Frenched Pork Rack Roast

Have you had a Frenched pork rack roast? This is an easy pork rib roast to cook and the pork rib rack bones keep the meat deliciously moist and tender.

If you need to, follow the step by step instructions on how to French trim the rack from scratch in easy steps.

Perfect for entertaining, or an alternative to turkey at Christmas, this dish is certainly impressive.

Even better, it carves beautifully and easily, and is packed full of flavour.

Of course, the crackling is perfectly crispy too!

Bon appétit! 

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you will love this dish
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪Instructions
• ⏲️ Cooking Time
• 🥗 Side Dishes
• 📖 Variations
• 🍣 Storage
• 🍱 Prepare in Advance
• 🤔 FAQs
• More pork dishes
• 📋 Recipe
• Pork
• 💬 Comments

Disclaimer - This is a sponsored post for Swaledale Butchers, however, all views are my own. Please read the disclosure policy for full details.

Everyone has heard of a rack of lamb, but how about a rack of pork recipe? We often have pork for a Sunday roast and it has to have crackling. In fact, we always fight over it!

This recipe is a little bit more special, so it's perfect for entertaining. It doesn't need lots of attention while it cooks and makes the most delicious gravy to serve alongside.

The rack of pork is tender, juicy and full of flavour, so this has to be one of my favourite pork cuts.

Of course, you don't have to French trim the joint, it will still be totally delicious!

Why choose Swaledale Butchers?

Swaledale Butchers provide grass fed and free range meats to buy online, sourced from the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District, including beef, pork, lamb and game. The pork, beef and lamb is fed as naturally as possible.

The meat is aged for up to 70 days, helped by a wall of Himalayan salt in the drying room, which draws out the moisture and intensifies the flavours in the meat.

They have a huge choice of products online, with a range of cuts of meat, which also include cuts from around the world. This incudes French cut bavette steak, côte de boeuf  Brazilian cut picanha beef roast and an Italian sausage called cotechino.

It's not the sort of selection you see in most butchers and everything arrives fresh and vaccum packed, ready for the fridge or freezer.

❤️ Why you will love this dish

• Easy to cook.
• Carves beautifully.
• Great for entertaining.
• Perfect alternative to turkey at Christmas, Thanksgiving or New Year.

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🥘 Ingredients

• Pork - pork rack roast joint, also known as a pork rib roast, Frenched pork rack or French trimmed.
• Onion - brown onion for flavour.
• Oil - vegetable, rape or olive oil.
• Salt - table salt or kosher salt. This helps to draw out the moisture from the skin and make perfect crackling, while also seasonong the meat.
• Stock - chicken stock or pork stock if available.

The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.

I ordered a 1.4 kg (3 lb) rack of pork, which actually weighed 1.6kg.

This joint arrived already chined. This means that it has been cut along the backbone, which has been removed. You can ask your butcher to do this for you as it makes the meat much easier to carve.

I wanted to keep the recipe simple to get the full flavour of the pork, so you will just need an onion, oil, seasoning and chicken stock to make a delicious pork rib roast with gravy.

🍽 Equipment

• sharp knife
• boning knife - optional
• small sharp knife - for scraping the bones
• deep roasting dish
• wooden spoon
• liquidiser - optional

🔪Instructions

As this is a pork rib roast, the rib bones are inbedded in the meat, which means they will help conduct the heat when cooking and add to the flavour.

For an elegant presentation ribs are often 'French trimmed'. A Frenched pork means that the meat is cut away from the ribs and the bones scraped clean. While your butcher can do this for you, it is perfectly achievable at home.

Start by placing the joint, flesh side down on a chopping board.

Take a sharp knife to cut through the skin and fat 4 centimetres from the rib end, down to the bone.

Use the knife to pierce the flesh between the bones. This will provide a guide for where to cut on the other side.

Turn the meat over so that the bones face upwards.

Widen the cut holes and then cut along the lengths of bone to the end.

Now, carefully cut around the bones. The meat should come away in one chunk. This cut off piece will be roasted with the main joint and will add extra flavour to the pan juices.

