The wood fired oven holds a steady, even base heat for hours after a pizza cook-up — which makes it the perfect place for a roast. Throw the pork in once the pizzas are done, let the oven cool down naturally, and you’ll get the best crackling you’ve ever made, with potatoes and sweet potatoes roasting alongside. See Wood Fired Pizza Dough for the pizza session that gets the oven there in the first place.

The meat thermometer does the work; the oven does the rest.

SLOW ROASTED PORK – WOOD FIRED OVEN

Ingredients

• Pork roll, around 5kg (rolled shoulder or belly)
• Small handful fresh rosemary
• 4–5 bay leaves
• Small handful fresh thyme
• Olive oil, for the rind
• Coarse rock salt, generous handful
• Seasoning or rub of choice — match it to whatever vegetables you’re roasting alongside

Method

1. Heat the pizza oven to around 400°C, building a good base of coals — the heat needs to last a fair while. If you’ve just finished a pizza session, you’re already there.
2. Place a rack in a cast iron baking dish, line with foil, and lay the rosemary, bay leaves and thyme on top.
3. Open out the pork roll and score the rind with a very sharp knife or a Stanley knife.
4. Sit the meat on a board on the draining board of the kitchen sink and pour boiling water over the rind. Dry the skin thoroughly, rub oil into the rind, then rub in the salt.
5. Place the meat on the herbs in the baking dish.
6. Set the dish into the base of the pizza oven. Don’t add any more wood once the meat is in — let the oven cool down naturally as the roast cooks.
7. Monitor the internal temperature with a digital thermometer set for veal/medium. The heat in a pizza oven comes from the base, so place the probe towards the bottom of the meat. Pull the roast out at around 68°C and rest it — the temperature will keep climbing. I like pork at around 73°C.
8. If the oven temperature has dropped too low before the rind has crisped, leave the meat in to slow cook, then take it out, add fresh wood, bring the heat right back up and return the meat briefly to finish the crackling.
9. Potatoes and sweet potatoes can go in the oven alongside the meat.

Notes

Cook time — rough guide is 1.5–2 hours for a 5kg roll, but ignore the clock and trust the thermometer. Size of the roll, starting oven temperature and how well your oven holds heat all change the outcome.

Fire management — once the meat is in, don’t add more wood. The residual heat in the oven base does the cooking. Add fresh wood only if you need to rescue the crackling at the end.

Crackling rescue — if the rind hasn’t crisped by the time the meat hits temperature, take the roast out to rest, build the fire back up, then return it briefly to finish the rind.

Sides — potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin or whole onions can all roast alongside in the same dish.

Leftovers — sliced cold pork freezes well in vacuum-sealed portions for sandwiches, fried rice, or quick weeknight dinners.