Roasts -- Large and Small

• Glaze goes on loin, tenderloin and shoulder roasts at different times, depending on their size. For a large shoulder or large loin roast that takes 1 to 3 hours to cook, it's best to apply the glaze during the last 20 minutes in 10-minute intervals so the glaze lacquers the roast but doesn't burn. Tenderloins roasts under 1 pound take only 20 minutes to cook, so apply the glaze when you first put the roast in the oven and once again halfway through cooking.

Chops, Kebabs and Ribs

• With small cuts of pork, glaze doesn't have a chance to burn in the time it takes to cook the meat. In those cases, if you brush the glaze once or twice during the entire cooking time it will still have time to coat the meat and form a sweet crust. For apricot glazed pork chops, kebabs and ribs, you can also marinate the meat for about 30 minutes in the glaze mixture before grilling, roasting or pan-frying.

Spice Up Your Glaze

• Just a few seconds in the microwave turns apricot jam or jelly into a glaze that works perfectly fine for any pork cut -- including additional ingredients turns the glaze into something special. For barbecued pork, stir in a tablespoon of hot and smoky, pureed chipotle chilies in adobo sauce from the Mexican food section of your grocery. Other flavors that pair well with both apricots and pork include brandy, coffee, garlic and ginger.

Pork and Apricots Pairings Over Time

• Apricots were first cultivated in ancient China over 5,000 years ago, and while no recipes from that time exist, contemporary recipes for pork with apricot glaze sometimes have a Chinese heritage, such as ones adding Chinese five-spice powder, hoisin sauce or soy sauce to the glaze. It's likely that the Romans paired apricots with pork too. Historians have found Roman recipes pairing pork with fruit, and these world conquerors prized the apricot, calling it "the precocious one," because the fruit ripens before any others in early summer.