Pork Belly

Cooking times and processes change with each recipe, but here are a few guidelines from assorted recipes:-

2kg Pork Belly  150°C  2hrs over jus,  250°C dry until skin crackles  TheHome
2kg Pork Belly  180°C  1.5hrs skin (oiled) down dry,  220°C  45min skin up,  Rest 10mins.  Taste
1.3kg  Pork Belly  250°C 10-15mins over vegies, 170°C  2.5hrs.  JamieOliver
1.5kg  Pork Belly  220°C 30mins skin oiled down,  190°C 1.5hrs then 20mins skin up, Rest 15mins  BestRecipes
1.3kg Pork Belly  220°C 15mins,  170°C 2.5-3hrs.  Allrecipes

My first attempt at pork belly was a mix of all these recipes.

I scoured the skin with a Stanley Trimmer, rubbed in salt and pepper with olive oil.  Applied a moist smoke hickory rub on the skin and let it sit covered in the fridge for four hours.  I bought it out to rest for an hour uncovered for one hour while preparing the vegie base to be used as a jus after cooking.  Just for good luck, I injected it with a syringe full of apple sauce.

3 Average Carrots thickly cut
2 Average Onions quartered,
4 Average Sticks of Celery thickly cut
1 1/2 slices Left over Pumpkin cubed
4 Cloves Garlic
500ml Cheap Red Wine
500ml Chicken Stock

I placed the vegies in the liquid in a large oven proof pot, place a high trivet on top and the pork on that.  I thought I was cooking at  130°C fan forced (150°C normal) but I think it was fan assisted.  Anyways, after two hours at 130°C, the pork was looking great (even though it had shrunk to nearly a
half), but the vegies were grossly undercooked.  While finishing of the pork, for the crackling, at 250 °C, I continued to cook and reduce the vegies on the stove top.  The crackling was done in about 20mins but the jus took another hour to cook.  In the end, I used a hand wand to blitz the lumps out.


Served with steamed asparagus, brussels sprouts and chard, it was a very tasty meal which I will definitely attempt again.  Next time I will buy a better cut of belly and cook at 150 °C.

Here is another recipe:-

• Piece of pork belly
  
• 2 sprigs rosemary, a sprig each of thyme and sage
  
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
  
• 1 Litre apple juice
  
• Salt
  
• Olive Oil 
  
  1.  Take your pork belly and trim as necessary, if you have to, remove the bones from underneath (keep them to the side, and chuck on the grill at the same time as your pork belly, they will be a perfect snack about half way throughout the cooking time.)
  
  2.  Finely score the skin with either a sharp knife or a standard box cutter type blade. make the scores only through the skin, not down into the flesh. space the scores about 5mm apart, it may seem like a big gap, but as the skin contracts in the cooking process, this leaves you with a perfect crackling in the end.
  
  3.  Liberally grind some salt over the top and rub in thoroughly with your fingers, then rub in a tablespoon of olive oil.
  
  4.  Add all your hens to a large roasting tray, crushing and ripping them up to release their flavours, then add the apple juice straight into the tray. Lay the pork flesh side down into the tray and leave to marinate for approx 30 minutes, heat up your BBQ during this time, so it is nice and hot when you are ready to go.
  
  5.  Just before you put the pork in, place a roasting rack in the tray so the meat is not sitting in the liquid and stewing, but sitting above it throughout the cooking process.
  
  6.  Your BBQ needs to be scorching hot (the internal temp, not the plate, you don't want heat underneath the tray or the liquid will evaporate and your meat will dry out. About 220-240 degrees C when the meat goes in. You want the skin to start rendering fat very quickly.
  
  7.  Once you see the fat starting to bubble up through the scores, turn the temp down to about 180, and then leave it for about 1 hour before even opening the lid. If you are looking you are not cooking.
  
  8.  Give it a check after an hour , the meat should be turning a nice pale white colour, the skin should be starting to bubble up in places and starting to sound crispy when you tap with your knife. This is the time you need to use your judgement, depending on the size your pork may be ready at this stage, stick a knife down in between one of the scores toward the middle, if the juice that runs out is clear, you are probably close to being done, depending on your crackling/skin.
  
  9.  Once the meat is done, take it off, and let it rest for at least 10 minutes. You should be able to easily carve through the skin and all so you end up with nice juicy slices of meat and crispy skin topping each piece.
  
  
  Source: LifeStyleFood