Special holidays deserve only the best dishes and this Smoked Pork Crown Roast will be the showcase of all of your Christmas, New Year and Easter gatherings. The best part of learning how to make this is finding out it is so simple to do that you will pull this recipe out time and time again.
🍽️ Why This Works
Tastes Magnificent | It doesn’t matter is you smoke, grill or roast this cut of meat, it is always tender, juicy and has the best flavor. That says a lot since pork is an extremely mild cut of meat as it is.
Great for Entertaining | This is a show stopper when it comes to impressing family and friends for the holidays. You want that cut of meat where everyone wants leftovers. Plus, it is so gorgeous that everyone will snap photos of it for their own memories.
Very Easy to Make | This is so easy to make once you learn the art of tying the crown. That is only part that stumps people, but once they get their head around it, it is simple. This recipe is simple and easy to make but the end result looks like you are the star on Food Network.
Ingredients
Pork Crown
Pork Crown | This is a simple rib section of the loin that is uncut. If they were to be cut into portions, they would be pork rib chops. This cut is generally tied by the butcher so you can form into a circle or oval prior to cooking. The best part of this cut is that it is one of the best tasting and most tender cuts. Unless it is the holidays, you will have to reach out to your butcher to ask for this cut ahead of time as they don’t stock this on the meat shelves otherwise.
Honey Mustard Glaze
This glaze is a wonderful sticky sauce that makes the outside crisp up beautifully. We like to double the batch so each person has a little ramekin for dipping. The three ingredients (Honey, Dijon Mustard, and Brown Sugar) are simple staples that most of us have in the house.
🔥 Instructions
Pork Crown
Step One: If your butcher DID NOT already tie the pork, this is the time to do this. Take pieces of butcher’s twine and tie pieces between each rib. You can see this in photo two above. There is a piece of butchers twine on each rib plus the one that is holding it all together in a circle.
Step Two: Heat grill up to 250 degrees and add smoking chips of your choice. We used apple.
Step Three: With a sharp knife, make 1-2 inch slits into each meaty area between each rib bone to help make the circular shape of the crown. We used eight ribs which made ours more oval in shape. Look at photo two for reference.
Note: Our butcher said we needed about 16 rib sections to form a full crown, so we scored each rib to allow us to form the full crown using fewer rib sections.
Step Four: Take TWO pieces of twine and tie it around the entire pork to shape it into a circular or oval shape. We used two pieces of twine to make sure it stayed in the shape we wanted.
Step Four: Combine seasoning and spices (swap out these spices for the pulled pork rub for a completely different taste!) into a bowl and stir. Sprinkle all over the roast. See photo 3.
Step Five: Place the roast on the grill and smoke until the internal temperature reaches 125-135. Cook for the temperature, not the time. See photo 4.
Step Six: Once the roast is up to 125-135 degrees, turn up the heat to 425-450 and brush on the glaze and cook for 15-30 minutes or until the temperature reaches 145° degrees. Check it in a couple places and remember to not check the temperature next to one of the ribs. See photo 5.
Step Seven: Remove from the grill and allow to rest under a tent of foil for 15-30 minutes.
PRO TIP: If you see a slight smoke ring on the exterior of your meat, that pink meat is safe to eat as long as your internal temperature is 145° F.
Honey Mustard Glaze
Step One: Combine the honey, brown sugar and dijon mustard into a bowl and stir to combine. When it is called for in the recipe, start brushing on the crown.
Step Two: Reserve some of the glaze for dipping sauce later!
❗ Expert Tips
If you don’t want the bones to turn dark brown/black, cover them with foil or Chop Frills which are the curly toppers. They can be found in kitchen stores and Amazon.
If you want to make it small like ours but it won’t turn into a circle, don’t worry. That is purely cosmetic. Form it into a semicircle so it will stand up by itself on the grill and tie it with butchers twine.
Always use a temperature gauge when cooking pork. Don’t skip this step as overcooking pork leads it to become dry quickly and undercooking can cause problems.
If you can’t tie the butcher’s twine very well, you can use a Meat Trussing Needle to help you.
Switch out the glaze for others that you have tried and are family favorites. Simply use the recipe as the guide to how to smoke the crown when adding your own glaze or sauce. A family classic for us has always been a garlic and herb combination. We would insert cloves of garlic into the crown and rub with a herb mixture.
Pork is very mild so this recipe is going to shine when you double the sauce recipe.
If you want a STRONG smoke flavor, try to use a mesquite or hickory wood. We used a fruit wood this time and the smoky flavor was very mild. Use the Smoking Wood Cheatsheet if you are not familiar with all the wood flavorings.
Recipe FAQ
Each rib section, once cut apart, serves one person. These are larger servings and are meant to be served for holidays and special occasions. These are not 4 oz servings that are generally recommended.
There is a huge range here with pork but we are using USDA’s guidelines for this recipe which states 145 degrees. USDA reduced their guidelines for pork and other meats in June 2020.
Shoot for 60-90 minutes per pound.
Many things can factor into why your smoker won’t stay at 250 degrees. Before smoking, check to make sure there isn’t too much excess charcoal inside from prior smokes. If it is a cold winter day, it is going to be harder to keep up as you are fighting against the outside temperature. If the wind is howling, it will be a challenge as it will try to kick your heat out all together. You may need to add barriers to the smoking area and start early so you still meet your deadline for dinner.
Related Recipes
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Smoked Pork Crown Roast
Equipment
- Smoker
Ingredients
Pork Crown Roast
- 8 Rib Pork Crown Roast
- 2 tbsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Pepper
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tbsp Parsley
Honey Mustard Glaze
- ¼ cup Honey
- ¼ cup Brown Sugar
- 3 tbsp Dijon Mustard
Instructions
Pork Crown
- Heat grill up to 250 degrees and add smoking chips of your choice. We used apple.
- Combine seasoning and spices into a bowl and stir.
- If your butcher DID NOT already tie the pork, this is the time to do this. Take pieces of butcher's twine and tie pieces between each rib.
- With a sharp knife, make 1-2 inch slits into each meaty area between each rib bone to help make the circular shape of the crown. We used 8 ribs which made ours more oval in shape.
- Take TWO pieces of twine and tie it around the entire pork to make it into a circular or oval shape. We used two pieces of twine to make sure it stayed in the shape we wanted. Sprinkle with the seasoning.
- Place the roast on the grill and smoke until the internal temperature reaches 125-135. Cook for the temperature, not the time.
- Once the roast is up to 125-135 degrees, turn up the heat to 425-450 and brush on the glaze and cook for 15-30 minutes or until the temperature reaches 145 degrees. Check it in a couple places and remember to not check the temperature next to one of the ribs.
- Remove from the grill and allow to rest under a tent of foil for 15-30 minutes.
Brown Sugar Honey Mustard Glaze
- Combine the honey, brown sugar and dijon mustard into a bowl and stir to combine. When it is called for in the recipe, start brushing on the crown.
Notes
Ginny Collins is a passionate foodie and recipe creator of Savor and Savvy and Kitchenlaughter. Indoors she focuses on easy, quick recipes for busy families and kitchen basics. Outdoors, she focuses on backyard grilling and smoking to bring family and friends together. She is a lifelong learner who is always taking cooking classes on her travels overseas and stateside. Her work has been featured on MSN, Parade, Fox News, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and many local news outlets. She lives in Florida where you will find her outside on the water in her kayak, riding her bike on trails, and planning her next overseas adventure.
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