Turn the joint over again. I find it's easier to switch to a small paring knife to scrape the remnants of flesh from the bones. Aim to remove as much remaining flesh as you can.

If you are finding it difficult, imagine you are scraping the skins from new potatoes, which will help with the technique!

Peel and slice an onion and use it to line a roasting dish where the pork will sit.

This will make a delicious gravy and act as a trivet allow the heat to circulate while the pork cooks.

Now score the pork rind for the crackling with a sharp knife. The skins was quite hard to the touch, due to the aging process. If it's difficult to cut. I opt for a bread knife. This gives you control, and the knife is less likely to slip.

Rub the skin with oil and sprinkle on the salt. Push it in with your fingers then place the joint on the onion trivet.

I also added the chine bone and the cut piece of meat from French trimming the bones, to give extra flavour to the gravy.

💭 Top tip

• If your pork rack roast has already been French trimmed be sure to bring it out of the fridge about an hour before cooking. This makes sure that the oven can get to work straightaway to cook the pork and ensure perfect crackling.
• If you are cooking pork that has not been dry aged it may be difficult to get crispy crackling as the skin tends to be more moist. After scoring the pork, sprinkle the surface very liberally with table salt. The salt is not going to be eaten, but helps to open up the skin, allowing the oven to get all the skin edges crispy. Leave to sit for 30 minutes then wash off the salt and pat dry. Then rub on the oil and sprinkle with salt as usual. This information can be found in the recipe for slow roast belly pork.

⏲️ Cooking Time

Preheat the oven to 220 C / 425 F / 200 FAN / Gas 7 and roast the meat for 20 minutes.

Turn the heat down to 200 C / 400 F / 180 FAN / Gas 6 for 30 minutes per 500g or 1 lb. The juices should run clear when the meat reaches an internal temperature of 70 C or 160 F.

Remove the pork rack roast and place on a roasting tray, loosely covered with foil for a minimum of 20 minutes. This will help the juices to settle into the meat and make it easy to carve.

Pour off most of the fat from the roasting pan then place it over a medium heat and add the chicken stock. Keep stirring until all the grungy stuck on bits have loosened.

At this point you could add some cornstarch/cornflour to water and whisk in to thicken.

For a smoother gravy, tip the mixture into a liquidiser and blend the onions and cornflour in directly. Return the gravy to the roasting pan to thicken and heat through.

💭 Top tip

• Be careful when working with hot liquids in a liquidiser as the volume expands and spill over. If in doubt, blend the liquid in batchesor take out the central plug.

You could also push the onions through a sieve if you prefer, or just chop them up in the roasting dish.

Slice the pork with the crackling and serve with the gravy poured over.

🥗 Side Dishes

Here are the side dishes that partner really well with pork.

• Fried Cabbage with Bacon
• Confit Potatoes
• French Potatoes Rissolé 
• Cavolo Nero Kale
• Honey Roasted Carrots and Parsnips
• Easy Roast Potatoes
• Honey Roasted Swede
• Roast Savoy Cabbage
• Green Beans with Almonds
• Chateau Potatoes
• Crispy Smashed Potatoes
• Potatoes Aligot - Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

📖 Variations

• Vegetables - use a combination of carrots, onions, celery or celeriac for a really tasty gravy.

🍣 Storage

• Refrigerator - cool cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days.
• Freezer  - pack in airtight containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge.
• To reheat - wrap the meat in foil and heat in the oven at 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4.

🍱 Prepare in Advance

• Prepare the rack of pork for cooking, cover and leave in the fridge for up to 4 days or use before date. Alternatively, freeze uncooked for up to 6 months.

🤔 FAQs

Let me know what you think in the comments or you can post a picture and tag me on Twitter @chezlereve, Instagram @chezlerevefrancais, or Facebook @chezlerevefrancais

More pork dishes

• Pork Confit Belly
• Bacon wrapped stuffed Pork Fillet
• Slow Roast Pork Shanks
• Tuscan Roast Pork
• Slow Roast Belly Pork
• Pulled Pork with Crackling
• Roast Gammon
• Pork Normandy

📋 Recipe

Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

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