Hairy Pork Belly

I have seen plenty of posts of people cooking pork belly so I was hoping to pick your brains. Has anyone encountered hair still on your pork belly? How do you guys remove the hair?

The other week I tried to make sous vide braised pork belly for my ramen and I noticed a lot of hair on my pork belly. I attempted to pick each hair individually, but there many hairs barely sticking out from the surface and figured if I cooked my pork belly for 48 hours, it should be tender enough to pluck but that wasn't the case for me. I hear of people singeing the hairs off with a blow torch but I was hoping there would be an easier way. Is hair on pork belly typical, or could my pork belly just be improperly butchered?

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Emmett_Barton_12803

Ew weird. I have no idea.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

It sounds like your belly still had the skin on. Odds are, you'll want to remove the skin before cooking because it has a different texture than the rest of the belly. So do a thin cut with a long knife just below the skin on a well-chilled belly. Torches also do the job, but they're more for things like trotters where you're wanting to keep the skin in tact.

douglas_bd

I haven't encountered that before, but I'd take a torch to the hair before cooking. If it's anything like eyebrows or arm hair, it'll be gone before you even feel the heat. That reminds me though...I was curing some pork belly the other day. Suddenly, something caught my eye. What is that? Ah. It's a nipple.

DiggingDogFarm_65362

Sloppy butchering....It happens...

If you want to retain the skin you can either shave it off or, as mentioned, carefully torch it.

Samuel_68313

Torch it. I've also heated up vodka, set it on fire, and poured that over a hairy pigs head, worked okay.

David_C_78141

Thanks guys! You got it right, I left the skin on when doing my pork belly. I read it would give me a nice texture but it just wasn't my thing. I'll have to try this again with the skin off.

Brendan_Lee_56950

they fry up nicely for a snack

Ben_Johnson_34605

What temperature did you cook your belly at? The skin should break down pretty nicely when its cooked. If you really hate the texture you can take it off, it does contain a lot of gelatin though and that goes a long way in making the belly super unctuous. I would suggest removing the skin after cooking if you don't want to eat it. This way you still get the benefits of cooking with the skin but you don't have to eat it. If you do choose to remove the skin, be sure to save it for chicharones!

David_C_78141

I think I cooked my pork belly at 160 F for 48 hours. I don't think I would mind the texture of the skin, I was just worried about my guests eating the bristle like hairs. I'll have to try both ways, skin on and off and see the difference. Practice makes perfect!

TheEffinChef_115612

U can shave it. Seriously.

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