sately

← All recipes

Meals · Roasts, ribs & slow cooker

Crispy pork belly

32

A slab of pork belly roasted low in a snug foil tray until the meat is spoon-soft, then blasted with high heat until the skin puffs up into real crackling. Salt is the only seasoning, and the foil tray and the level skin are what make it work.

Time
205 min (15 prep + 190 cook)
Servings
4
Per serving
576 kcal
Protein
38 g

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 lb pork belly, one slab, skin on, even thickness, not scored
  • 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp for the meat and 1/2 tsp for the skin

Steps

  1. If you have time, put the pork skin side up on a plate and leave it in the fridge, uncovered, overnight, so the skin dries out and crackles better. Either way, pat the skin very dry with paper towels just before cooking.
  2. Heat the oven to 285°F. Set a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet. Tear off a large sheet of foil and put the pork on it, skin side up. Rub half the salt into the meat and sides. Fold the foil up tightly around the meat and sides to make a snug tray, leaving all the skin exposed. Sprinkle the rest of the salt over the skin, right to the edges.
  3. Set the foil tray on the rack and roast 2 1/2 hours. After 1 1/2 hours, check that the foil is still snug against the sides, and tighten it if not.
  4. Raise the oven to 465°F. Lift the foil tray off the rack and pour the fat from the foil into a heatproof jar. Take the pork out of the foil and set it directly on the rack over the baking sheet. Push small balls of scrunched foil under the low side so the skin is as level as you can get it; fat that pools on one side leaves a soft patch. Roast 30 minutes, turning the sheet after 15, until the whole skin is puffed and crisp. If a corner stays soft, give it a few minutes under the broiler and watch it closely.
  5. Rest 10 minutes. Turn the pork skin side down on a board and slice through the meat with a serrated knife. It is far past the safe 145°F by now, which is what makes it so soft. Keep the fat in the jar for frying eggs.

Good to know

Should I score the skin?

No. Unscored skin bubbles up evenly. If your butcher has already scored it, it will still work; salt it right into the cuts.

Can I reheat leftovers?

Yes. Put slices skin side up on a rack at 425°F for about 10 minutes. The skin softens in the fridge and crisps again in the oven.

Per

Calories
400
Protein
(27%)
26 g
Fat
(73%)
32 g
Carbohydrates
(0%)
0 g
of which sugar
0 g
Fiber
0 g
Sodium
848 mg

More meals

Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How

As written, 2303 kcal goes into the pot and 1006 g of ingredients comes out as about 576 g of food: 400 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.