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nuttytart, love the name, glad it turned out well, always works for me, trial and error i thinks!!

relish,my thoughts lol.

my best roast pork joint yet...i did roast pork yesterday like snoozy said..really dry skin,rubbed loads of salt in and put it in a really hot oven for about half an hour then turned it down a bit for the rest of the cooking...top crackling for mothers day.nice one

can you imagine asking the lad in sainsburys "eh mate what sex was this pig before you got it"

thats interesting Alyson, new to me. we live and learn!!
what ever and where ever i get my pork from regardless of the layer of fat underneath, i must say all i do is make sure that the skin is really dry, rub in some salt, in very hot oven for the first 30 mins, then turn temp down to continue cooking, and i always have lovely crisp crackling.

did you know that you should only buy pork from female pigs cos the skin on a boar is more likely to be soggy. you need a good ammount of fat under the skin for crackling to work and girls seem to be better than boys at having the right amount of fat. i never have problems with crackling and all i do is whack it in the oven on gas 5 for the whole cooking time. you also need a good butcher and DONT buy meat from supermarkets!!!!!

have to try that next time suemc glad it worked

It worked-perfect crackling-thanks for your input everyone

I've tried the water method-didn't work for me but I don't think I had the oven temp high enough for the 1st 20 mins.
One cook suggested spraying the joint every half our with a water sprayer-seems to defeat the object of all the good advice given here-needless to say I have tried it-didn't work.
It's in the oven as we speak-took prawny's advice and rescored it and covered with salt-no oil though. Don't get me wrong I have had some successes, but the only common denominator seems to be the length of time in the oven(ie size of joint). Anyhow, It's coming out of the oven for 2 so will keep you posted. Thanks ever so much for all your help

Yes Goldie, but james didn't say boling water. Intersting. Though I think that oil would give it more of a colour. I have never tried water but intend to.

Have you seen April's Good Food which came this week, its has got a section called the secret to sensational crackling?

AWT said to pour boiling water over the rind,then pat it dry....then quick blast in oven before turning it down...perfect crackling!

This is a difficult problem, as it also depends on the state of your oven, whether it is fan based and will you keep opening the door to put things in.

I cook my meat slowly and then whack it up for the last 30 mins to crack it up - But resting it is just as important. I was always taught in France that you leave the nmeat to rest as long as you have cooked it (So even if it means 1.30 hours)

I also agree with the above but recently saw James martin do it and instead of oil he used water. He said to rub it well with water then dry off the access. I haven't tried that yet.

I agree with prawnfiller, score the rind, rub in salt and oil then blast it on a high heat for 20-30 mins then reduce to normal cooking temperature. Have read recently that you should open the oven door every hour or so to let the steam out so the crackling will get crispy, not sure if that works. Have also read that if the crackling doesn't crackle, then take the rind off while the meat is resting and put it under the grill to crisp up. This means you should get your crackling at the same time as the rest of your meal. Good Luck!

Personally I am having lamb this week. Hubby has recently got some false teeth and can't eat crackling anymore. Sob!

You need to make sure that the rind is scored really well - re-do it yourself if you don't think it is deep enough. Then drizzle with oil, rub in salt ( I use sea-salt because it is coxxxxr) and then put into a really hot oven. Flash roast for about 20 mins and then reduce the heat and continue to cook. I guarantee that you will get crackling. 'Sir' and grandson love it!!