Meathead's Porchetta Recipe: The Best Pork Roast You've Ever Had

If you've never heard of or have always wanted to prepare porchetta at home, this video (and the accompanying recipe found at amazingribs.com/porchetta/) is for you!
Featuring AmazingRibs.com founder and BBQ Hall Of Famer Meathead, this is a free preview of BBQ Stars (www.bbqstars.com), a premier collection of 120+ recipe and technique tutorials from some of the biggest names in barbecue and grilling available exclusively to AmazingRibs.com's Pitmaster Club members. Join now by visiting www.amazingribs.com/pitmaster. You can also learn more about AmazingRibs.com's BBQ Stars at amazingribs.com/bbq-stars/.
Meathead is joined in making this ultimate pork roast by Greg and Kristina Gaardbo of Chicago Culinary Kitchen in Palatine, IL (chicagoculinarykitchen.com/).
"When people think of the classic Italian dishes, pizza and pasta usually come to mind, but in my mind, it is Porchetta. They are BIG tubes of pork rolled around spices and other goodies meant to serve a crowd. When I went to Italy I tasted several variations and tried to think of how to create a recipe for you that is not so large but is true to the Italian versions. Others have tried. Cook’s Illustrated and the New York Times did something from pork shoulder that really is not even close.
"Then, one day, I was hanging with my friends, Greg and Kristina Gaardbo of the Chicago Culinary Kitchen in Palatine, IL, and I saw them nail it. Instead of using pork loin as I had been trying, they did it with pork belly that they butterflied. That captured the essence of the rich, fatty, Italian original. In this video I invited them to show you themselves. If you can get a meaty belly with the skin on, you can come even closer to the original," says Meathead.
To learn more about this dish and how to prepare it, visit amazingribs.com/porchetta.

[@harryhthenorwegian476]

This i have being waiting for! Thanks! 😀

[@mediclimber]

I'll have to try this recipe. Thanks.

[@rickwatson1000]

Grreat Father & Daughter team

[@101N]

Beautiful!

[@devinthomas4866]

Wow! Looks fantastic. Congrats on the team work. Impressive. Love the smoked tomato component. Only thing missing is about 25 people to eat that thing!! Beautiful meal. Tons of skill and art going on. Thanks for sharing

[@andypandy8569]

Excellent tutorial. Thank you all!

[@philderosa4021]

Love it...Will absolutely be doing this one!!!

[@gourmetwoodsman]

My mouth is watering! Great video! Thank you!

[@marcuscicero9587]

the big guy did a masterful job unrolling the belly into a sheet

[@goodbarbenie5477]

That Lady is certainly a Dish of her on her own..LuvU Mame.. 😊😅😂...

[@dmancuso]

To cook the veggies, are any of the grill burners on or are you just using the heat from the rotisserie?

[@AmazingRibs]

I do have the underneath burners on low.

[@bnnusa58]

True porchetta always has the skin attached, that’s where the crunchy cracklings come from.

[@AmazingRibs]

I havde traveled Italy in search of porchetta. It is true that MOST porchetta has the skin attached. But there are many variations. In many places it is whole hog. In others it is just the rib section. If you click the link in the description, you will see the great Dario Cecchini, the world's most famous butcher, in Tuscany, rolling one without the skin and in the background one with the skin.

[@NickWebber-vp4pd]

If your butcher is truly your ‘friend’ they will never sell you top ‘choice’ cuts…only ‘prime’ cuts…😂😂😂

[@DavesIneosGrenadier]

Why have you removed the skin/crackling?????

[@AmazingRibs]

That's how it was delivered. BUT, I've done it both ways, and the skin gets really hard, without the skin, the surface gets very crunchy. I liked it better without.

[@markburton5318]

@@AmazingRibsif you prick the skin, it is not hard but crunchy. It has to have the skin. I use the Chinese method, which is to soften the skin with boiling water then I use a thing with 12 sharp nails to put thousands of holes. Or the Filipino method, which doesn’t bubble up the skin but is easy to bite through.

[@yissssss]

Great recipe - one suggestion though. The guests seemed really nervous. I think it might be because of the format of you introducing them then handing it over. You should try and make it more like a conversation so they are more relaxed. That being said, you're the boss. Been making your bacon recipe for 10 years now.

[@AmazingRibs]

Yeah, the three of us are cooks and not TV stars.

[@BaronEvola123]

While I agree with you, it's definitely organic. They came across as genuine.

[@thenomenclature7243]

They were nervous because of that hot lady around them.

