# Ideas about skin on pork belly



## cave76 (Feb 3, 2014)

I cook pork belly fairly often but so many of the recipes don't tell you whether to leave the skin on or off. I cooked some last night (cut into 2 inch pieces) with the skin on and of course that part was tough.

Is there any rationale to leaving the skin on or removing it?


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## Aunt Bea (Feb 3, 2014)

cave76 said:


> I cook pork belly fairly often but so many of the recipes don't tell you whether to leave the skin on or off. I cooked some last night (cut into 2 inch pieces) with the skin on and of course that part was tough.
> 
> Is there any rationale to leaving the skin on or removing it?




If I was making a recipe that cooked quickly I would remove it.  If I was cooking a dish low and slow for 2 or 3 hours I would leave it on.

No special reason, that is just the way I was raised. 

The old Italians in this area used to use pig skin to make braciola.  The long slow cooking in the sauce tenderizes the pig skin and renders it chewy rather than tough, if that makes sense.


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## cave76 (Feb 3, 2014)

Thanks, Aunt Bea------ that makes sense. I've  made a Chinese dish (red-cooked pork) where a fatty pork shoulder is cooked a long time and the best is when the skin is left on, which is  hard to find unless at a Oriental meat market. So if I'd just thought before I asked. 

But what's the fun in that?


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## Rocklobster (Feb 3, 2014)

If you core the skin and salt it, it will become very crunchy. Some people love that. I like it but try not to eat too much of it.


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## cave76 (Feb 3, 2014)

Rocklobster said:


> If you core the skin and salt it, it will become very crunchy. Some people love that. I like it but try not to eat too much of it.




Did you mean *S*core, not core? And if so, what's the rest of the process? Crunchy pork skin? Yum.


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## Rocklobster (Feb 3, 2014)

cave76 said:


> Did you mean *S*core, not core? And if so, what's the rest of the process? Crunchy pork skin? Yum.



I meant score. It allows some fat to melt out, I would suppose. Here is an example of what it would look like. The idea is to salt and roast the pork belly low and slow and then crank the heat up near the end to achieve the crunchy finish. You have to keep the skin side very dry through the whole marinating and roasting process  to prevent any moisture. It has to dry out, essentially.


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## taxlady (Feb 3, 2014)

Rocklobster said:


> I meant score. It allows some fat to melt out, I would suppose. Here is an example of what it would look like. The idea is to salt and roast the pork belly low and slow and then crank the heat up near the end to achieve the crunchy finish. You have to keep the skin side very dry through the whole marinating and roasting process  to prevent any moisture. It has to dry out, essentially.


Oh man, that looks so Danish, and yummy.  You would get a lot of complaints if you ever served a pork roast to Danes without "flæskesvær".


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## Rocklobster (Feb 3, 2014)

Not sure what it is, but it looks pretty much what I try to achieve. I have most success with Italian style porchetta spices like, fennel, rosemary, garlic, olive oil etc. I let the meat side marinate in a flat glass baking dish, keeping the skin up, salted and dry...Then, I wipe the moisture and salt off of the skin with a dry paper towel and  put it on a rack and bake it for a few hours, on low,250 or 300. You can leave it in as long as you like this way. When  you are soon ready to eat it, crank the heat up to help crisp and blister up the skin. Then I take it out and let it rest for about 15 minutes before cutting. 
One tip is to score it the way you want to cut it up. This way you can cut through the slits easily without wrecking the finished skin. It is hard as heck and you won't get to get a knife through the crispy skin otherwise.


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## Rocket_J_Dawg (Feb 3, 2014)

Oh man...
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




    Cut that skin off and make my favorite Cuban delicacy Chicharrones.
Cuban Chicharrones Recipe | How to Make Pig Skin Pork Cracklings


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## PrincessFiona60 (Feb 4, 2014)

I was going to say fried pork Rinds...love those chicharrones...


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## cave76 (Feb 4, 2014)

Thank you Rocket Dawg for clearing that up for me. And pork cracklin's? The best! We used to butcher our own pigs and had lots of cracklin's then. Yum!


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## menumaker (Feb 4, 2014)

Rocklobster!
I want some of that and I want it NOW!! I adore belly pork, I do it the same way as you except that I often cook a piece big enough for 6 and then we all forget about those carbs and fat and just live a little.


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## cave76 (Feb 4, 2014)

Oh, my!!! I'm so sorry I confused the names----- I should have put RockLobster instead of Rocket Dawg!!!

Do you know how many names have Rock or Dawg in them? Enough to confused an old lady. (At last I pretend I'm a lady!)


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## Roll_Bones (Feb 4, 2014)

Rocket_J_Dawg said:


> Oh man...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I love them too. My father always made shoulder pork roast and the skin was my favorite part.  Crispy skin.
I make a cut through the skin at the short end, so it all can be pulled off the roast when its done and return it to the rack for further crisping.
A Cuban pork sandwich is better with Chicharrones on it.  Some hot sauce too!  Some onion too!


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