Pork scratchings and brines

[21TonyK]

I'm regularly cooking whole legs of pork and decided to play around with making pork scratchings. Pretty successful, dehydrate overnight at 75 degrees then deep fry at 200. Puff up like quavers

But, not that much flavour as they are being fried in veg oil and not cooking in their own fat etc etc

I lightly brined the last skin and there was a subtle difference but nothing special.

Of course they get covered in salt but anyone tried anything similar? Anyone suggest a really good brine other than the usual salt and sugar mix?

I'm wondering about curing the skin and fat for a few days, semi-bacon, before drying and frying.

Anyone played around with this?

[HD Adam]

Yes.

I've made Cracklin's or Chicharons depending which bit of the southern USA you are from.

I got some (skin on) pork belly, sliced it up popped it in the offset smoker for an hour or so.

Then cube it up and lob it into a wok where it cooks in it's own fat as they render down.

Start



Make sure you flip them about so they end up skin side down and they puff up.



Now, dust with salt or whatever seasoning you fancy.

You'll notice I did this outside and unless you've got the worlds best kitchen extractor fan, I suggest you do too.

[Shaw Tarse]

Happy to volunteer for tasting duties..

[captainzep]

This is the approach that I followed, with a warning for the slightly wky over-familiar blog-writing used by the author. -You don't bother with deep frying. May not take the humble pork scratching to the level you're seeking, but I can tell you it worked and I was very happy with the result. I think I used it in one of the cooking comps.

http://justcookit.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/homemade-...

http://justcookit.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/homemade-...

[21TonyK]

captainzep said:

This is the approach that I followed...

This is how I used to do them and yes they are good but I'm trying to get something "wafer light" but with the flavour as well.

I'm picking up 20 Kilos of unsmoked gammon in the morning so I'm going to skin it and try using that. If it works I may cue the rind off the pork legs so its more like a "bacon scratching".

Issue is I need 100 odd portions and it needs to be easy to eat.

(plus I want to snack on it whenever the fryer is on)

[ThomasH01]

Try taking the slab of skin / fat and dust in mix of table salt and toasted fennel seeds and cumin which have been crushed to a fine powder. Dust the entire underside, then roll up along the short edge, wrap in cling film like a Swiss roll and put in fridge overnight. Then next day slice the sausage / roll into 5mm thick pieces and deep fry with the seasoning still on. Oil at 180 c

[21TonyK]

ThomasH01 said:

Try taking the slab of skin / fat and dust in mix of table salt and toasted fennel seeds and cumin which have been crushed to a fine powder. Dust the entire underside, then roll up along the short edge, wrap in cling film like a Swiss roll and put in fridge overnight. Then next day slice the sausage / roll into 5mm thick pieces and deep fry with the seasoning still on. Oil at 180 c

mmmm I like the idea of "pork wheels"

[ThomasH01]

They uncurl rather well to give good crackling rather than wheels

[21TonyK]

Got what I wanted...



Boil the skin for an hour, cool and trim, "Cook" at 75 degrees overnight, leave to air dry for several (6-7) days. Back in the oven at 220 for 8-10 minutes.

Into an airtight box with salt, smoked paprika and chili powder. Shake like mad for 20 seconds.

Edited by 21TonyK on Friday 17th March 11:12

[anonymous-user]

21TonyK said:

Got what I wanted...



Boil the skin for an hour, cool and trim, "Cook" at 75 degrees overnight, leave to air dry for several (6-7) days. Back in the oven at 220 for 8-10 minutes.

Into an airtight box with salt, smoked paprika and chili powder. Shake like mad for 20 seconds.

Edited by 21TonyK on Friday 17th March 11:12

fk me, good effort. They look amazing.

[Murph7355]

HD Adam said:

Yes.

I've made Cracklin's or Chicharons depending which bit of the southern USA you are from.

I got some (skin on) pork belly, sliced it up popped it in the offset smoker for an hour or so.

Then cube it up and lob it into a wok where it cooks in it's own fat as they render down.

Start



Make sure you flip them about so they end up skin side down and they puff up.



Now, dust with salt or whatever seasoning you fancy.

You'll notice I did this outside and unless you've got the worlds best kitchen extractor fan, I suggest you do too.

They look really good to the point I could easily imagine eating the lot with a couple of beers.

But...

They aren't pork scratchings.

Too much meat left on them by the look of them.

If you fancy sending them over to my house I'll dispose of them for you to cover your error

[thetapeworm]

21TonyK said:

Got what I wanted...



Boil the skin for an hour, cool and trim, "Cook" at 75 degrees overnight, leave to air dry for several (6-7) days. Back in the oven at 220 for 8-10 minutes.

Into an airtight box with salt, smoked paprika and chili powder. Shake like mad for 20 seconds.

I'd like to place an initial order for 1KG of these and then arrange some kind of subscription please.

Although I do like the ones that still have a bit of meat on too.

[FurtiveFreddy]

21TonyK said:

Got what I wanted...



Boil the skin for an hour, cool and trim, "Cook" at 75 degrees overnight, leave to air dry for several (6-7) days. Back in the oven at 220 for 8-10 minutes.

Into an airtight box with salt, smoked paprika and chili powder. Shake like mad for 20 seconds.

They're bloody brilliant. If you go into production I'll place an order as well

How much do you think the air drying over several days played in the final result?

Do they stay properly crunchy after a few days?

[21TonyK]

4-5 days on and they're still as crispy as last week so I suspect they would last at least a full week and that's without them being in an airtight container.

As for the process the drying time seems to make all the difference. I was using my dehydrator originally but that got very messy with the amount of fat rendering out so I started leaving them in an oven on low overnight but got bored after 2-3 nights so just left them racked up on the side for best part of a week.

Again, got fed up firing up the fryer and spoiling the oil so just tried putting the trays back in the oven and got the result I was after.

Now playing with salt and spice mixes so far...

salt (just like the ones from the packet)

salt and smoked paprika (better)

salt, smoked paprika, chilli powder (better+)

salt and cajun seasoning (better++)

Anyone with suggestions?

I'll be picking up another 12kg of pork on Monday so by next Friday I should have another batch ready for "testing"

They do go nice with a

Edited by 21TonyK on Tuesday 21st March 17:44

[Gandahar]

Good work.

I have to say I don't like the really puffy ones though, texture wise they are like a pork flavoured quaver.

I prefer the ones that have some real heft to them and might be hairy. They have a crisp side but also that melt in the mouth fatty side that gives it more taste whilst clotting up your arteries.

What's the comparison if you do them in the oven ? The best crackling is where it it served with Sunday lunch and has some snap, but also some chew that gets stuck in your teeth.

[Murph7355]

21TonyK said:

...
Anyone with suggestions?...

Chinese 5 spice?

[Tuvra]

21TonyK said:

Anyone with suggestions?

Cayenne pepper

[FurtiveFreddy]

21TonyK said:

Anyone with suggestions?

Surely it's obvious?

There can only be one thing...

Bacon powder

(as in, crisped up smoked streaky blitzed to a fine powder)

[21TonyK]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Yep, and removing any unwanted gunk/soft gooey fat

[21TonyK]

Did a very unscientific tasting at work with a couple of the guys. Five spice seemed a bit odd, cayenne was similar to paprika and chilli. Favourite is salt and Cajun seasoning, or just salt and more salt.

Next test will be powdered bacon...