Looking for a healthier way to cook your pork roast, then our Air Fryer Roast Pork with Crispy Crackling recipe may be what you need.
We love our roast pork, and even though Shannon mainly cooks ours in the Weber Q. There are times when it is just more convenient for me to cook it in our Phillips XXL Air Fryer. And it comes out just as juicy and tender, and the crackle is fantastic.
How to cook roast pork in an air fryer?
It is super simple to cook roast pork in the air fryer. And makes life easier if you need to cook or bake in the oven at the same time.
Ingredients:
You do not need much to make this:
- Boneless Pork Leg
- Olive Oil
- Sea Salt Flakes
- Table Salt
Preparation:
Before you can start cooking your pork roast, there is a couple of steps you need to do to prepare your pork.
These steps help you to get an excellent crispy crackle every time.
- Score the skin. Sometimes when you buy roast pork, the skin is not scored well. Make sure you check and cut with a very sharp knife, but do not cut too far down; about halfway through the skin is enough.
- Dry and salt the skin. Very important, especially if you are using a vacuum-sealed one from your local supermarket. Pat the pork down with a paper towel, then rub a generous amount of table salt over the skin. Then cover with a tea towel and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. The salt soaks up moisture from the skin, drying it out.
Note – For the best results, follow the above step, but if you have to do this the day of cooking your pork, dry and salt your pork first thing in the morning and sit covered on the bench. - Bring Your pork to room temperature. For an excellent even cook, allow your pork to sit covered on your bench so that it warms up to room temperature.
Method:
Once you are ready to cook your pork, rub some olive oil over the skin, then rub some sea salt flakes over the skin, making sure, you cover every inch of the skin and into the score marks.
Then repeat with a little more oil and finally a bit more sea salt. But this time, you are not rubbing the salt over it; you are just spreading the salt over the top and side, but try not to use too much as you will end up with very salty crackle.
If there is too much sitting on top, scrape some off.
And make sure you oil the sides and underneath the pork.
Preheat your air fryer at 200°C for about 2 minutes.
If you happen to have an iGrill 2 meat thermometer, place the probe into the thickest side directly in the middle. It will help you monitor the meats internal temperature.
Once your air fryer has preheated, spray the bottom of the basket with non-stick cooking spray and place the pork in the air fryer. Place the probe in a position where you can close the air fryer properly.
And just like any other time you cook roast pork, you need to blast it with heat to get a good crackle.
Set your air fryer to 200°C on the roast setting and cook for 20 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 180°C and cook for 25 minutes per 500g or until the internal temp reaches 68°C.
Once your pork reaches 68°C, remove it from the air fryer and let it rest until the internal temperature reaches 71°C.
71°C is the safe eating temperature for pork, but do not let it cook in the air fryer till it hits that temperature, as it will dry your pork out. Your pork still cooks while it is resting, and taking it out at 68°C will give you juicy roast pork to go with that crispy crackle.
It’s handy to have an instant-read meat thermometer to check the temperature of your meat, during cook time so you know when to remove it from your air fryer.
What cut and size pork to use in your air fryer?
You are limited with an air fryer when it comes to the size of your pork compared to an oven or Weber Q.
Make sure you know the size of your air fryer basket before buying your meat.
I find boneless works the best; however, if you cook roast pork with a bone in it, be sure to let me know how you go with it in the comments box below.
Another important thing to consider is the thickness of the skin! Using a pork roast with thin skin works best in the air fryer. However, due to the swelling of the skin, while cooking it can touch the top of the inside of the air fryer and start to burn. It can also prevent you from opening up the basket draw.
As for the cut, well, that depends on your preference. We love roasting a leg.
What to serve with your air fryer roast pork with crispy crackling?
The sky is the limit with what to serve. Here are just some ideas that we have alongside our air fryer roast pork with crispy crackling.
- The Ultimate Honey Gravy For Roast Lamb, Chicken and Pork
- Simple Homemade Potato Salad with Egg and Bacon
- Winter Weber Q Roast Vegetables With Herbs
Other options are:
- Roast or creamy mashed potatoes
- Steamed green vegetables, such as broccoli or beans
- Corn, carrots, asparagus and peas.
- Roast or mashed pumpkin
- Other salads, such as garden, coleslaw or caesar.
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Juicy Air Fryer Roast Pork With Crispy Crackling
Ingredients
- 1.7 kg Boneless Pork Leg Or a size suited to your air fryer
- 1 tbsp Table Salt
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil more if needed
- 2 tbsp Sea Salt more if needed
Instructions
- Dry your pork with paper towel, score the skin. Then rub table salt over the skin, cover with a tea towel and place in the fridge over night.
- Remove the pork from the fridge to bring up to room tempeture before cooking.
- Cover the pork, including underneath with olive oil. Rub sea salt over the skin making sure it goes into the score marks also. Add some more oil over the top of the skin and a rub another light amount of seat salt over the top.
- Pre heat your air fryer for 2 minutes at 200°C.
- Spray the air fryer basket with non-stick cooking spay and place the pork in the basket.
- Cook at 200°C for 20 minutes on the roast setting, then reduce heat to 180°C and cook for 25 minutes per 500gms
- When the pork reaches 68°C remove from the air fryer to rest. Your pork will cook further while resting. Once it reaches 71°C you can carve and serve.
I have a Phillips XXL and tried with a 1.1kg rolled shoulder. It was a little too big but crackling turned out amazing
Hello Reece, and thank you for the feedback. I am so glad the crackle turned out amazing for you.
I have a rolled boneless prk belly which I want to cook in the air fryer on rotisserie setting. Assuming the preparation is the same would the timings/ temperature be the same with this cut cooked by this method?
Hello Mark
I have to be honest, I have not tried this using a rotisserie in the air fryer, but it does sound interesting and one I will have to do in the future.
Thanks Kylie,
So glad I came across your recipe for roast pork. I cooked roast in my Phillips XXL air fryer yesterday and it came out just great. Only thing is I should have checked my roast temperature a little earlier (maybe half way during cooking time) as it was a little over done, but still delicious. Will use this method all the time.
I am a big fan of air fryers and now your recipes.
Hi Helen
Thank you for the feedback and kind words. I am so happy it came out great for you, but yes checking the meat temp every so often during the cook is a good thing to do as times can vary due to the weight of the meat.
There are still many more air fryer recipes to come 🙂