Preheat oven to 460 Fahrenheit (ca. 240 degree Celsius).
Score a grid into the fat cap. The meat will roast better that way and the fat will fuse to the meat and turn crispy.
1.2 Pounds Pork Loin
Cut a few holes all over into the meat and stuff each hole with a garlic clove half. A full garlic clove can be used if the garlic cloves are small.
4-5 Cloves Garlic Clove
Place the raw pork loin into the Dutch oven. Sprinkle some black pepper, ground clove and salt over the fat cap and massage it in. Repeat the process and season the rest of the meat all over with the remaining seasoning.
½ Teaspoon Black Pepper, 1 Teaspoon Clove Ground, ½ Teaspoon Salt
Spread sliced onion around the meat in the Dutch oven. Drop the lard into that too, with the caraway seeds, bay leaf and juniper berries.
1 Large Onion, 2 Tablespoon Lard, 2 Pieces Bay Leaves, 2 Teaspoon Caraway Seeds, 5 Pieces Juniper Berries
Take the Dutch oven to the stove top and sear the pork loin over a medium high heat setting. Cook the meat on all sides golden brown. The onion will get a bit soft too. This can take about 5 minutes.
Place the pork loin with the fat cap up. Pour broth over the meat and into the Dutch oven to the onion.
1¾ Cup Broth
Cover the Dutch oven and place into the oven. Roast covered at 460 Fahrenheit (ca. 240 degree Celsius) for 10 minutes.
Take out the Dutch oven and pour a cup of water over the roast. Cover again and take back to the oven, but this time at 400 Fahrenheit (ca. 200 degree Celsius) for about 10 – 15 minutes.
1 Cup Water
Sauerkraut
If you use homemade fermented Sauerkraut, rinse it first. This is necessary because it's super salty. You don't need to do this with store-bought package Sauerkraut!
1 Pound Sauerkraut
Place lard into a pan and heat it up to melt. Stir in sliced onions. Sauté onions soft.
1 Tablespoon Lard, 1 Medium Onion
Stir in the Sauerkraut with the seasoning. Add the caraway seeds, bay leaves, juniper berries, and whole peppercorns. Season with salt to taste. Mix it all in.
1 Pound Sauerkraut, 1 Teaspoon Caraway Seeds Whole, 1 Large Bay Leaf, 4 Pieces Juniper Berries, 6 Pieces Black Peppercorns Whole, Salt
Pour and mix beer into the Sauerkraut.
1½ Cup Beer
Cook Sauerkraut for about 10 – 15 minutes over a medium low-heat setting, so that the Sauerkraut gains on flavor.
Combine Pork Roast and Sauerkraut
Prepare a slurry by mixing the flour into water.
⅓ Cup Water, 1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
Take the roast out and pour the slurry into the sauce of the pork roast.
Stir and mix Sauerkraut into the Dutch oven sauce so that the meat is surrounded by Sauerkraut.
Place the Dutch oven uncovered into the oven to roast for 5 minutes at 400 Fahrenheit (ca. 200 degree Celsius).
At this point, check the interior temperature of your pork loin roast. The roast is done between 145 and 160 Fahrenheit (63 and 71 degrees Celsius) with the latter being medium and the first medium rare. If the temperature has been reached, your roast is done. If it's not done yet, take it back into the oven for another 5 minutes uncovered. Take it out when the pork roast is done (keep on checking with the thermometer).
Once your pork roast is cooked, leave to rest for 3 minutes. Take out the whole spices and discard them.
Take the meat out and cut into serving slices. Place the meat back into the Sauerkraut to serve up hot.
Video
Notes
For the Pork Loin Roast
Use a Meat thermometer to get the temperature and roasting part right!
Your pork loin should come with a fat cap. This is important because the fat cap helps in keeping the meat tender and juicy.
The caraway in the recipe can be substituted with cumin or celery seeds. You can't substitute juniper berries, so if you don't have them, skip adding.
Lard can be substituted with pork grease (as in bacon drippings) or with butter.
For the Sauerkraut
If you can't get caraway seeds, substituted with cumin or celery seeds. If you can't get juniper berries, skip adding them. Although, they do add a lot of flavor to the Sauerkraut.
Use homemade Sauerkraut fermented in an earthen-ware crock pot OR unseasoned store-bought Sauerkraut. When we don't have enough homemade Sauerkraut, we also use commercially available Sauerkraut. It's allowed. :)
You can use your favorite beer in this recipe. That can be craft, wheat, malt, barley, dark beer. If you want to substitute beer, you can do that with wine, but that's the version from Alsace in France. To make it alcohol-free, use water, but your Sauerkraut will lack some flavors.