Crispy skin pork belly

[ozysmoke]

Hey everyone!

So i was surfing bbq youtube & came across pork belly burnt ends but crispy skin instead of sauced & braised with butter, brown sugar & honey & thought i must try this.

Started with some skin on pork bellies that i let sit in the fridge overnight uncovered to let the skin dry out & went over them with a jaccard. Then gave the meat side a dusting of lanes sweet heat bbq rub.

Threw the pork bellies on the wsm skin side up & covered that skin with a thick layer of table salt so no skin was visable, this protects the skin from taking on smoke & becoming rubbery. Then bought the pit up to 300 & smoked the bellies till they reached about 170 internal.

At this point its time to crisp up the skin, i removed the salt layer which had firmed up & congealed into solid sheets then realised i should take some photos lol

& flipped the bellies to skin side down, also removed the heat deflector/water pan of my wsm to get some direct heat action.

Bumped the temp up to 350 for an hour or just untill that skin is crisp & the meat probes tender.

Done & that skin is suuuuper crispy, like crackin

Meat is plenty juicy & smokey & the skin is really really crispy

Was absolutely thrilled how this turned out & will definitley do again in the future

Thanks for looking

 

[DRKsmoking]

Looks and sounds great. I love crispy pork belly. Nice job.
Love it when it is that juicy

I have done this a few times and the salt coat is a good idea, I have done this and saved the smoked salt.

Not taking away from you post , just a comment.

When I want a really crunchy skin, ie: Crackling
But and this is just what I have done and heard

• NO SCORING! That’s right, I’m busting one of the top myths out there about developing great crackling. There’s NO need to score the skin for perfect crackling! Not only is it unnecessary, it’s downright dangerous to the end result. Why? Well if you make even a small mistake with scoring you can compromise the crackling due to meat juices rising up and flooding the skin. And believe me, inexperienced butchers make that mistake all the time! More on my anti-skin-scoring philosophy below!
• 
  
  Avoiding vac-packed belly is better – Freshly cut pork belly from the butcher is better than supermarket pork belly that’s been sitting in a vacuum pack for who-knows-how-long. Butcher meat is not only typically better quality, but as mentioned, vacuum-packed meat = skin soaking in wet juices + wrinkled skin = inferior crackling. While fresh pork belly = nice and dry, flat skin = amazing crackling. (This concludes my pork crackling maths lesson …

Crispy Pork Belly "OMG" and SD sub buns with Pico de Gallo

Crispy Pork Belly "OMG" and SD sub buns with Pico de Gallo and sharp mayo Done a few different pork bellies, but never really got the crispy eatable skin i wanted , until now. Started with a 2.3 kg skin on belly, Let this dry ( very important ) in fridge for at least 24 hours. Until the shin...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

David

 

[ozysmoke]

Looks and sounds great. I love crispy pork belly. Nice job.
Love it when it is that juicy

I have done this a few times and the salt coat is a good idea, I have done this and saved the smoked salt.

Not taking away from you post , just a comment.

When I want a really crunchy skin, ie: Crackling
But and this is just what I have done and heard

• NO SCORING! That’s right, I’m busting one of the top myths out there about developing great crackling. There’s NO need to score the skin for perfect crackling! Not only is it unnecessary, it’s downright dangerous to the end result. Why? Well if you make even a small mistake with scoring you can compromise the crackling due to meat juices rising up and flooding the skin. And believe me, inexperienced butchers make that mistake all the time! More on my anti-skin-scoring philosophy below!
• 
  
  Avoiding vac-packed belly is better – Freshly cut pork belly from the butcher is better than supermarket pork belly that’s been sitting in a vacuum pack for who-knows-how-long. Butcher meat is not only typically better quality, but as mentioned, vacuum-packed meat = skin soaking in wet juices + wrinkled skin = inferior crackling. While fresh pork belly = nice and dry, flat skin = amazing crackling. (This concludes my pork crackling maths lesson …

Crispy Pork Belly "OMG" and SD sub buns with Pico de Gallo

Crispy Pork Belly "OMG" and SD sub buns with Pico de Gallo and sharp mayo Done a few different pork bellies, but never really got the crispy eatable skin i wanted , until now. Started with a 2.3 kg skin on belly, Let this dry ( very important ) in fridge for at least 24 hours. Until the shin...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

David

Thanks, i wasnt sure if it would work but it worked perfectly, there was like a 3mm or 4mm layer of crispy skin.
Yeah i kept the salt also looking forward to seeing if it imparts any extra flavor in dishes.
Thanks for the tips, ill maybe skip the jaccard next time & get the belly from a butcher & not a vac pack

Your pork belly looks fantastic i love using a burner for the skin never thought of that

 

[DRKsmoking]

Thanks, i wasnt sure if it would work but it worked perfectly, there was like a 3mm or 4mm layer of crispy skin.
Yeah i kept the salt also looking forward to seeing if it imparts any extra flavor in dishes.
Thanks for the tips, ill maybe skip the jaccard next time & get the belly from a butcher & not a vac pack

Your pork belly looks fantastic i love using a burner for the skin never thought of that

Thanks , I have scored it also, but when I wanted the crackling, try not to cut or nick the shin, and the salt helps the sweat / juices coming through if it was nicked and keep the smoke off.

The smoke does come through on the salt , but I dont us a lot of salt to have it as a flavour use.

David