe start.

I'd be tempted to let that thaw until Wednesday, salt it and let it sit uncovered in the fridge until Friday.
 
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Carnitas are delicious but I feel like there are better more collagenous and fatty cuts for it than loin! Agree with leaving it uncovered while dry brining if that’s what you end up doing and I also love using both salt and sugar for pork. If you want to put a rosemary/garlic rub on for festiveness I’d also hold off until the last 10 minutes so it doesn’t burn. Might also be nice to serve with a brown butter mustard vinaigrette
 
HumbleHomeCook said:
I never wrap when I dry brine. Just rub some salt and touch of brown sugar if you like over all exposed surg=faces. Doesn't haven't to be a crust, just sprinkle it on as if you were cooking. That's a good safe start.

I'd be tempted to let that thaw until Wednesday, salt it and let it sit uncovered in the fridge until Friday.
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That’s the plan then. I’ll do something with half on Wednesday and brine the other half until Friday or Saturday. 5lbs is a lot for 2 of us lol
 
Yeah, loin is a waste for carnitas. Pork shoulder all the way for that.

Definitely highly recommended salting it at least 24hours ahead of time. Moistness insurance and pork loves salt.

Submerged in water in the fridge will definitely speed up the defrost time.
 
And last stupid question. Can i leave like 3lbs salted in the fridge for 3 days? Wouldn’t cause bacteria growth?

I won’t be home Thursday and just found out Friday won’t be an option either.

Otherwise I defrost it faster & brine in tomorrow night - Wednesday for dinner
 
Gshep91 said:
And last stupid question. Can i leave like 3lbs salted in the fridge for 3 days? Wouldn’t cause bacteria growth?

I won’t be home Thursday and just found out Friday won’t be an option either.

Otherwise I defrost it faster & brine in tomorrow night - Wednesday for dinner
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As long as there’s good air flow (enough space around it) it shouldn’t be a problem! Salt also helps prevent anything funky from happening. I will note that with leaner cuts that brining it uncovered for many days can sometimes make the texture a little dryer and less pleasant so I wouldn’t push it much past 3 days - but more for culinary reasons than microbiological ones.
 
For 2 people, I'd cut into nice thick chops and grill them with s&p. Raw unused gets wrapped tight in plastic and back in freezer for next meal... Or marinated for next day use. Dry brine is fine. 3 days is fine without a concern over bacteria, esp when salted. I agree Tuesday is pushing it defrosting in fridge.

Some will disagree but in the real life culinary world, if it comes in frozen and you need it tonight - it goes in a sink with cold water for 3-5 hours (depends on size of frozen mass and how cold your cold water is). Change the water every hour. Leave it sealed in the cryovac for this.

If you really want it Tuesday, you could do a 2-3 hour cold water soak today - float that puppy in a sink, in the cryovac. Flip it over every hour when you change the water. Open it up, season it, then back in fridge for a day - uncovered. I generally go 3 days on a dry cure and use fresh garlic, kosher salt, and fresh thyme.... I like a little rosemary on occasion but a little goes a long way. I use a sprig of rosemary when braising, but prefer thyme for dry cures.
 
A bit late to this party, but like others said using a tender lean cut like loin for slowcooking preparations like carnitas isn't ideal. You could just prepare it as a large roast but honestly I find it easier to just cut it up into steaks... That also gives you a better maillard per bite ratio.
Can cut some really thin to make schnitzels as well.
Though I do like the idea of making a proper roulade, this kind of cut is perfect for that.
But whatever you do, dry brine ahead of time, it helps a lot.
 
Mmm this is making me want to get a few ducks.. cure the leg quarters, then a 5 hour low temp braise in duck fat - confit.
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I worked at a French place that did this... Some of the duck confit went into a cassoulet along with house made sausage, and braised pork belly with cannellini's.
 
Over here for some reason there's much more demand for the duck breasts, so if you buy duck legs seperately they're actually surprisingly cheap. The same is true for flying game; wild duck and pheasant legs are really quite affordable by the kilo. Although I don't think they're necessarily better than domesticated duck, just... a bit different.
Honestly the main reason I'm not doing them every week is the energy cost. ;)
 
Jovidah said:
Over here for some reason there's much more demand for the duck breasts, so if you buy duck legs seperately they're actually surprisingly cheap. The same is true for flying game; wild duck and pheasant legs are really quite affordable by the kilo. Although I don't think they're necessarily better than domesticated duck, just... a bit different.
Honestly the main reason I'm not doing them every week is the energy cost. ;)
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Any kind of wild game is exorbitantly expensive here. Soooo many regulations on selling wild game or using it at s restaurant. I used to hunt duck and they seem to be smaller, less fat and more gamey than domestic. I also have not seen just the leg quarters for sale here.. but it makes sense as most places that serve duck are either whole duck or the breast. Though I haven't really hunted for the leg quarters, I see while and breasts at the grocery stores. I have a friend who raises duck and rabbit, so I get a really good deal from him... $3/# for whole duck. I'll have to get 6 just to be able to render enough fat for confit. He 9nly sells whole... I've been trying to get him to butcher so I can have the scraps to render. I'd use duck fat for practically everything if I could get it cheap enough.
 
Yeah the wild duck is definitly quite different. Always a lot smaller, and definitly less fat. For that reason I don't think they're necessarily superior for confit; just different. It can come out dryer than domestic duck, but the bonus in flavor can make up for it.

The legs I can only get at restaurant wholesalers, it's not something you find at your average supermarket or retailer, because there's just not much demand from regular consumers for them.
That's also where I can get tinned duck fat relatively cheap. I guess it helps that we're not that far away from France. ;)

It's not even that expensive either, I think <10 euros per kg? Probably cheaper than extra virgin olive oil at current prices! :D
 
Jovidah said:
Yeah the wild duck is definitly quite different. Always a lot smaller, and definitly less fat. For that reason I don't think they're necessarily superior for confit; just different. It can come out dryer than domestic duck, but the bonus in flavor can make up for it.

The legs I can only get at restaurant wholesalers, it's not something you find at your average supermarket or retailer, because there's just not much demand from regular consumers for them.
That's also where I can get tinned duck fat relatively cheap. I guess it helps that we're not that far away from France. ;)

It's not even that expensive either, I think <10 euros per kg? Probably cheaper than extra virgin olive oil at current prices! :D
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One of the major restaurant suppliers has what they call the USFoods Chefstore.... I can get buckets of duck fat but it's not exactly cheap. I get bases, onion rings, shrimp, primal cuts of meat, crabmeat, etc, etc. A lot of it is by the case but they do splits on some items - like you can get 1 duck or 1 tub of duck fat, 4# block of shrimp, etc, etc. They have a lot of stuff but no duck leg quarters. When I was working and doing the ordering, I never inquired about quarters because we used the whole duck. The chef/owner at Bistro Toulouse closed up during COVID so I'm currently without access to wholesale supply, other than the Chef Store. I'll def ask about duck quarters next time I'm in there though.
 
Make an enormous porchetta. Just find some skin-on pork belly big enough to wrap around the loin. Obviously you'll need a fair amount of belly, but that's the joy of porchetta – tons of tasty crackling. I tend to like using a combo of fennel, lemon zest, garlic, rosemary, sage, red pepper flakes and black pepper for the seasoning. And don't be shy with it.
 
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