My first cooking thread! Slow roasted pork belly with crispy crackling

OCdude · 10 Dec 2011 at 22:21

Yah, not sure how the ice-cube method would work - but feel free to try it!

Not sure which cut I prefer, belly... or a nice bit of shoulder. mmmmmm

FrenchTart · 11 Dec 2011 at 02:00

This thread is so delicious. Damn it being too late at night for me to go buy some pork belly (aside from the bacon I'm curing in the fridge)

Maximum Triceratops · 11 Dec 2011 at 09:29

Worst I have an expensive watch thread ever!

Does look tasty though.

alexakasloth · 11 Dec 2011 at 10:19

All that pork porn and you notice the watch?

FrenchTart · 11 Dec 2011 at 17:33

I have some belly cooking tonight with this method (though I didn't have time to dry out the skin for two days so I used a hair dryer instead).

Hopefully it will be delicious

Participant · 12 Dec 2011 at 08:28

Thanks for the bump Khan

.

Maximum Triceratops said:
Worst I have an expensive watch thread ever!

Might be fake!

FrenchTart said:
I have some belly cooking tonight with this method (though I didn't have time to dry out the skin for two days so I used a hair dryer instead).

That's a good idea, I might try that next time to save the hanging around period and add to the possibility of getting an instant crispy pork hit at a moment's notice (well, 4 hrs notice anyway).

FrenchTart · 12 Dec 2011 at 10:26

Robbie G said:
That's a good idea, I might try that next time to save the hanging around period and add to the possibility of getting an instant crispy pork hit at a moment's notice (well, 4 hrs notice anyway).

It worked really well actually, though I definitely over-salted the crackling. It was kind of inedible, but the texture was awesome

The pork itself was great though I wish I'd had the patience/self-control to leave it roasting for an extra hour.

randomshenans · 12 Dec 2011 at 10:28

I've got some in the freezer. I love a good pork belly and have been playing around with temps and times. Best I've found so far is put it on a wire rack, with water underneath, cover whole top with foil and pretty much steam it at 80 for about 6-8hrs(depending on size of belly). Make sure that the water never goes dry too. You can rub the meat before hand but then also flavour the water. Then, salt skin and cook for 30minutes on 190 it will puff up nicely.

Participant · 12 Dec 2011 at 10:41

FrenchTart said:
It worked really well actually, though I definitely over-salted the crackling. It was kind of inedible, but the texture was awesome

The pork itself was great though I wish I'd had the patience/self-control to leave it roasting for an extra hour.

I normally brush the salt off with a basting brush (or whatever) after it's cooked. If you use salt flakes, its easier to remove the salt that if you grind it on. All that effort for over-seasoned crackling is the most disappointing thing ever.

QuickLink said:
I've got some in the freezer. I love a good pork belly and have been playing around with temps and times. Best I've found so far is put it on a wire rack, with water underneath, cover whole top with foil and pretty much steam it at 80 for about 6-8hrs(depending on size of belly). Make sure that the water never goes dry too. You can rub the meat before hand but then also flavour the water. Then, salt skin and cook for 30minutes on 190 it will puff up nicely.

That sounds interesting. I wonder why the steam doesn't diminish the crispiness of the crackling? That said I love braising shoulder of lamb and finishing it in the oven. It goes so crispy on the outside but still tender in the middle.

I tried brining the pork before roasting too the other day (see thread entitled 'Brining') which worked really well in terms of flavouring the meat. The crackling wasn't quite as good as this but you need to thoroughly dry the skin between brining and roasting.

randomshenans · 12 Dec 2011 at 10:45

Drying out the skin first helps. You can, if you so choose to, remove the skin and a bit of the fat prior to steaming and then do the crackling, which I did once for presentation (ha) but normally I do it all together.

Participant · 12 Dec 2011 at 10:50

Sounds good.

Speaking of presentation, I once did the slow cooking part the day before we ate it, then left it in the fridge overnight compressed by a heavy baking tray and some food tins. Then when you want to eat it, you simply wack it in a pan skin side down (from room temperature) to heat through and get the crackling going.

Works really well and the 'compress and cook twice' tactic both increases the flavour and flattens the layers of fat, making it (arguably) more pleasant to eat if the fat hasn't rendered completely.

FrenchTart · 12 Dec 2011 at 11:52

Robbie G said:
I normally brush the salt off with a basting brush (or whatever) after it's cooked. If you use salt flakes, its easier to remove the salt that if you grind it on. All that effort for over-seasoned crackling is the most disappointing thing ever.

It was a bit annoying, yeah, though I still ate quite a bit of it anyhow. I just ended up drinking a lot of water afterwards.

I'll probably not grind up my salt next time. As you say, it would be a lot easier to de-salt at the end.

randomshenans · 12 Dec 2011 at 12:26

Robbie G said:
Sounds good.

Speaking of presentation, I once did the slow cooking part the day before we ate it, then left it in the fridge overnight compressed by a heavy baking tray and some food tins. Then when you want to eat it, you simply wack it in a pan skin side down (from room temperature) to heat through and get the crackling going.

Works really well and the 'compress and cook twice' tactic both increases the flavour and flattens the layers of fat, making it (arguably) more pleasant to eat if the fat hasn't rendered completely.

The old slow cook first the flash heat seems to be one used a bit. I'll have to give the compress a try though!