Franconian Schäufele

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 kg pork shoulder with bone and rind (Schäufele)
• 1 pack of soup vegetables, consisting of celery, leek, parsley and carrots
• 2 onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 600 ml water or meat broth
• Cumin, whole or ground
• salt and pepper
• ½ liter beer, dark
• possibly cornstarch

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 4 hours; Total time approx. 4 hours 30 minutes

the recipe directly from Nuremberg

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/convection oven. Make diamond-shaped cuts in the rind using a sharp knife. The smaller the diamonds, the crispier the rind will be. Dry the shoulder of pork thoroughly with kitchen paper. It is important that the rind is dry, otherwise it will not crisp up. Season the shoulder of pork all over with salt, pepper, and cumin. Important: Only add salt to the rind! Place the pork shoulder, rind-side up, in a roasting tin and add 300 ml of the meat stock or water. Place the roasting tin with the shoulder of pork in the oven for 60 minutes at 160°C fan/convection oven. In the meantime, clean and roughly chop the vegetables. After 60 minutes, add the vegetables to the roasting tin and add the remaining 300 ml of water or meat stock. Reduce the oven temperature to 120°C fan/convection oven. Roast the shoulder of pork for a further 2.5 – 3 hours. The meat is cooked when it falls away from the bone easily. The longer the shoulder of pork is cooked, the more tender it will be. To get a perfect crust, increase the temperature to 200°C or 220°C after the cooking time is over and select the grill function. Leave the shoulder of pork in the oven for another 10-15 minutes; after that, the crust will be super crispy. Remove the roasting pan from the oven. Place the pork shoulder on a plate and keep warm in the oven. Drain the liquid and vegetables from the roasting pan through a sieve into a saucepan. Use a spoon to press out the vegetables in the sieve over the pan, then discard the mashed vegetables. Add the dark beer to the liquid in the pan and, if necessary, thicken with a little starch according to the package instructions. Season the sauce to taste. Serve the shoulder of pork with the sauce. Potato or bread dumplings go best with it.