Crispy rind on pork belly

KYJeff

Hey all, I’m chasing crispy rind on pork belly. Has anyone gotten consistent results on the egg alone?  I’m thinking of slow smoking and finishing off in a cast iron or air fryer if not. Thanks for the advice. 

lkapigian

Cover the skin with a layer of salt the duration of the cook, at the end break that layer of salt off, skin will be super dry at that point( that’s what you need)  , remove plate setter , go skin side down over high direct heat and blister it,,,, can also finish with a torch 

you can do the salt a couple ways, skin up , or layer salt in a pan and go skin down 

6baluts

- Though "Krustenbraten" is not porkbelly it is a pork roast and it has a puffy crispy skin/rind when cooked.
- Somewhere I have a German to English PDF file on the process. The author cooked on a Weber Kettle and the skin was quickly puffed and crisped in the oven at the conclusion.
- I will look for that file but if I remember, it involved scoring the skin/rind in addition to some beer and salt.
- BTW Krustenbraten cooks well on the BGE, but have not done it in at least 6 years.

Ybabpmuts

This is prolly common sense, but if a crispy rind needs chasing, I wouldn't chase it on the pork belly. That sounds slippery and I don't have the shoes to pull that off anyway. You need to get the crispy rind to come to you so...

Dress like a young crispy rind in distress, then wait on the side of the pork belly with a flat tire and an empty can of fix-a-flat.

Pretend not to care. Don't even LOOK in the direction of the pork rind no matter what it does, sigh a lot, roll your eyes and act bored. It'll come around to you, when it does, go all jujitsu on its ass and give it a heavy pork chop to the head.


Almost all animals like corn, so make some corn pants and slowly sashay across the pork belly. Wearing lipstick might help, but don't be too piggish with it, subtlety is king here. Also, don't use a whole cob in your corn pants, because that might attract the wrong kind of pig.

Befriend a kinda mushy pork rind with a lot of personality, and be seen with it often, especially while around the crispy one. Always laugh at what the soggy one says even if it's telling you that your nipples are far too sharp for the thin shirt that your wearing. There's nothing like jealously to git you the pork you really want.

If your pig rind wants to play a game, follow all the rules to the t. My friend dated a pig once in high school. Apparently the pig wanted to play hide the banana after school, so he shows up with a whole bunch of bananas in his hand. The pig got really mad and threw the whole bunch of bananas at him and stormed off squealing The pig wanted to hide THE banana, and I know pigs are smart and everything, but apparently you can't just show up with six bananas all close together, and expect the pig to actually find the exact one you hid within the bunch. 


StumpBaby

KYJeff

lkapigian said:

Cover the skin with a layer of salt the duration of the cook, at the end break that layer of salt off, skin will be super dry at that point( that’s what you need)  , remove plate setter , go skin side down over high direct heat and blister it,,,, can also finish with a torch 

you can do the salt a couple ways, skin up , or layer salt in a pan and go skin down 

I haven’t heard of this approach.  It sounds interesting, thank you. Would you wait to score the rind after the slow cook before the sear? 

lkapigian

KYJeff said:

lkapigian said:

Cover the skin with a layer of salt the duration of the cook, at the end break that layer of salt off, skin will be super dry at that point( that’s what you need)  , remove plate setter , go skin side down over high direct heat and blister it,,,, can also finish with a torch 

you can do the salt a couple ways, skin up , or layer salt in a pan and go skin down 

I haven’t heard of this approach.  It sounds interesting, thank you. Would you wait to score the rind after the slow cook before the sear? 

try poking holes in it with a meat tenderizer or icepick, you can score before but be careful not to go into the back fat, skin wont dry out 

Hansm

low and slow until temps are 10 -15 mins away from done and I open all the vents wide for a quick sear

OhioEgger

May not be exactly the same thing, but the basic rule for getting a crispy skin on a schweinshaxe (probably my very favorite piece of meat) is to score it all over (roughly half an inch apart), rub salt into it, then rest it in the frig overnight. Cook low and slow if possible, remove when IT hits 175°F. Crank up the heat to blazing, then finish it for ten minutes.

CPFC1905

Pork belly is one of my favourites.
This time I gave it 25 minutes at 250C, on the dome temp gauge, then closed the vents for 30.Indirect for the whole cook, couple of chunks of fruit tree wood for the smoke.

Meat was super moist and fat had rendered.  20 mins or so to rest brought out the flavours.  Totally forgot the money shot pic.

'Crackling' is still a work in progress, a few patches were crisp but not all of it by a long way.  I suspect the heat near the meat was less than the dome gauge, so another 50C next time.  Or use a proper probe instead. SWMBO adds olive oil when she cooks it in the oven. 

I had left the meat uncovered in the fridge for 36 hours before hand, the skin was scored.  I gave it a good covering of salt to draw out the moisture, then washed it off about 4 times.

jonessteave

I just got some pork belly from the butcher, who specially got it for me. He was not versed in how to cook it. Anyone have any tips on doing it? i have around 3 pounds read more...thanks in advance!