Showstopper Rolled Pork Belly – With Perfect Crackle!

Read time: 6 mins

Showstopper Rolled Pork Belly - With Perfect Crackle!

The Dish:

Roast pork, in many different incarnations, forms a key part of many cuisines globally. Whether it’s Chinese Crispy Roast Pork, Filipino Lechon, Italian Porchetta, the humble Aussie Sunday Roast or countless other international variations, the flavoursome meat and unmistakable crackling make pork a favourite all over.

Inspired by the simple flavours of the Sunday Roast, and a simplification of the preparation of the Porchetta, my rolled pork belly never fails to impress as a centrepiece dish for an event, or just something a bit special for a family dinner. It is so much easier to prepare than it looks, but when you bring it in from the BBQ it is guaranteed to wow.

Traditionally, Porchetta is belly wrapped around a loin, this can be a little tricky to get the perfect sized cuts of meat and to wrap correctly – by just using a decent size piece of belly this is much easier and less technical.

Why roll it? A couple of reasons, really. The leanest part of the meat of the belly is generally at the bottom – by rolling it this way it gives this meat some protection from the direct heat while you give the fat plenty of time to render down to give the belly that overall melt in your mouth bite. Additionally, and as many would say is the most important, rolling the belly exposes all of the skin to the heat, and creates slopes for the oil and fat to run off, which stops fat pooling and creating wet patches of skin that will not crackle. Every time I cook pork belly I do it this way, and it NEVER fails.

The Cooker:

For this cook, I love to use the Weber Kettle. Charcoal just gives that little extra flavour kick, and its incredible heat output makes for spectacular crackle every time. I have, however, done this in my Weber Spirit, and you will be able to achieve the cook in most hooded barbecues, just be sure to get the heat as high as you can, set up for indirect cooking.

In the case of the Weber Kettle, you want two full baskets of charcoal, fully ashed over and roaring hot. For this I recommend 48 Weber briquettes (which equates to 24 a side), or a full chimney of high heat lump charcoal (something like Mallee Root is perfect for this). Other briquettes are different sizes and densities, so adjust accordingly, with the aim of a full, very hot chimney. Once you’ve dumped the chimney into the baskets, get the cooking grate in and the lid on for 15 minutes or so to preheat setup for indirect high heat.

If you are going to cook in a hooded BBQ, ensure your outside burners are as hot as they will go, and get some extra preheat from your centre burners on low (ensuring to turn the centre burners off when the meat goes in). A single burner BBQ like a Weber Q is also fine, just be sure to use the roasting pack (trivet and convection tray) and be generous with your preheat time to get the cooker super hot.

Preheating the BBQ is a vital step here, the metal in the BBQ will retain some heat, which will combat the heat sink effect a large cut of meat going in will cause. If your BBQ isn’t got enough, the skin will become wet from moisture coming to the surface and you will be in for a hard fight to get your crackle right after this.

The Method:

Part A: Rolling the pork belly

You will need:

  • 5 – 5kg of Pork Belly
  • Salt
  • Your favourite Pork Rub (this is a savoury dish for me so I like SPG, but feel free to experiment)
  • Butchers Twine

Quality preparation guarantees good pork. I strongly recommend getting your pork belly the day before this cook to allow the skin to dry overnight, but as long as you have 2-3 hours up your sleeve you should be able to get enough to get a good result.

The first thing to do is score the skin. The aim is to cut through the skin without cutting into the meat, so just don’t press too hard. I like to go with a criss-cross angular pattern – in this instance it was already partially scored when I bought it and I just put an additional set of cuts diagonally into the skin. If you are buying from a butcher you can request this. Alternatively, you can use a Jaccard tenderiser if you have one to puncture the skin.

If the ribs are still attached, running a boning knife underneath them and up over the top of the soft bones running horizontally above them will fairly easily remove them complete, and you can set these aside for a spare rib cook for another day.

Once the skin is scored, HEAVILY salt the skin of the pork. Do not worry about impact on the flavour at this point, as this will be taken off before cooking. Place your pork on a rack and put in your fridge for an hour, this will protect the meat from being cured by the salt.

After an hour, take the pork out of the fridge. The skin will likely be very wet as the salt pulls out all of the moisture. Brush off the salt and thoroughly pat the skin dry. Place back into the fridge on the rack for 2-12 hours to dry.

Once your pork has dried, I like to score the meat on the underside of the belly and then apply my rub – this ensures the flavour of my rub penetrates the meat and fat and enhances the flavour. SPG is a good base for this, feel free to explore a bit more with what suits your palate – paprika, thyme, bay leaves are all good options depending on what flavours you like.

Now the belly is ready to roll. The direction you roll it in is not super important, as there are a variety of muscles in the belly so you have grains running in numerous directions. I like to roll in the same direction as the rib bones, up and down as the belly sits on the pig. Roll the meat as tight as you can, start with a tie at one end, and then tie every 10cm or so, rolling and squeezing to keep it tight with each additional tie. Once complete, I like to trim either end of the roll so it has nice straight edges. You can trim the skin off the offcuts and just stuff them into any gaps in the roll to avoid wastage. Hit the ends and exposed edges of meat with some more of your rub.

Part B: The cook

You will need:

  • Your rolled pork belly
  • Salt Flakes
  • A high smoke point oil (vegetable, etc)

Prepare your BBQ as above, preheated on a high heat. While it is preheating, allow the pork belly to come to room temperature. Lightly rub the skin with some oil, then liberally apply salt flakes all over the skin.

Once your very hot, indirect setup, BBQ is preheated and ready to go (at least 220c), place the meat into the centre of the cooker. Pork belly is a fatty cut and will create quite a lot of drippings, so be sure to have a drip tray underneath if you are cooking in a kettle.

Never has the old adage of “if you’re looking you ain’t cooking” been more accurate than in this scenario – for the first 30 minutes do not lift the lid.

After 30 minutes, have a look at the crackling. It should be almost set and crispy at this point. If it isn’t, check again in 15 minutes. Once you’re happy with it (or almost happy as the temperature won’t come down immediately) turn your BBQ down to a medium-high heat. To achieve this on the kettle, close your bottom vents until almost closed – it should eventually come down to 170-190c for the balance of the cook.

Doneness is a subjective matter with proteins. For me, I think pork belly is at its best when it holds together but almost falls apart – such that the fat practically melts in your mouth. For me, this is in the region of 85-90c internal. Some people like more bite, and if this is you, anywhere from 62c is considered fine. For a 2kg pork belly, you’re generally looking at 2-2.5hrs depending on your preference of doneness, but I strongly recommend using a thermometer as looks can be deceiving.

Let the meat rest for 15-25 minutes (if you need it to keep longer, wrap the exposed meat underneath and the sides in a U shape with foil, do not cover the crackling) and slice.

Serve with roast veg, gravy and apple sauce and bask in the family’s praise for your perfect pork crackling!

This recipe was put together by DGR BBQ. Melbourne based and a friend of BBQs & Outdoor, be sure to follow DGR BBQ on Instagram @dgr_bbq, for more Aussie Barbecue Inspo!

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