Grant
Honorary Master
How to get the most crispy crackling ?
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Pork chops
- Thread starter Grant
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Grant
Honorary Master
so i have been tasked with doing some porkers again tonight
my goal - perfect crackling . . .
my goal - perfect crackling . . .
Ockie
Resident Lead Bender
Why do people eat the cracking when they have the entire frekking Gammon? IT is gross! SIES! 
Grant
Honorary Master
Why do people eat the cracking when they have the entire frekking Gammon? IT is gross! SIES!
SILENCE, you barbaric neanderthal philistine !
Mortymoose
Honorary Master
If u r pan frying the pig , then use olive oil..... let it heat up before dumping the swine into it though.... also rub well with salt and pepper....
I actually like to buy rindless chops, use Kellogs Cornflake crumbs, mix a bit of spices into the crumbs, egg dip and away you go.....
I actually like to buy rindless chops, use Kellogs Cornflake crumbs, mix a bit of spices into the crumbs, egg dip and away you go.....
Ockie
Resident Lead Bender
lol ... barbaric nogal hehe
Grant
Honorary Master
Mortymoose
Honorary Master
Yep! But you still have the sweet fat in cornflake crumbs, crunchy as can be..... otherwise with the rind on, and you do not get it crisp, you land up with a Pork Chop stuck to a rubber band!
Grant
Honorary Master
Right
I have decided to remove the cracking from the chop & do them separately.
Very civilized I believe !
I have decided to remove the cracking from the chop & do them separately.
Very civilized I believe !
Mortymoose
Honorary Master
We sell Pork Skin on our butchery shelf here, people bake them in ovens...
For absolutely perfect crackling and perfectly cooked pork, it's advisable to cook the two separately. And for the perfect chops, you'd ask your butcher to give you a whole piece of meat that you can cut into chops. Or as a last resort, ask for double-cut chops (they're twice the thickness) But, if you choose not to cook the two separately, here are some tips:
Prep the day before you cook them. It is the best possible method. But if you can't, here are some steps:
Score the crackling. Not only does it prevent the meat attached to the crackling from folding over itself and preventing contact with the pan or grid, but it allows for further heat penetration into the fat, and lets fats ooze out onto the meat itself during the cooking process.
At least four hours before cooking (can be done the day before), pour boiling hot water on to the fat only. This helps the rind detach from the fat itself and also creates really tiny bubbles in the fat that will be important later on, but it's done 2 hours in advance to allow the fat to dry off completely. You need to have it completely dry.
Now rub a little bit of fine salt into the fat. This allows for the process of osmosis to begin. It will however draw liquids to the surface, so here's where it gets really interesting. Get a hair-dryer and blow-dry the fat until the moisture is gone and you're left with a tiny little salt crust on the fat.
Now chuck a dish cloth on the fat and put it in the fridge. Again, you're drying it out while allowing it to air out a little. You don't want cling-wrap or tin-foil. The cover must be permeable. Leave it for a few hours again, preferably overnight.
Now you're nearly ready to cook. Once again remove the pork and pat dry with a kitchen towel or paper towels until it is bone-dry. Now add a smidgen of oil to the fat and rub in with salt, rubbing salt into every nook and cranny of the fat.
Now you can cook.
Method 1: the oven (for larger cuts of meat). Crank the oven to full blast and leave it at full blast long after the indicator says that it has reached temperature. Why? Because the oven relies on radiant heat, and the metal inside the oven is often not all at the correct temperature. Only the thermostat is. Leaving it there for a while ensures that all of the radiant heat will be evenly applied and will remain a constant temperature. This trick is applicable to all oven applications and temperatures, and especially useful for lower oven temps. Get a pan smoking hot - no oil whatsoever! Leave the pan to smoke for one minute. Then add oil and cook each side of the pork for 30 seconds which should be enough to brown it and initiate the Maillard Reaction, which in non-science terms will allow the sugars and amino acids to mingle and create great flavour compounds. The meat must be dry before you do this though - you cannot get the maillard reaction going properly in a short space of time without drying the meat first, not just the fat.
