Pork Belly Not-Porchetta, Fennel & Onion Puree, Piquillo Pepper Sauce

Really bummed with this. I dusted the flesh with Activa (meat glue) and rolled and tied it before cooking it for 10 hours in a 70°C bath. Apparently that doesn't make a tight enough contact, or I should have put some Activa on the skin side as well; net result, the roll never actually set. When I cut the twine, the thing just unfurled on my board. Womp womp.

Tasted really good, tho, so at least there's that. And the will be leftovers that have already been sliced for tacos. Woot.

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Comments

Johan_Edstrom_5586

When I do these I usually lay the meat on plastic foil, dust then wrap, you should start getting the wet dog smell pretty quickly, wrap in metal foil, and twist it pretty hard, don't tie off the ends (so air can go out), vacuum and reshape the roll if necessary, then direct in the bath, the bath temp should fix and set the activa very quickly.

Matthew_Snyder_68770

I've done it before with no problems (the turkey roulade), so I was dismayed when this ended up being a trip on the SS Failboat.

Ron_Shalit_129040

Transglutaminase such as activa RM stops being active north of 58° C so it's no surprise it didn't bond... still looks good though!

Matthew_Snyder_68770

That's interesting, because the CS turkey roulade recipe (which I've cooked successfully) calls for a 3-6 hour cook at 66°C.

tshewman

In this case, apprears you are attempting to bond a fat layer (when rolled tightly) to a protein layer (at least in sections??? If not mistaken, that may be outside the product's abilities. My understanding is it intended to change the protein structures to allow bonding (a free peptide to a bound peptide).

Matthew_Snyder_68770

Yeah, I think that's probably it. Derp.

Brendan_Lee_56950

It takes some time for it to reach that temperature which typically would set the product a good majority of the way. After all it is an enzyme so it will increase in efficacy as it heats until it reaches a point at which it denatures

aaron.murphycrews

I had the same thought as Todd about the fat layer being an issue. On the other hand, the underside of poultry skin is also almost all fat, and that seems to adhere well in my experience.

I'm imagining that belly has a strong tendency to unroll, certainly more so than turkey skin on a roulade. Maybe the combination of weak binding to fat and natural pressure to come apart?

Anyone have success using activa to bind shapes that are hard to hold?