How far in advance can I stuff a joint of pork before cooking?

Question

In Nigella’s book, “Nigella Christmas”, she makes a rolled stuffed loin of pork. The loin is flattened, stuffing is laid upon it, and it is then rolled, wrapped in bacon and tied with string to keep it together.

Nigella has lots of “Make Ahead Tips” in the sidebars of this book, which is great for Christmas, because there is a lot to do. For this, the tip is:

Stuff and roll the look up to 6 hours ahead. Keep covered in the fridge. Allow 20 minutes at room temperature before putting in the oven.

My question is why only 6 hours? Ideally I’d like to do this the day before, leave it overnight in the fridge, and cook it the next day. Is there a reason why I shouldn’t stuff the pork, say, 24 hours before cooking it?

Online version of the recipe is here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-6460141/Christmas-Nigella-Rolled-stuff-loin-pork-rubied-gravy.html

Answer 1

There is no generic reason to not do it earlier, in the sense that there are e.g. no food safety rules against it.

We cannot know why this advice was printed in the book. Ideally, the production team tested the recipe extensively, recognized a decline in quality after a long stay in the fridge, and determined that six hours still produces a very good roast. There are also other, less charitable explanations. We cannot know which was the real one, and, if there is a quality reduction, if it is not still acceptable to your personal taste.

So, in the end, you can only try it out and decide if it works for you with a longer resting time, or not. Luckily, there are no reasons to speak against such a test, and the worst risk you take is eating a subpar roast once.

Answer 2

Your recipe mentions a marinade:

Put all the marinade ingredients into a large freezer bag, with the opened, flattened loin. Leave the bag overnight in the fridge (in a lasagne-type dish) or just while you are making the stuffing and waiting for it to cool.

I suppose the 6 hour limit you're asking has to do with the marination: it will continue to change the meat texture if you do it too far ahead of cooking, even after you remove the meat from the bag. Also it might impart some of that flavor on the stuffing, which you might not want.