- Aug 27, 2008
- 5,170
- 409
I ran accross a few old threads doing a search lastnight, and had to try these again. Yesterday, I did a fry-only, and they were far less than desirable. Today I was armed with a bit better info on methods.
I did a boil of the whole skin for approx 3 hours until the skin had swollen up to about 4 times it's original thickness (not including fat/other tissues) and was begining to get a fall apart texture. I removed it from the pot, drained and chilled @ 20* for a couple hours before continuing. Now it was time to slice and fry!
Boiled, chilled, sliced and heading for some hot fat/oil:
Just into the pot, getting things settled in a bit...tried to run at 350* oil temp, but my pot was not deep enough to contain the spattering grease...these babies really pop alot at higher temps, and cause some pretty violent micro-explosions:
I'm just about to pull them out for draining and seasoning...I waited until the texture started getting spoungy with the tongs and they were getting a golden brown color:
I hit them with a good dose of Cajun seasoning and tossed them for a minute in a collander before hitting the paper towel lined pan:
The flavor was great, texture so-so, being crunchy on the outside and still had some grease in the interior from cooking too slow...I needed to fry them at a higher temp to get a puffier/crispier product....I'm getting closer to the real deal though...a deep pot (20 quart or larger) with a proper lid will be next on my quarterly order for cooking gear:
Well, as they say, practice makes perfect. Now, I'll have to locate a couple more picnic shoulders to skin out so I can try fried pork skins again...er...uh...OK, I'll smoke the picnics for pulled pork, too! LOL!!!
Eric
I did a boil of the whole skin for approx 3 hours until the skin had swollen up to about 4 times it's original thickness (not including fat/other tissues) and was begining to get a fall apart texture. I removed it from the pot, drained and chilled @ 20* for a couple hours before continuing. Now it was time to slice and fry!
Boiled, chilled, sliced and heading for some hot fat/oil:
Just into the pot, getting things settled in a bit...tried to run at 350* oil temp, but my pot was not deep enough to contain the spattering grease...these babies really pop alot at higher temps, and cause some pretty violent micro-explosions:
I'm just about to pull them out for draining and seasoning...I waited until the texture started getting spoungy with the tongs and they were getting a golden brown color:
I hit them with a good dose of Cajun seasoning and tossed them for a minute in a collander before hitting the paper towel lined pan:
The flavor was great, texture so-so, being crunchy on the outside and still had some grease in the interior from cooking too slow...I needed to fry them at a higher temp to get a puffier/crispier product....I'm getting closer to the real deal though...a deep pot (20 quart or larger) with a proper lid will be next on my quarterly order for cooking gear:
Well, as they say, practice makes perfect. Now, I'll have to locate a couple more picnic shoulders to skin out so I can try fried pork skins again...er...uh...OK, I'll smoke the picnics for pulled pork, too! LOL!!!
Eric
