sous vide pork belly and crackling

my very first post! i found this forum few days ago

i've made pork belly few times but mostly at higher temperature as per thomas keller guide.
the fat was nicely rendered. i had to weigh the pork belly down otherwise it would float like a boat!
however, getting crackling was bit of chore. i love the pork belly with crackling made traditionally in an oven except the edges get burnt.

for the very first, i've got this pork belly now at 60c for 36hrs, and i got another 16hrs to go.
i was contemplating to cut pork belly in inch cubes, and deep fry only skin by partly submerging in to a 190c makeshift deep fryer.
alternatively, i could freeze the pork belly, and cook it the traditional way - season the skin with salt and get some colour in a fry pan, and leave it oven at 220c for 30mins.

any other ideas or suggestions?

thanks
sumit

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Grace_95227

Hi @lostinsydney, I tend to use the oven to get the crackling too, with the help of aluminium foils.

Here's a suggestion: once your pork is cooked, place it skin side down (still in the bag) on a tray, weigh it down with a heavy pot, refrigerate overnight. So you get a nice even skin for the crackling.

Then preheat your oven/grill to 220C. Take your block of meat out from the fridge, scrap out the jelly bits. Prick (or score) the skin evenly, salt it generously. Then use a big sheet of aluminium foil to wrap all sides of the meat (bottom and 4 sides), only exposing the skin part. Roast for 15 min, increase the heat to 250C for another 5 min (if needed). The meat would have heated up and the crackling should be even and nice. Use a serrated knife to scrape of excess salt layers or burnt bits (if any).

This is an easy way out in terms of operation, no doubt others have more ideas too!

Sumit__65166

thanks

i tried deep frying at various temp but it didn't work.

aluminum foil is a good idea. i'm going to do that.

as weather is quite warm here, i've left it the freezer. over the week or weekend, i'm going to cook the pork belly in an oven from the freezer but before i do that i'm going to get some colour on the skin in frying pan.

at 60c, i think pork belly needs to go in the oven because some of the fat needs to be rendered otherwise more laps in the pool.

Grace_95227

I tried frying the skin in a pan but it got stuck to it and destroyed all my beautiful crackling. Make sure you add enough oil to start.

If heating up from frozen you could go longer in the oven, great for more fat rendering too. Hope it goes well. show us some pictures!

David_Quintana_63467

i sous vide my skin at higher temp than the belly...i typically sous vide belly at 69C for 12 hr after a brine and i use a bit of curing salt.

I lay the skin in a bag flat...sous vide at 80C if i'm not mistaken..its been a while.. for 12 hours. I take it out and scrape all the fat off the bottom until its as clean as possible.

i lay them on a cooling rack over a sheet tray and dehydrate at a low temp until firm .

Then break small shards off and deep fry...POOF...pork rinds

andrea.feldman

When I make pork belly, I separate the skin first, reserving it in the fridge for later, when I make chicharrón. The belly itself I brine overnight, then cook (fat side up) in the oven. (I don't have an immersion circulator.) When the time comes to make the pork rinds, it's important that you've really scraped off everything but the skin (no fat should remain). Boil first, then fully chill in the fridge. You really need a dehydrator to get the skin ready for frying. Add some togarashi seasoning and you've got yourself a Momofuku starter. Fancy!

Dennis_Cloutier_38122

The Serious Eats all belly sous vide porchetta recipe is brilliant. We've done it twice, once with just belly, and once with a traditional porchetta cut, which includes the loin, rolled up inside the belly. Both were pretty skippy. The recipe calls for rolling the belly and cooking sous vide at 60 C for 36 hours, and then deep frying. You need asbestos sleeves as the oil goes everywhere, but the results are good! I think the key is that the belly is rolled and tied which keeps the meat from over cooking in the deep fryer.

Sumit__65166

i made this last week but i almost forgot update you.

from freezer to few mins on pan to warm up the skin, and finally to oven for approx 20-25min in 200c
crispy and crunchy but not glass like crackling i love. i can't wait for weather to get cold so i can try few of your tips, and more pork belly experiments

one before this i tried at 230c but it was tad too hot.
also, this time i warmed up the skin side starting with a cold pan instead of warm pan. starting with a cold pan was trick i picked from Marco Pierre White video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I8Y1l91KGw
before going in the oven, i tried to remove as much moisture i can with paper towel and seasoned with a lot of salt.
all in all, it did result in much better crackling. i've few more ideas that i'll try next time.

Marco_Vega_199370

Ive done 24 hours suckling pig sous vide, then just crisped the skin side down in a good non stick pan, wonderful result.