Pork Rib Roast – An Herbed, Succulent Success

Pork rib roast may seem intimidating, but it is actually easy to season and cook. The best pork is bone-in, and the best way to cook it is roasted.

Pork rib roast for all occasions

You may think that cooking a pork rib roast is a big deal. But it is actually very easy.

You may think that pork rib roast is only for special occasions like family gatherings or holiday dinners. But it is a dish that fits into everyday life and can be made without constant attention.

And they are economical, too. Pork rib roasts are common in most grocery stores. Once cooked, they can provide a succulent meal for a family, or a couple of days of yummy reheats.

Choose your pork rib roast

Stand in the meat aisle of your grocery store and you’ll see more selections of beef and pork than you might know what to do with.

Pork is a little easier than beef to select. The USDA does not grade pork the way it does beef. It may be more convenient when selecting particular cuts of meat to not have to choose between select or choice, or first or second cut, but there is still a whole hog’s worth of pig to consider.

A bone-in roast is a great choice because it is a fattier cut of meat than say, a pork tenderloin. But it is still a relatively lean piece of pig and the fat is going to keep the meat moist while cooking. It is also a great conduit of flavor. The bones help the roast hold it’s shape and also transmit heat from the oven into the meat, helping it cook faster and more evenly.

After cooking cut away the bone rack completely for a rib-free roast, or cut up to make succulent pork chops.

Bring on the brine

Brining is a common step that adds flavor and moisture to the meat. Brines are made of many concoctions, but they all rely on very simple foundations.

• A liquid to soak the meat in. It needs to be cold, and the meat must be completely submerged. Water is the most common choice. It is often flavored with teas, herbs, spices, or peppers.
• Salt. No matter what kind, tenderized meat fibers, making the meat easier to cut and chew. Salt pulls blood and liquid out of meat and replaces it with the flavored water of the brine mix. It also infuses itself into the meat, requiring less application of salt when seasoning by the chef or (gasp!) by the diner.
• Sugar. While not a common component in brines, sugar is great to add to brine for all the same reasons salt is necessary. Sugar is a desiccant that will pull out liquid and draw in brine liquid. It imparts sweetness to certain meats that may benefit, such as pork and chicken. And it tenderized meat fibers.
• Acid. Vinegar, citrus juice, or other culinary acids work to tenderize and flavor meat, too. Best to use them with moderation, unless you want pickle juice-brined pork. (And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, just know what you are getting into.)
• Time. Brine is how we pickle and preserve foods. But in this case, we are only using it to enhance flavor. A piece of meat left too long in a brine will breakdown and become mushy once cooked. It will also be way too salty. Most meats, even tough cuts, will brine well enough after 12 hours of marinating, depending upon the strength and concentration of the brine.

The Chef Jack Brine

My typical brine is sweet and salty, with herbal notes I get from infusing tea into my water.

Marinating for up to 24 hours will give me a wonderful flavor and juiciness to the meats.

Generally, I make a brine based on 2 gallons of water, 8 bags of orange spice tea, coca cola syrup, and kosher salt. I use coca-cola syrup instead of sugar in the brine because it provides a unique sweetness with a tinge of bitterness that sugar alone doesn’t yield. If you can’t get your hands on Coke syrup, try molasses.  It will yield a similar flavor profile.

The brine needs to be heated to infuse the tea and dissolve the salt, but then I keep it chilled in the fridge before I ever add any meat to it. And, of course, I always toss marinade that has been used.

A pork for all seasonings

One of the great things about pork is that just about any seasoning is going to work with it. Pork is hearty like beef, broad like chicken, tender like veal, even delicate like some fish.

It takes on flavors that might not usually work on certain foods, giving us a big spice canvas to work on. But the spices are only here to enhance, not overpower the great flavor in this roast.

And we are still looking for that happy blend of sweet, salt, and spice. So we are going to get that from a mix of spices like garlic, mustard, and coriander, salt (yes, we still need salt for flavoring), dried orange peel, and granulated honey, and spiciness from red chili paste and chili powder. We will pick up some herbal notes using dried parsley. I use dried over fresh because it had more flavor and won’t burn during the roasting process.

Combine the spice mix with olive oil to form a paste. This makes it easier to stick to the roast and to keep the spices from burning as they cook.

A good foundation

While there are roasting racks and screens and other kinds of gadgets that elevate a roast off the bottom of the pan while it is in the oven, I like to put down a layer of mirepoix and let my roast set on that.

While the roast is cooking, this mix of onions, carrots, celery and herbs is cooking, too. It is catching and blending with the juices of the meat and fat, and providing its own aromatic contribution to the meat. It will also become the flavoring foundation for our finishing sauce.

A rough cut of vegetables is sufficient, but there needs to be enough in the bottom of the pan to hold the roast up by at least 2 inches to start.

Time to get sear – ious

What’s the difference between a really great piece of meat, cooked to perfection, and one that is just kind of bland and ho-hum? The sear, my friends, the sear.

Searing meat at high temperature creates an effect called the Maillard reaction. This is what makes grill marks so distinctive, or pan-searing the first step in making a great steak.

Searing kick starts the cooking process in a way that seals the meat fibers at the surface, holding in juices. It also is the source of that great flavor a well cooked meat has that poaching or just plain baking doesn’t achieve.

Cooking a pork rib roast like this one is going to call for a sear. Once the meat is covered in herbs and spices, searing on a pan or grill just isn’t practical.

But we can sear in our ovens with high heat.

Once the pork rib roast has been brined, seasoned, and nestled in its cradle of mirepoix, we put it in a preheated oven at 500°F. The super-hot air will hit the oil-glazed surface and brown the meat like we’d dropped it in a fryer. We only need to do this for about 15 – 30 minutes (depending upon the size of the roast). We will then cut the heat down to 325-350°F to finish cooking our roast.

A probe thermometer is practically a must for getting a pork rib roast cooked properly.

Cooking the roast in two steps – roasting at 500°F for a short period then dropping the heat and cooking until finished – produces a roast that is both tender and juicy, with a great seared crust on the outside.

Make a sauce

Once the roast is cooked to a nice degree of done (about 150-160°F) it needs time to rest out of the oven.

While the roast is resting, we can make a sauce from the drippings, infused with all the flavors of the roast and the aromatic vegetables the roast sits on.

We just have to pull the roast out of the pan and drain the juices from the pan through a colinder. We heat the drippings on the stove top, add a splash of cider vinegar and thicken with a cornstarch slurry. It gives us an awesome sauce with all the great flavors of the meat, and a little kick from the vinegar.

Slice and serve

Once the roast has rested cut it into chops or take off the bones and sliced into filets. Serve it with roasted potatoes and vegetables or anything you please.

View then do

Check out how simple it is to cook a great roast in the video below, and then bring your own flair to this delicious cut of meat!

I originally published this post on 2/01/2018 and updated it 6/05/2019