I've tried getting a good crackling on my pork belly before, but never did do it quite so to my satisfaction.
This version seems good for both crackling and meat. Unfortunately, I cocked it up later when reheating.
1. Dry brine the meat (next time I will wet brine with skin above fluid to try for more juiciness) with salt and 5 spice for about 24-48 hours.
2. Prick the skin deeply all over. Then also score the skin about 2cm apart (will make for easier cutting).
3. Wipe down the skin (but no special effort, just normal wipe down. The long cook will dry it out).
4. Cook in 115C oven until internal temp reaches about 80C (i think it was 2 hours or so).
5. Reduce oven temp to 90 and cook until meat is tender but still chewy (I think it was 2-3 hours).
6. Take out meat, and let a fan blow over the skin for about 15 mins.
7. Store in fridge for at least 3 hours to let the skin dry out further. Overnight is fine - I was extra paranoid by making sure the only things touching the (already sterile) pork was clean.
8. Turn the oven to 300C and preheat. Once it hits 300C, switch to broiler on high. Let it heat for several mins more.
9. Place pork close under broiler. Watch it carefully! Took it out when the skin is starting to turn black in places (bottom pic).
10. Let the pork cool. Then using a small knife, scrap the black char off.
Up to now, it was good. Then I stored some of the pork overnight to reheat the next day. When I reheated, I was afraid the pork would dry out and turned on some steam - big mistake. I tried to recover by re-broiling: unfortunately, I didn't watch it carefully and the crackling burnt badly. Ah well..... this was luckily a cheap cut I had in the freezer for a while. I cut off the skin and all good, just no crackling.
This version seems good for both crackling and meat. Unfortunately, I cocked it up later when reheating.
1. Dry brine the meat (next time I will wet brine with skin above fluid to try for more juiciness) with salt and 5 spice for about 24-48 hours.
2. Prick the skin deeply all over. Then also score the skin about 2cm apart (will make for easier cutting).
3. Wipe down the skin (but no special effort, just normal wipe down. The long cook will dry it out).
4. Cook in 115C oven until internal temp reaches about 80C (i think it was 2 hours or so).
5. Reduce oven temp to 90 and cook until meat is tender but still chewy (I think it was 2-3 hours).
6. Take out meat, and let a fan blow over the skin for about 15 mins.
7. Store in fridge for at least 3 hours to let the skin dry out further. Overnight is fine - I was extra paranoid by making sure the only things touching the (already sterile) pork was clean.
8. Turn the oven to 300C and preheat. Once it hits 300C, switch to broiler on high. Let it heat for several mins more.
9. Place pork close under broiler. Watch it carefully! Took it out when the skin is starting to turn black in places (bottom pic).
10. Let the pork cool. Then using a small knife, scrap the black char off.
Up to now, it was good. Then I stored some of the pork overnight to reheat the next day. When I reheated, I was afraid the pork would dry out and turned on some steam - big mistake. I tried to recover by re-broiling: unfortunately, I didn't watch it carefully and the crackling burnt badly. Ah well..... this was luckily a cheap cut I had in the freezer for a while. I cut off the skin and all good, just no crackling.
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