[@marcomolinero5877]

8:20 😉

[@markopalikko6986]

No chefs, artists!!!

[@marcuscicero9587]

Costco got great pork belly. whole and cut

[@denbo74]

This is a good video but not typical. Fennel salt and garlic are the keys flavor profile of this dish

[@AmazingRibs]

Yes, fenne, salt, a nd garlic are common, but I have eaten at least a dozen porchettas in italy and they are all different.

[@SealifeBonD]

Right, the real porchetta is only Ariccia's. This is just a good roast pork

[@AmazingRibs]

@@SealifeBonD Ariccia porchetta tends to be whole hog. But porchetta is made in many other regions. Click on the link above to see how it is made in Roma, Tuscay, etc.

[@SealifeBonD]

@@AmazingRibs True, but the basic recipe is unique to everyone. However, your recipe cannot be called “porchetta”

[@AmazingRibs]

@@SealifeBonD Sadly, your lack of knowledge of the reality of the culinary world is showing. There is no single one true authentic way to make porchetta r anything else for that matter. Even in Ariccia.

[@bigbandguru]

Oriental markets have pork belly.

[@AmazingRibs]

Goo tip!

[@jerseycitysteve]

With respect, I would use fresh herbs and fresh garlic. Otherwise, this is an excellent cook. Costco has tons of pork bellies and packers briskets

[@AmazingRibs]

There is a link to the written recipe in the description above. It says "Use fresh herbs if you wish. Be forewarned: If you use fresh garlic it will not cook through, so you will taste raw garlic."

[@jerseycitysteve]

@@AmazingRibs I've never had trouble if the garlic is pureed and the cook is low and slow until the final crisping. I've never heard of an Italian using garlic powder but perhaps it's better. I've always enjoyed and profited from your other recipes. I bought an ABC slow 'n sear for my Weber Kettle on your recommendation.

[@DemsAreDemonic]

After 27 uh umms I couldn’t stand it any longer.

[@AmazingRibs]

These are highly accomplished chefs not movie stars. If you prefer, you can learn to cook from movie stars.

[@DemsAreDemonic]

@@AmazingRibs Umm, ummm uh, ummm, ummm, ummm, uh , umm, uh, umm, ummm, ummm; I will make my own choices based on both “quality of presentation” as well as “quality of content”. There are thousands of truly exceptional chefs out there who do far better at this dish. You’re using (1) The wrong cut of meat (2) the wrong size selection of cut (3) wrong slices for this fine Italian dish. The outcome was rather poor for your cowering endorsement.

[@AmazingRibs]

​@@DemsAreDemonic in my last trip to Italy I must have tried a dozen versions of porchetta. It is often made from whole hog, sometimes from the meat on top of the ribs, and belly is in ALL of them. This size is very similar to the presentation from Dario Cecchini, the world's most famous butcher in Panzano. You can see it and others in Italy here. There is even some information that might educate you amazingribs.com/porchetta/

[@AmazingRibs]

@@DemsAreDemonic OMG, I did not know who I was talking to you. I looked you up and WOW, joined in August 2023 and already hav 1 follower. No doubt because you are so well informed.

[@bobjackson7516]

@@DemsAreDemonic Please link us to your porchetta video. No doubt it'll be light years better than this one. Looking forward to your culinary perfection.

[@anton1949]

Fennel? YUK! It's not a porketta unless you sprinkle it with dill weed.

[@meatheadgoldwyn9972]

Oy. There are at least a dozen popular ways to make Porchetta in Italy. This may shock you, but some don't use dill.

[@anton1949]

@meatheadgoldwyn9972 Been in Italy a few times, love their food. Having said that, porketta there is not very good.Go to the U.P of michigan, they know how to make it.

[@meatheadgoldwyn9972]

@@anton1949 Porchetta is an Italian classic with or without fennel. If you had clicked the link above you would have found this "Italian immigrants brought the recipe for porchetta with them to the US and Canada, and there are many variations floating around. Readers from Minnesota tell me that porketta (that’s how they spell it there) is common in groceries in the northeastern corner of the state (called the Iron Range for its iron mines), where it is more like a stuffed pork roast, sans skin." In Italy it almost always has skin.

[@hankgrant6876]

Not meathead

[@AmazingRibs]

I justr checked in the mirror. It is me, Meathead.

[@MegaBowlers]

How long to cook it

[@AmazingRibs]

One never cooks with a clock, one cooks with a thermometer. Doneness is measured by interior temp and that is determined by the thickness and the temperature of the oven (grill/smoker). There is a link below the video with the detailed recipe and info.