Pork Knuckle Recipe

Author:
Thomas Sixt is a chef, food photographer, cookbook author and blogger.
Here he shares recipes, answers cooking questions and helps with cooking.

Today I’ll show you my pork knuckle recipe in this post.

The pork knuckle is known regionally under different names:

As Eisbein, Hachse, Haxe, Haxn, Hechse, Hämmchen, Bötel, in the Hessian language area Haspel, in Austria Stelze, in Bavarian Schweinshaxn.

The Franks call it Knöchla or Adlerhaxe, in Switzerland the Hachse is called Gnagi or Wädli.

The knuckle is prepared differently depending on the region, in Northern Germany and Poland mostly salted, in southern Germany uncured crispy fried or boiled.

In this article with a recipe you will get a good overview of how to prepare knuckles yourself.

Delight your guests and loved ones with a crispy knuckle. Good succeed!

1. Recipe Pork Knuckle

So that you achieve a 100% result, follow the step-by-step instructions.

Please note the tips after the recipe.

I wish you good luck!

Pork Knuckle

Cooked, photographed and written down by chef Thomas Sixt.

Servings 4

Calories 2201

Preparation Time 120 Min.

Cook Time 0 Min.

Total Time 140 Min.

Prepare simple instructions for pork knuckle.

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Ingredients

1-1,2	kg	knuckle of pork
500	g	Spareribs Spareribs, pork ribs (or 250g pork bones)
1	tbsp	plant oil
5	pinches	black ground pepper
1	tsp	paprika nobel sweet
1	tsp	Caraway
1/2	tsp	primal salt
1	bunch	soup vegetable (Carrot, turnip, parsley root, celery)
1	pc	glove of garlic (quartered)
2-4	pc	shallots
6	pc	big potatoes
500	ml	blond beer
500	ml	Water (or broth)
1	tsp	Cornstarch (I use it optionally to thicken the sauce.)
50	g	butter
	some	brown cane sugar (I use it to taste the sauce)

Instruction

Preparation step 1

Prepare ingredients

Prepare the ingredients in the kitchen.

Preparation step 2

Wash knuckles

Wash and dry the shank.

Preparation step 3

Remove bristles

Check the skin of the shank and remove the bristles.

Preparation step 4

Incise skin

Score the skin of the shank in a ring with a sharp knife.

Cut the skin vertically once on the back of the shank.

Preparation step 5

Prepare Knuckle

Place the pork knuckle in the roaster.

Add bones for the sauce.

Rub the shank with a little sunflower oil.

Season with plenty of salt, pepper, paprika and cumin.

Preheat the oven to 200°C hot air.

I think hot air is the best method of preparation, because you don’t have to twist and turn the shank.

Put the prepared knuckle in the roaster (optionally unpacked from the freezer bag) into the oven

Preparation step 6

Prepare vegetables

Prepare vegetables:

–> Wash the potatoes and peel them thoroughly, halve or quarter them depending on their size.

–> Peel the carrots and cut into long, thick slices.

–> Peel the celery and cut into pieces.

–> Leave the leek whole so that it doesn’t burn.

Peel the shallots.

Preparation step 7

Add vegetables

Add the vegetables to the shank and set the kitchen timer to 60 minutes.

Put the roaster back in the oven.

Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C.

Preparation step 8

Prepare sauce

When the kitchen alarm clock rings, pour the beer into the roaster.

Continue cooking the shank in the oven for a further 40 minutes.

Preparation step 9

Prepare Sauerkraut

Prepare the side dishes for the knuckle, see the recommendations in the article.

I like to serve the pork knuckle with

–> bread dumplings,

–> serviette dumplings,

–> potato dumplings and

–> sauerkraut.

Preparation step 10

Finish sauce

Take the shank out of the roaster and put it back in the oven.

Keep the vegetables warm.

Bring the roaster to the boil and add broth as needed.

Cook the roasts from the bottom of the roaster.

Preparation step 11

Cooking sauce

Pour the sauce and the bones into a saucepan and bring to the boil.

Add broth to taste and thicken with cornstarch.

Season the sauce with a little butter, cumin, salt, pepper and a little sugar and strain.

Preparation step 12

Knuckle ready

Check the degree of doneness of the knuckle with a thin meat fork, I do it as follows:

When the meat hardly gives way when you pierce it and clear meat juice runs out, the shank is done.

