A crown roast is nothing more than one or two regular bone-in pork loin roasts (that’s the big muscle that runs down the back of the pig) formed into a circle with the ribs pointed skyward Essentially, it’s a long rack of pork chops joined together (or, more accurately, that have never been cut apart) and twisted into a crown shape Q: Ah, I got it The same way that a prime rib of beef is like a bunch of rib-eye steaks left connected to each other, right? Exactly Q: And what’s the point? Does it make cooking easier? Does it taste better in the end? The “crown” in a crown roast serves about as much purpose as the crown on a king: it’s mostly aesthetic—a crown roast simply looks stunning when presented at the table But it does aid in even cooking to a small degree With the bones twisted so that they are all on the exterior of the roast, heat transfer to the meat is slowed, making for juicier, more evenly cooked meat in the end—though the trade-off is that the fatty cover around the meat will never get quite as crisp and browned as it would if you were to roast a whole rack of pork without forming it into a crown Q: So it’s a bit of give-and-take Say I want to go for it— how do I go about finding a crown? To form a crown with a single rack of ribs (about 10 ribs, enough to feed 6 to 8 normal-appetited people), you need to score the spaces in between the ribs slightly so that they splay out However, by doing this, you end up increasing the surface area of the pork, which can cause it to dry out more than it would if it were completely intact, and I don’t recommend buying single-rack crown roasts for this reason Better to buy a crown roast formed by two bone-in loins attached end to end, which are large enough to form a circle without unnecessary scoring When purchasing a crown roast, you will usually have to ask your butcher to form it for you—only very dedicated butchers are likely to have them formed and ready to go You may have luck finding a ready-to-roast crown at a high-end supermarket, particularly around the holidays Q: How big a roast will I need? Aim for about a rib and a half per person, or two per person if you’re big eaters or looking for leftovers Q: I’ve got my crown roast home (and boy, was that heavy!) Now, how the heck do I cook this thing? Well, remember—a crown roast is nothing more than a series of connected pork chops, fast-twitch muscle (see here) Like all fast-twitch muscles (say chicken breast, New York strip steak, or tuna loin), it has plenty of fine-textured muscle and not much connective tissue or fat This means that internal temperature is the most important factor when it comes to cooking it With little to no connective tissue to break down, as soon as it reaches its final temperature, it’s done Holding it at that temperature for an extended period of time will change it very little The key is to get the entire roast, from edges to center, to around 140°F (medium, ... Q: I’ve got my crown roast home (and boy, was that heavy!) Now, how the heck do I cook this thing? Well, remember—a crown roast is nothing more than a series of connected pork chops, fast-twitch muscle (see here)... increasing the surface area of the pork, which can cause it to dry out more than it would if it were completely intact, and I don’t recommend buying single-rack crown roasts for this reason Better. .. Holding it at that temperature for an extended period of time will change it very little The key is to get the entire roast, from edges to center, to around 140°F (medium,