Now chuck the meat in the oven in a different pan - not the one you used to cook on the stove - it is too much direct heat from below. Now this works with larger cuts of meat like pork belly, but not really for chops as the meat overcooks. For chops you need the pan, the braai, or cooking them separately.
After 30 minutes, reduce the temp to 180C and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes per 500g of pork. Test whether it is cooked by seeing if the juices run clear when skewered. If they do, it's cooked. If it's a little milky, it's still not ready. Continue until cooked. Then let the meat rest for about 15 minutes. But never, ever cover the meat while resting as this creates steam, which is the worst thing for crispy crackling. It will turn it to leather.
Method 2: the pan (for smaller cuts like chops).
Get two pans on the go - one at medium temp and one smoking hot. Once the smoking hot pan has smoked for at least a minute (it won't destroy your pan), add some oil and sear your meat on either side until brown, as per method 1 instructions and explanation.
Add some oil to pan two and move the chop to the pan and begin to cook the chops skin-side down. Yes, you might need to use skewers through the meat to keep them all upright, but it is necessary that they are cooked this way first, otherwise you risk overcooking the chops later. Once the skin has begun to really crisp up, remove the skewer and cook chops on either side, turning them once every minute. This ensures that the juices inside the chops stay in there. If you cook on one side for too long, gravity pushes the juices down and they seep from the bottom. Proteins are also denaturing at this point so are subject to being released really easily. So flip once every minute until again, the juices run clear - this is dependent on the thickness of the chop so no real time-gauge here. You can also add a stick of butter just before it is done and baste it with the melted, hot butter.
Now flip the chops back on to their fat sides, as they've been subject to a little steam and need to cook a little more - cook until ultra crispy!
Just before you remove them from the pan, squeeze in some lemon juice and season with black pepper - no salt. That butter, lemon, black pepper sauce is awesome to pour over.
Again, let it rest for a few minutes before consuming.
Method 3 - the braai - identical to method 2 pretty much, except you add the lemon juice directly to the pork just before it is cooked and don't use butter. For this method you need a two zone fire - one hot, and one medium. Hot for the initial sear, and medium for the fat cooking and meat cooking processes.
Now this is for my version of perfect pork crackling. There are other methods, but this one is imo the absolute best. It just requires some prep work, and a little bit of science while cooking.
And remember that pork is best when eaten very slightly pink on the inside. The myth that pork must be thoroughly cooked through is bullschit. It no longer applies to modern pork, or actually any pork for the last few decades to be honest...
Prep the day before you cook them. It is the best possible method. But if you can't, here are some steps:
Score the crackling. Not only does it prevent the meat attached to the crackling from folding over itself and preventing contact with the pan or grid, but it allows for further heat penetration into the fat, and lets fats ooze out onto the meat itself during the cooking process.
At least four hours before cooking (can be done the day before), pour boiling hot water on to the fat only. This helps the rind detach from the fat itself and also creates really tiny bubbles in the fat that will be important later on, but it's done 2 hours in advance to allow the fat to dry off completely. You need to have it completely dry.
Now rub a little bit of fine salt into the fat. This allows for the process of osmosis to begin. It will however draw liquids to the surface, so here's where it gets really interesting. Get a hair-dryer and blow-dry the fat until the moisture is gone and you're left with a tiny little salt crust on the fat.
Now chuck a dish cloth on the fat and put it in the fridge. Again, you're drying it out while allowing it to air out a little. You don't want cling-wrap or tin-foil. The cover must be permeable. Leave it for a few hours again, preferably overnight.
Now you're nearly ready to cook. Once again remove the pork and pat dry with a kitchen towel or paper towels until it is bone-dry. Now add a smidgen of oil to the fat and rub in with salt, rubbing salt into every nook and cranny of the fat.
Now you can cook.
