Roast pork can be lovely, actually lower in fat than beef or lamb but unfortunately it can be roasted in such a way that makes it feel really fatty. This is how to roast a simple joint for succulent meat, little fat if you don’t want it and good crackling if you do!

Pick your joint, but whether you like crackling or not, go with one with a good layer or fat and rind on the top. Take this out the fridge half an hour before roasting and turn the oven onto 220 degrees. If the rind isn’t scored, score it in slashes of the same direction across the top, just nudging into the meat.

Ten minutes before putting in the oven, dry the rind with paper towels and rub in a liberal amount of salt. Leave this for ten minutes. Then rub off the salt and any moisture with more paper towel, making sure it’s as dry adn you can get. The rub a little oil and whole salt (you can use standard salt or ground salt but unground is best) into the rind, making sure you get in all the scores on top.

Place in a roasting tin and pop in the middle of the oven. Roast at 220 degrees for 30 minutes then turn the heat down to 160 degrees, keeping the joint roasting for a further 30 minutes per 500g. Bast a couple of times but not in the last 30 minutes so the crackling dries and crisps.

Take out the oven at the time you want to carve. I don’t rest pork and resting only stops the crackling being crackly!