Roasted Pork Belly Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What temperature should pork belly be cooked at? ›

You want to cook until the internal temperature is 160-165°F. Remove meat from oven and remove salt crust. It should come off in pieces.

If the skin hasn't completely transformed to crisp crackling, turn on the broiler and blast it for a further 10 minutes, keeping a close eye to make sure it doesn't burn. Remove cooked belly from oven, place on a board. Use a cleaver or roast slicer to cut into chunks and serve immediately.

The secret to cooking pork belly is the combination of a gentle heat to tenderise the meat and short, high temperature blasts to crisp up the skin on the outside. Typically, recipes call for around 2 hrs at 180C/160C fan/gas 4, then a further 30 mins or so at 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

Washing beef, pork, lamb, or veal before cooking it is not recommended. Bacteria in raw meat and poultry juices can be spread to other foods, utensils, and surfaces. We call this cross-contamination. Some consumers think they are removing bacteria and making their meat or poultry safe.

I've answered a similar question, and you should be going by the internal temperature, not the time. And yes, overcooking will toughen it, as it will lose too much moisture.

One way to determine your porks' doneness is by the color of the juices that come out of it when you poke a hole in it with a knife or fork. If the juices run clear or are very faintly pink, the pork is done cooking. If they're mostly or entirely pink or red, it's best to continue cooking.

Can you overcook smoked pork belly? You can overcook anything. If smoked at too high of a temperature or for too long, then the meat will become tough and rubbery. Remove the meat from the heat once it reaches 190-195°F to prevent overcooking, plus don't add too many wood chips and overdo the amount of smoke.

The skin wasn't dry enough. Make sure to pat the pork completely dry before rubbing in the salt and oil as excess moisture will stop it from crisping up. It's important to score the skin if you want it really crisp. You'll need a sharp knife for this, or ask your butcher to do it for you.

Preheat oven to 230°C, 210°C fan or Gas Mark 8. Put the joint in a roasting tin on the top shelf for 20 minutes. This sudden blast of heat is the key to crispy crackling. Reduce the temperature to 180-190°C, 160-170°C fan or Gas Mark 4-5 and follow the cooking times below to ensure the joint is cooked through.

Hot oven 30 minutes to develop crackling – Crank oven to 240°C/465°F and put pork back in for 30 minutes, observing and rotating as needed to encourage even cooking, until the skin is golden, puffy and super-crispy; Rest 10 minutes – Rest the pork belly for 10 minutes before slicing.

Why put baking soda on pork belly? ›

It is a fact of life that dry skin crisps better than moist skin. Scotese's trick to crispy pork belly is to rub equal parts baking soda and salt into the skin—the combo of baking soda and salt will draw out moisture and set you up for success.

White Vinegar helps dry out the skin – but it has a secondary purpose of removing the odour! If you are prepared, place the Pork in the Fridge UNCOVERED overnight – the skin will dry out. When you pre-heat your oven, remove the pork from the fridge and let it return to room temperature.

Pour a cup or more of boiling water over the skin. This will shrink the rind, allowing the incisions to open and enabling the heat, salt, and oil to penetrate deeper. Try to only pour the boiling water over the rind and not over any exposed meat on the roast, as this will dry the pork out.

The tender pork belly is most often used to make bacon, but there are other ways to appreciate this cut. Braise or roast it and enjoy the unique milky flavor – so different from cured bacon or conventional pork.

Roast in a slow oven for 2 1/2 hours at 140°C/285°F so the flesh becomes tender; Level the pork so the skin is level (ie. as horizontal as possible) by propping up the belly with balls of foil beneath. This makes the crackling cook evenly = perfect crackling.

This process softens the pork, infuses it with flavor, and speeds up the overall cooking time. Some prefer to boil their belly in plain water. But if you want your ulam to burst with savory goodness, cook it in seasoned stock.

boiling water trick

This helps to prep the skin to crackle as its now "pre-cooked" so to speak. Make sure to pat dry with paper towel to further dry afterwards.