pork crackling

His pork shoulder recipe may meet with approval from Anthony Puharich, but as for how Colin Fassnidge plans on testing whether it’s done… our butcher is mystified.

Crispy pork shoulder with sweet potato mash

pork shoulder (bone in)

onions, quartered

pears, quartered

garlic bulb, halved

x pear cider

chicken stock

thyme

sweet potatoes

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5348771529001-5977458968001

Make the most of your air-fryer to make perfectly cooked pork belly, with crispy crackling and tender meat. Energy efficient, it's a great way to cook the dish

Air-fryer pork belly

pork

vegetable oil

½ tsp garlic granules

Heat the air-fryer to 200C. Pat the pork belly dry with kitchen paper or a clean tea towel, then score the top of the fat, being careful not to cut all the way through. Rub with the oil and season well with salt, pepper and the garlic granules. Lift the pork belly into the air-fryer, skin-side up and cook for 30 mins, until the skin starts to crisp up.

Turn the heat down to 180C and cook for a further 20-30 mins until the pork is cooked through and the skin has had chance to crisp fully.

Soft, juicy pork, roasted to perfection with the crunchiest, crispest skin. Fennel, garlic and herbs permeate every mouthful. POrchetta is one of Italy&#039;s greatest dishes. Learn how to make it at home...

Italian Porchetta

lb pork belly ((3kg) (skin on))

fennel seeds

tbsp black peppercorns

tsp kosher salt

tbsp sage ((finely chopped))

tbsp rosemary ((finely chopped))

garlic

Using paper towels, wipe the pork belly to get it as dry as possible. Wrap the entire belly in towels and leave for an hour to soak up more moisture.

Preheat oven to 300ºF/150ºC

In a dry frying pan, roast the fennel seeds and peppercorns until they start to jump around the pan a little. Pour into a pestle &amp; mortar or spice grinder and grind into a rough powder, like breadcrumbs. You can also finely chop using a large knife.

Combine the fennel mix with the salt, sage, rosemary and garlic.

Place the pork, skin up and using a sharp knife score the skin. Then turn over and make a shallow criss-cross pattern on the surface of the meat.

Sprinkle over all the fennel mix and massage into the meat.

Along the long edge, roll the meat into a long sausage. Place the seam edge on the bottom, and using string slide under the rolled pork and tie at 2-inch intervals to secure the porchetta roll. Gently stab or prick the skin with a sharp knife all over, this will help crispen it later.

Place the porchetta roll onto a rack in a roasting tin so that it&#039;s not touching the surface. Pour in around 2-3 cups of water. You can also use white wine if you like. Sprinkle over a little salt.

Roast in the oven for 4 hours. After about 2 hours, top up the water in the pan.

You can also baste the pork a few times after around 2-3 hours.

After 4 hours, crank up the heat to 450ºF/230ºC and keep a keen eye on the pork. Check every 30 seconds or so to ensure the skin is not burning.Tap the skin with a knife to see how crisp it&#039;s getting and remove when you&#039;re happy with the crispness. You should see blistering and bubbling between 5-10 minutes. I can&#039;t stress enough, to keep an eye on the pork as it&#039;ll burn quickly!

Cover loosely with foil and rest for 20-30 minutes.

When ready, slice the pork and serve.

Serve on it&#039;s own as a sandwich, or as part of a larger Italian feast.

Can I make this a day or 2 in advance, wrap the exposed ends with cling wrap and leave it totally assembled in the fridge for 2 days allowing the skin to dry further?

I cooked this for Boxing Day and it was delicious. I added more herbs than the recipe calls for and put a splash of sherry in the pan instead if wine which smelled great. The skin didn't crisp right away but I just left it in the oven and then suddenly it puffed up and was perfect. It probably took 20 minutes instead of 10. Thankyou for the recipe.

This Slow-cooked Crispy Pork Belly and Gravy recipe gives you melt-in-the-mouth tender meat and incredibly crispy, puffy crackling every single time – without scoring the skin or any complicated steps. Starting with high heat, then roasting low and slow, and finishing under the oven grill (broiler) makes this method completely foolproof, and the roasting tray gravy takes it over the top. Perfect for entertaining, Sunday roasts or Christmas Day, and surprisingly simple to prepare ahead.

Crispy Slow-cooked Pork Belly and Gravy

kg pork belly, skin on, NOT scored (see note 1)

olive oil

tsp sea salt flakes

fennel seeds (see note 2)

½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper

water (for roasting, see method)

onions, any variety, unpeeled, cut into quarters

unpeeled,

celery stalks,

tsp sea salt flakes,

35 g plain (all-purpose) flour

Sea salt flakes,

black pepper,

potatoes

German-style Braised Cabbage

apple sauce

tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

tbsp finely chopped dill

Dry the skin overnight (optional but recommended) – Remove the pork from its packaging, place it on a plate or chopping board and pat the skin dry thoroughly with a paper towel. Place it in the fridge, uncovered, skin-side up, and leave for 6 hours (minimum) or up to 24 hours (best). If you don’t have time to air-dry, you can still make this recipe – it will still produce amazing crackling, just not quite as puffy as the photos.

