# Belly crackling questions



## mike w (Aug 29, 2016)

I need some advice. I have four fresh pork belly skins leftover from bacon projects, two I am rendering for the fat today and I want to save the others to make cracklings for a BBQ later in September for some british folks. They asked for american BBQ and I thought adding a plate of cracklings would be a special treat if I smoked them before finishing in the oven.  

Can I freeze the bellies and then use them? I think I can but I wanted to see if anyone has done this and ran into problems after thawing and cooking. 

I was thinking about using foamhearts recipe here http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/190014/pork-crackling-not-cracklins-foamheart 

Would this taste good to the British palate? The reason I ask is because I smoked pulled pork for a preschool fundraiser and a buddy did traditional pork loin and belly with cracklings and stuffing. I grabbed a bottle of off the shelf south carolina bbq sauce and I had made a slighy sweet finishing sauce and the ladies liked mine whereas the fellows liked the traditional recipe.  

Or should I use another recipe for the cracklings?

I'm going to do pork butt with a spicy rub and less brown sugar. I will tone down the sweetness on the finishing sauce and im going to make three bbq sauces and put them in squeeze bottles so people can pick and choose for this picnic. 

Thanks in advance!


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## smokin monkey (Aug 29, 2016)

Mike, I would cook them low & slow to render the fat, then turn up high to crackle, I have used a hot air gun before to crackle,


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## mike w (Aug 29, 2016)

Yeah im good to go for the rendering part. The skins from today are going to be dog treats. 

Thoughts on freezing the fresh bellies and making crackling from them in a few weeks?


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## smokin monkey (Aug 29, 2016)

Yeah, just freeze them, the thaw them, score the skin with s sharp knife, pat dry, cover with oil the salt. Low and  slow, 3-4 hours then hot to crackle.


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## mike w (Aug 29, 2016)

Thanks SM! 

I was just thinking about that hot air gun, have you ever used it to sear a steak? Wondering if it would be a better alternative than using a propane torch. How hot does it get?


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## mike w (Aug 29, 2016)

IMG_20160829_124911.jpg



__ mike w
__ Aug 29, 2016





Bumped them up to 325F for another hour and then I'll put them on my gas grill to crisp up


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## smokin monkey (Aug 29, 2016)

Hot air gun will light Charcoal!


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## mike w (Aug 29, 2016)

Looks like I'll be heading to B&Q this week to get one then



Smokin Monkey said:


> Hot air gun will light Charcoal!


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## molove (Aug 29, 2016)

Mike W said:


> Looks like I'll be heading to B&Q this week to get one then



Screwfix do one for about a tenner that works well for lighting charcoal, I've had mine a couple of years with no issues


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## mike w (Aug 30, 2016)

Thanks molove. There is a screwfix thats close. I can stop there instead.



molove said:


> Screwfix do one for about a tenner that works well for lighting charcoal, I've had mine a couple of years with no issues


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## mike w (Sep 7, 2016)

I got the air gun today and it worked great lighting some pellets even with it being windy outside. Thanks for that suggestion!


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