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German Pork Knuckle (Schweinshaxe) - Slow Roasted with Crispy crackling!
Recipe video above. Realistically, one knuckle will serve 2. But for wow factor, serve one per person!!!While producing tender Pork Knuckle flesh is straightforward enough, very few recipes truly nail the crispy crackling. So here is a recipe that finally does! The skin is crispy all over and fabulously bubbly, shattering into a thousand porky shards when you bite instead of breaking your teeth on hard, leathery patches!Meanwhile, the flesh is seasoned with traditional flavourings and the Pork Knuckle is served with an authentic, dark and malty German beer gravy. It's every carnivore's dream come true!
👥 2 Servings⏱️ Prep & Cook: 3h 20m⏳ Prep: 20 min🔥 Cook: 3h👤 Nagi📖 recipetineats
🥘 Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you prepare them:
🍳 Cookware
- ●knife
- ●oven
- ●pan
- ●saucepan
📝 Preparation Steps
1
Preparation and seasoning:
2
Prick skin: Poke lots of small holes all over the pork knuckle’s skin, using a small sharp knife or even a pin (eg. safety pin, sewing pin). Take care not to pierce through the fat into the flesh (Note 7).
3
Vinegar: Brush (or rub) 1 tbsp of the vinegar on the pork flesh only, including inside cracks / crevices and meat under the skin where it meets the flesh (but do not peel skin back). Avoid getting vinegar on the skin.
4
Stud with garlic: Make shallow incisions in the pork flesh (only) with a small knife then stuff with the garlic slivers.
5
Seasoning rub: Pound the rub ingredients in a mortar and pestle until it's a coarse powder (or use a Nutribullet, spice grinder or similar).
6
Rub seasoning on pork: Rub pork skin with olive oil. Then rub the seasoning mix all over the pork – on the flesh, skin, and getting into all the cracks and crevices.
7
Skewer skin (secret for crispy skin! Note 8): Pull the skin down to stretch it tight so there's no creases. Then thread through 2 metal skewers in a "X" formation near the base of the knuckle. Pierce through skin 2cm / 0.8" from the base of the pork knuckle to hold the stretched skin in place.
8
"Marinate" overnight: Place pork standing on a plate, then leave uncovered in the fridge overnight (Note 9).
9
Slow-roasting:
10
Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan).
11
Beer gravy: Put all beer gravy ingredients in a roasting pan (deep enough to hold all liquids and vegetables).
12
Rack on pan: Place a rack over the pan. Place pork knuckle on rack, sitting upright. (Note 10)
13
Slow roast: Roast for ⏱️ 2 hours ⏱️ 10 minutes, rotating tray half way. (If the liquid in the pan is getting too low and in danger of drying out, top with 1/2 cup of water at a time.) Roast until the internal temperature in the thickest part of meat reaches 85°C / 185°F.
14
Make crispy Pork Knuckle crackling!
15
Remove knuckle from oven, transfer knuckle to a tray.
16
Increase oven: Increase oven to 260°C / 500°F (240°C fan) (Note 11)
17
Brush skin with vinegar: Brush skin with 1/2 the remaining 1 tbsp of vinegar. Place in oven for ⏱️ 30 minutes, rotating tray halfway and brushing with remaining vinegar.
18
Skin should be crispy, dip golden and mostly bubbly.
19
Rest: Rest ⏱️ 15 minutes before serving with German Beer Gravy!
20
German beer gravy:
21
Strain liquid: Strain roasting pan juices into a saucepan. Ideally you should have around 1.5 - 2 cups.
22
Thicken: Bring liquid to a simmer. Mix cornflour and water, then pour into liquid while stirring. Add sugar and salt to taste.
salt (, kosher / cooking salt NOT table salt (Note 4))2 tsp- 1/2 tsp salt (, kosher / cooking salt NOT table salt (Note 4))1/4
23
Simmer: Simmer for ⏱️ 2 minutes or until it becomes a thin syrup consistency (German beer gravy should not be as thick as normal gravy, but quite runny). If it's too thick, add a touch of water. Too thin, simmer to reduce - it will thicken. Serve with pork knuckle!
Nutrition Facts
calories
633 kcal
fat Content
20 g
serving Size
1 serving
fiber Content
3 g
sugar Content
6 g
sodium Content
3504 mg
protein Content
65 g
trans Fat Content
1 g
cholesterol Content
180 mg
carbohydrate Content
32 g
saturated Fat Content
6 g
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