Method 1: the oven (for larger cuts of meat). Crank the oven to full blast and leave it at full blast long after the indicator says that it has reached temperature. Why? Because the oven relies on radiant heat, and the metal inside the oven is often not all at the correct temperature. Only the thermostat is. Leaving it there for a while ensures that all of the radiant heat will be evenly applied and will remain a constant temperature. This trick is applicable to all oven applications and temperatures, and especially useful for lower oven temps. Get a pan smoking hot - no oil whatsoever! Leave the pan to smoke for one minute. Then add oil and cook each side of the pork for 30 seconds which should be enough to brown it and initiate the Maillard Reaction, which in non-science terms will allow the sugars and amino acids to mingle and create great flavour compounds. The meat must be dry before you do this though - you cannot get the maillard reaction going properly in a short space of time without drying the meat first, not just the fat.
Now chuck the meat in the oven in a different pan - not the one you used to cook on the stove - it is too much direct heat from below. Now this works with larger cuts of meat like pork belly, but not really for chops as the meat overcooks. For chops you need the pan, the braai, or cooking them separately.
After 30 minutes, reduce the temp to 180C and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes per 500g of pork. Test whether it is cooked by seeing if the juices run clear when skewered. If they do, it's cooked. If it's a little milky, it's still not ready. Continue until cooked. Then let the meat rest for about 15 minutes. But never, ever cover the meat while resting as this creates steam, which is the worst thing for crispy crackling. It will turn it to leather.
Method 2: the pan (for smaller cuts like chops).
Get two pans on the go - one at medium temp and one smoking hot. Once the smoking hot pan has smoked for at least a minute (it won't destroy your pan), add some oil and sear your meat on either side until brown, as per method 1 instructions and explanation.
Add some oil to pan two and move the chop to the pan and begin to cook the chops skin-side down. Yes, you might need to use skewers through the meat to keep them all upright, but it is necessary that they are cooked this way first, otherwise you risk overcooking the chops later. Once the skin has begun to really crisp up, remove the skewer and cook chops on either side, turning them once every minute. This ensures that the juices inside the chops stay in there. If you cook on one side for too long, gravity pushes the juices down and they seep from the bottom. Proteins are also denaturing at this point so are subject to being released really easily. So flip once every minute until again, the juices run clear - this is dependent on the thickness of the chop so no real time-gauge here. You can also add a stick of butter just before it is done and baste it with the melted, hot butter.
Now flip the chops back on to their fat sides, as they've been subject to a little steam and need to cook a little more - cook until ultra crispy!
Just before you remove them from the pan, squeeze in some lemon juice and season with black pepper - no salt. That butter, lemon, black pepper sauce is awesome to pour over.
Again, let it rest for a few minutes before consuming.
Method 3 - the braai - identical to method 2 pretty much, except you add the lemon juice directly to the pork just before it is cooked and don't use butter. For this method you need a two zone fire - one hot, and one medium. Hot for the initial sear, and medium for the fat cooking and meat cooking processes.
Now this is for my version of perfect pork crackling. There are other methods, but this one is imo the absolute best. It just requires some prep work, and a little bit of science while cooking.
And remember that pork is best when eaten very slightly pink on the inside. The myth that pork must be thoroughly cooked through is bullschit. It no longer applies to modern pork, or actually any pork for the last few decades to be honest...
Last edited:
That is the best bet...
Not quite. Let the pan heat up, but not the oil. At high heats even olive oil over a certain duration becomes carcinogenic. The oil will heat up almost instantaneously if the pan is hot enough.
And no black pepper - it burns at high temperatures and leaves a very bitter flavour profile on the meat...
Grant
Honorary Master
f*** me
i have seen shorter recipes for cooking up opium & meth
will try parts of it
we are only talking about 4 chops here - not the entire swine
but ta anyway
Mortymoose
Honorary Master
It just looks long because I've attempted to explain each process, and have offered three different cooking methods. Pick one and it's simple. Just remember the rules:
Boiling water to detach rind from fat
Score to prevent it curling up as the proteins denature
Before cooking, all parts of the pork, especially the fat must be absolutely bone-dry. The only things on the fat should be salt and a little oil.
Sear the meat first to induce the Maillard reaction.
Cook until juices run clear and the centre is still slightly pink.
Allow your meat to rest before eating it, but never rest it covered or the crackling will turn to leather.
Simple...