Before serving, grill the knuckle briefly under the grill until crispy, if necessary, then serve.

Tips:

–> Before grilling, season the shank again with salt and turn so that the entire skin is crispy.

-> With my knuckle, the one-time turning and setting hot air for about 8 minutes at 220°C worked perfectly.

Preparation step 13

Serve

Arrange and serve:

–> Arrange the sauerkraut in bowls.

–> Lift the cooked dumplings out of the water, drain on kitchen paper and arrange.

–> Arrange hot roasted vegetables and sauce.

Lay the pork knuckles on boards and serve.

Enjoy your meal!

Video

I took the food photos with a Leica Q2.

Category

All Recipes by German Chef Thomas Sixt

Low Carb Recipes

Main Courses Recipes

Recipes with Cooking Videos

Courses

Meat Recipes

Pork Recipes

Cousine

Bavarian Recipes

German Cuisine and Recipes

Keyword

Gluten Free Recipes

Gourmet Recipes

2. Calories and Nutritional Values

Attention, these are the nutritional values without side dishes!

3. Buy Front or Back Pork Knuckles and Quantity Per Person?

The rear knuckle of pork is generally meatier than the front knuckle because the front knuckle has a higher percentage of bone.

Therefore, a back knuckle is ideal for family dinners or invitations with many guests.

You can count on at least 500 g raw weight of the axle per person, after all there is a bone in it.

The quantity calculation for the pork knuckles: 2 people approx. 1 kg pork knuckle, 4 people approx. 2 kg or two knuckles.

Says chef Thomas Sixt

4. Tip for Preparing Grilled Knuckle of Pork Crispy

The grilled knuckle of pork is crispy and fresh on the table.

You can basically use uncured knuckle or cured knuckle.

Season the shank with salt, pepper and paprika and rub.

Preheat the oven to 200°C hot air and put the knuckles in the oven after 15 minutes.

You can place the seasoned shank on a cooking grate (grid) (baking tray with water underneath) or place the shank in a roasting pan.

You then reduce the temperature to 170°C and let the pork knuckle cook for about 1.5-2-3 hours, depending on the size, until crispy.

Grilling knuckle of pork: I prefer to use the uncured knuckle, it’s healthier.

Recommended by chef Thomas Sixt

5. Prepare Bavarian Knuckle of Pork like a Star Chef

Marinate the meat – the day before you prepare it, put it in a large freezer bag:

• 5 pinches of pepper
• 1 tsp whole cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• A quartered clove of garlic
• A teaspoon of sunflower oil.

Put the washed, patted dry knuckle into the bag and tie a knot in the bag.

Then rub the knuckle with the spices and flavors and put the knuckle in the fridge overnight.

Prepare:

• The next day, take the knuckle out of the bag and place in a large roasting pan.
• Only now season the marinated pork knuckle with salt.
• Preheat the oven to 200°C hot air and put the knuckle in the oven.
• After 15-20 minutes reduce the temperature to 170°C.
• After 45 minutes, add vegetables: carrots, celery, parsley root, halved onion, quartered potato.
• After another 30 minutes, deglaze with gravy and beer.
• Finish cooking the Bavarian knuckle of pork until crispy and serve with dumplings and sauerkraut.

6. Cook Tip for Knuckle of Pork and Serve with Sauerkraut

For cooked knuckle of pork you buy cured pork knuckle .

Then cook the knuckle until soft:

Prepare a soup from strong vegetable broth with onion , soup vegetables , bay leaf , cloves , caraway and marjoram and let this soup cook for 15 minutes.

Next you put the pork knuckle in the soup and let the knuckle gently simmer.

The preparation time for a 500 g knuckle is approx. 1.5-2 hours ,

larger knuckles need longer, the knuckle can remain in the soup for up to 3 hours.

The preparation time is halved in the pressure cooker, you can use the knuckle broth to prepare sauerkraut.

7. Side Dish Ideas for Pork Knuckle

8. Other Suitable Ideas

All roast pork recipes here in the cooking blog:

–> Roast pork with red wine and plums
–> Crust roast
–> Quick roast pork with pork fillet
–> Bavarian roast pork
–> Roast pork in a pot

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