Servings: 4
Cook Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
Difficulty: Intermediate
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Danish Roast pork and crackling is one of the most beloved and traditional meals in Denmark, particularly around the Christmas season. Keeping the skin on the pork when you cook helps to retain the moisture in the meat and give you some amazing crackling.

Ingredients

1kg boneless pork roast with rind
Coarse salt (to taste)
1 or 2 bay leaves
400-500 ml of water
Thyme
1 carrot
1 onion

Directions

Preheat your oven to around 250 °C..
Place the pork joint in a roasting dish skin-side down and add just enough boiling water to submerge the skin. Cut deep lines into the pork to help it cook thoroughly. You’ll also use these cuts to help get your herbs and spices deeper into the meat.
Cook the pork in the oven for around 20 minutes, then remove the tray from the oven and pour away the water (careful not to lose your pork joint).
Chop your onion and carrot finely and add the mixture to your roasting tin.
Turn the oven down to 160 °C and place the pork back in the tray with the skin facing up. Coat the skin with salt and pepper before you start cooking again and apply your bay leaves and thyme.
Pour 400-500ml of fresh water back into the tin and place the pork in the oven for around an hour. Check half-way through to ensure the water hasn’t evaporated too much.
Use a meat thermometer to check the temperature of the pork after an hour. It should be around 70 degrees. Remove the fatty residue and increase the oven temperature to 250 °C. Place the pork back into the oven to make your crackling. This will usually take around 15 minutes.
Remove the roast from the oven and check the temperature again. If it’s between 70-75 °C leave the roast to rest on the side for ab out 10 minutes.

Background: Origins of flæskesteg

Danish roast pork with crackling is the traditional Christmas meal for most Danish families.

You can also eat this dinner all year round, usually with a combination of seasonal vegetables and butter-coated potatoes. In many countries, pork is prepared without the rind, but the Danes love leaving the fat behind so they can transform it into delicious, crispy, and salty crackling.