Scaling up a pork loin roast recipe

[qamama]

Hello! This is my first time posting to a cooking forum. I have found myself in need of some serious help and hope that you can impart some wisdom and knowledge.

A friend has asked my husband and I to do the food for their office Christmas party. We will be cooking for 40 people. I have a wild mushroom stuffed pork loin recipe that I would like to scale up to feed the crowd.

The recipe calls for two 2 1/2 lb. boneless center cut pork loin roasts with a total roasting time of approximately 50 minutes (roasting at 350 degrees F.) I am planning on 15 lbs. of pork roast. The butcher said he would give me three 5 lb. roasts. My question is this, if I roast all three roasts together how much will that affect my cooking time (with the larger roasts and multiple roasts)? Is there a formula for minutes per pound per multiple roasts? Stuffed vs. unstuffed?

Many thank you's in advance!!

[kuan]

You need to go get yourself an instant read thermometer. Cook until the internal temperature is about 145-155F.

[qamama]

Yes, I have an instant read thermometer and am aware of the internal temperatures, my question is more specifically in terms of planning the timing of the roasts being ready to serve. For example, if it will take an extra 45 minutes to roast, I need to plan for that in my scheduling. That's why I'm looking for direction in approximate roasting times.

[phatch]

There are more variables than just the amount of meat. How it is arranged makes a difference and what kind of oven you're cooking them in.

If you pack the roasts side by side by side, the center one will cook slowly so you'd need to rotate them around so they cook evenly.

If you have a convection oven and can place each roast on it's own level and stagger them, you could probably cook them all simultaneously the same as you'd cook just one. Or at least very close to that.

And the temperature you use affects timing too. Do you start the roasts cooking with them having come to room temp? Does your stuffing go in hot or cold? Is the roast slit and stuffed or butterflied, filled and rolled?

Lots of variables.

We could probably help more if you discussed your technique and recipe more completely as well as the equipment you have for cooking them.

My gut instinct with a standard electric oven would be to start with room temp roasts and stuffing. I assume you're butterflying and rolling. I base this method off of how I cook a large boneless ribeye roast.

Brown each roast in a pan at the stove.

Into the oven spread apart as far as possible. One up top in the center, two below near the sides of that next level down, oven at 250. Figure about 20 minutes per pound of individual roast (not the total of all three as they should be spread out enough) so 100 minutes approximately. If they weren't stuffed, 15 minutes/pound would probably be better.

Swap the roasts' positions about every 40 minutes so they spend approximately equal cooking time in each position. No, looking at the total time, do it every or 30 minutes. Cooking time is suspended while you're rotating the roasts, so figure a full two hours. This should give you a finished temp of about 140-145 assuming your stuffing doesn't have to reach a higher temp.

Now add 20-30 minutes resting time. Plus carving time.

That's my best guess, but it's just a guess.

Phil

[Pete]

Phatch, I think your cooking time might be a little long. These are loin roasts so the width of a 2 1/2 pounder will not be greatly different from a 5 pounder. The 5 pounder will be longer and maybe slightly thicker around so treating like another kind of roast, in which the whole thing gets larger and thicker, will give you overcooked meat. A 5 pound picnic shoulder will have a much smaller diameter and thickness than a 10 pound picnic shoulder and so your calcuations will be right on, but in this instance though the weight has doubled the diameter and thickness come no where close to doubling. Most of the mass will be added in the form of length. I would think that 80-90 minutes cooking time should be plenty, with a 15 minute rest.

I agree though that unless you have a convection oven you will probably want to stagger the 3 loins on 2 shelves, unless you can get at least 2 inches between the loins.

[phatch]

I was thinking it would about double in thickness from the stuffing though if cut thin and flat and rolled. And there would be the time for the oven to reheat after moving the roasts around.

But yes, just a guess and you have much more experience than I. I bow to your knowledge.

Phil

[qamama]

Bless the Internet (and you kind folks so ready to help)! Thank you very much for your suggestions.

The roasts will be slit, stuffed, and tied, not rolled. The stuffing primarily consists of mushrooms and will be brought to room temperature before stuffing. The roasts will then be pan seared and transfered to a large roasting pan. A sauce will then be made in the searing pan and poured over the roasts before being put into the oven.

I have 2 ovens available in the kitchen in which I will be cooking. One is an electric convection oven, the other a gas oven. While I have owned gas ovens before, I do not have personal experience with a convection oven. It sounds like the convection oven might be the way to go though. I was thinking that I might be able to place all three roasts side-by-side in the roasting pan with a couple of inches between them. But staggering them sounds like it might be a better bet. With the convection oven, I wouldn't have to rotate them, is that correct?

Thanks again for your help.

Sara

[phatch]

If you try them all in the same pan, take their temps every 30 mins or so so you can make sure they're cooking evenly. You may still need to move them around for even cooking even with convection. Lots depends on spacing and the air flow in that space.

Phil

[KYHeirloomer]

In my experience, two full size loins work well on a sheet pan. After that you are crowding.

So Phil's advice to offset and shift them makes sense to me if you're doing more than two.

[lentil]

Timely post! I'm doing the same thing for a party of 25 today.

I thank you all for the info, too. I had already figured I'd stagger them in the convection, but the timing was just a guess. It's really great to have this site as a resource. Makes my day much less stressful than winging it does..

[kuan]

Nice thing about roasts is they hold well, so even if you have them out 1/2 hour early they'll be fine. Just blast them in a hot oven for 10 minutes before serving.