Roast Pork with Sauerkraut

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Pork is still a great value, about $3 to $5 per pound., tastes great and is easy to make. Costco, Sam's Club, BJ's and your local grocery store all have pork loins roasts year round.

Total time: about 3 hours

Cooks for about: 2.5 hours
Yield: 10 servings for a 5 lb roast

This is SO easy to make!

Ingredients

• 2 medium sweet onions, sliced (1/8 to 1/4 inch thick slices)
• Salt (optional). There is plenty of the salt in the sauerkraut. Unless you're working towards an early heart attack, there's no need to add more).
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (5-pound) boneless pork loin (Costco sells it like this)
• 2 jars of German sauerkraut (Aldi sells
• 5 medium sweet apples, like Gala or Ambrosia, Fuji, Yellow Delicious, but really an apple will work)
• 2 or 3 pounds small unpeeled potatoes (16 to 20 potatoes)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup apple cider, apple juice or water

 

Equipment

• Dutch oven OR roasting pan with a lid OR roasting pan and large oven bag
• Cutting board, knife

 

Directions

Step 1 - Preheat the oven

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

 

Step 2 - Brown the pork

Put 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large non-stick pot. Heat over medium-high heat, and before the oil starts to smoke or burn, add the pork loin. (Do not remove the string or netting that holds the loin together) .

Sear (brown) the pork on all sides (well you can't really do the ends). This will take about 10 minutes. While it is browning, slice the onions and add them to the pot.

  

Step 3 - Brown the onions, clean the potatoes, peel and chop the apples

I chop 2 good sized onions and simply add them to the pan with the pork and continue to brown both.

While they are browning, I peel, core and slice 5 medium sized apples.

I get the small sized potatoes. Costco and Sam's Club sell a mixed bag or red and yellow small potatoes that are perfect. Just rinse them in cold water and they are ready!

 

Step 3 - Get your roasting pan ready

By far the easiest way, and the least messy is to using an oven cooking bag. If you don't have a large cooking bag, use the largest roasting pan you have that has a tight fitting lid. If you do not have this, you'll need to use the largest oven-safe vessel you've got and use aluminum foil as the lid.

The point is, you want to seal it up so it stays moist!

 

Step 4 - Add the sauerkraut, apples, potatoes to the oven pan.

Peel and slice the apples and put them along with the 2 jars of sauerkraut (no need to drain them) and the small potatoes into the cooking bag in the roasting pan.

You don't have to use an oven browning bag; you could use an oven-safe Dutch oven wiht a tight-fitting lid, or a deep oven pan tightly covered with aluminum foil. But the bag method keeps all the moisture in better, and there's no cleanup!

 

Step 5 - Add the browned pork loin to the roasting pan/bag.

Put the seared pork roast on top of the sauerkraut, apples, etc in the roasting pan. If there are no free liquids in the bottom of the pan, add 1 cup of apple cider, apple juice or water.

If you have a lid, put it on. If you are using an oven bag, loosely tied the end. I leave about a 1/8 inch opening in the end where I tie it. In other words, just don't completely seal it up. The excess pressure needs to be able to vent!

I put the meat thermometer right through the bag, on the top, and into the center (that gets the thickest part of the meat, while keeping the bag from leaking. I usually wait until the roast has been in the oven for about 90 minutes before putting the meat thermometer in. That keeps the thermometer cleaner and thus easier to read, when it counts; near the end of the cooking time

 

Step 6 - Bake for about 2 hours

Bake for about 2 hours or until a meat thermometer reads between 145F-170F. Most people prefer it about 150 F.

I just stick the thermometer right through the bag.

If you use an electric thermometer with a probe, you can set the alarm to beep when the roast is done.

 

Check it every 30 minutes to be sure it is not drying out. This is very unlikely using an oven bag, but with a Dutch oven or loose-fitting lid, you may need to add more apple juice, cider or water.

 

 

Step 7 - Cool slightly and rest

Remove from the oven once the thermometer reads 145F-150F. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes before slicing.

Don't forget to remove an strings that may have been used to tie the meat together!