Preheat the oven – Preheat the oven to 240°C (475°F) (all oven types). It needs to be very hot, so don’t rush this step – most ovens need a good 20 minutes to heat properly.

Prepare the pork rub – Remove the pork from the fridge 30 minutes before baking. Pat the skin dry again with a paper towel to remove any fresh moisture (even if you air-dried it overnight). Turn the pork over so it’s skin-side down. Drizzle the flesh (not the skin) with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt, fennel seeds and pepper. Use your hands to coat the flesh of the pork (including the sides).

Build the vegetable base – Arrange the onion, carrot, celery and garlic in a large, deep roasting pan. Place the pork, flesh-side down, on top of the vegetables. Use the vegetables to prop the pork up so that it sits as level as possible – this helps the crackling form evenly.

Prepare the crackling – Pat the skin dry one more time. Rub the olive oil over the top of the skin so it’s lightly and evenly coated. Sprinkle the sea salt flakes evenly across the surface – this even layer of salt is key to crispy, puffy crackling. Don’t leave the pork sitting around with the salt on it; once salted, it needs to go straight into the oven.

High-heat roast (to start the crackling) – Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and roast for 30–40 minutes, or until the skin is starting to dry out and small bubbles begin forming. It will not be fully crackling at this stage – this step simply jump-starts the process and guarantees a great result later.

Low and slow roast – Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C (325°F) (140°C/275°F fan-forced). Carefully pour 750 ml (3 cups) of water into the base of the pan (not over the pork – keep the skin dry). Roast for 2 hours, or until the pork is tender when pierced through the side with a knife – adding more water, 60 ml (¼ cup) at a time, if the tray looks like it’s drying out or if the vegetables start to catch.

Finish the crackling under the oven grill (broiler) – Remove the pork from the oven. Transfer the pork belly, skin-side up, to a foil-lined baking tray with a wire rack placed on top.

Turn the oven grill to high – Place the pork on a high shelf and grill (broil) for 2–3 minutes, or until the skin puffs and turns golden. WATCH IT CLOSELY – crackling can go from perfect to burnt in seconds. If any spots are browning too quickly, cover them with a small piece of foil. Set the pork aside to rest for at least 15 minutes while you make the gravy.

Make the gravy (the best part) – Place the original roasting pan (with the vegetables) on the stovetop over medium heat. If there is a lot of excess fat in the tray, ladle out all but 2 tablespoons. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir to form a thick paste. Slowly add the chicken stock, whisking as you go. Simmer for 2–3 minutes, scraping up all the golden, flavour-packed bits from the base of the tray.

Finish the gravy – Pour the gravy through a sieve into a small saucepan, using the back of a spoon to press as much flavour out of the vegetables as possible. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm.

Carve the pork belly – Place the pork belly on a clean chopping board, skin-side down (this prevents the crackling from shattering). Slice into thick pieces (about 1.5 cm/½ inch) and serve with mashed potatoes, braised cabbage, apple sauce, gravy and a sprinkle of finely chopped dill and parsley.

Hey Nicole,
Loved the toast of this, gravy was yum, pork meat was tender - my pork looked the same as yours up until the grilling step- I found this a bit hard to follow- I fear I had it too close to the top, or my setting was too hot…it happened so quickly I have no idea how you managed to put foil on top of it. Plus the foil kept sliding off some of the sides just would not crackle. Did you leave the oven door open to watch it? Could you provide. Temperature setting for the grill option and a few more tips here please? Also cutting - I still had a fatty layer on one side with not as much crackling and it puffed in certain areas so much that cutting it was tricky- any tips here?

Wow this is unbelievable!! Thank you for this thorough, delicious recipe!

My husband and I really enjoyed this! I didn't have ground fennel seed, so I swapped ground dried sage and it tasted awesome. Felt a little bad that all the veggies were wasted after making the gravy -- wonder if there is anything else we could have done to incorporate them into the final dish? 

Also, not sure if I did something wrong but the skin didn't puff up evenly like we wanted it to :( I dried the belly out in the fridge for 2 days. Under the broiler it started puffing in one spot which got dark quickly so I pulled it out of the oven to cover that part with foil. After placing it back in the oven, the rest of the skin refused to puff but did get very dark. Delicious, but bummed about the texture.

This was amazing! Pork soft and juicy, best crackling ever and delicious gravy. Will definitely make again.

I made this last night and it was perfect! I left the pork in the fridge uncovered for an extra day and the crackling puffed up so high.

The gravy was delectable and my very fussy teen asked me to cook it on Christmas Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJWE6etSpFU

You know that moment crackling starts puffing and you suddenly turn into a sideline coach? That’s me — hands clasped, whispering to the pork like it can hear me. 😂 And every time it delivers… glass-like crackling with zero scoring. Juicy pork. Ridiculous gravy. Sunday roast or Christmas perfection.

Find the recipe on my website 👇🏻
https://simplehomeedit.com/recipe/crispy-slow-cooked-pork-belly-and-gravy/

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#porkbelly #crispycrackling #roastpork

Crispy Pork Belly | Easy No-Score Crackling + Tray Gravy

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The most viewed pork crackling recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine