# Can Anyone make pork skins



## chadpole

I need to find out how they make those pork skins like you get at fairs or flea market type skins. Some are as big as your hand.Where do you buy these skins and  what temp do you deep fry them. I have tried doing skins from a whole hog I have smoked but they don't plump up like the skins you buy at fairs. Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Happy smoking.


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## bigarm's smokin

*Hey Paul, I just deep fry them @ 375 till they reach the texture I like. I am too far north to get them anywhere cept a bag in the grocery store. I don't like them as much as home made, simply because they are so puffed up, all air. I like some "chew" to them. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






 I have tried to shake the warm cracklins in a paper sack, with powdered cheese and such, but that don't work real great. I hope someone comes along with a good idea. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 Terry P.S., pork roast is up to, 138 degrees, think we will eat supper before 10:00
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	









   I buy the skins from a local shop that makes bacon from scratch.   There was a show on food network last week about snack foods, they did a piece on pork rinds, it might have been on "unwrapped"?  Do a search on food network and you will find it. *


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## chadpole

Terry, I'd go ahead and foil it now and turn up that heat to 300 to 350 degrees for about 3 hours and you'll be eating before 10:00 PM,LOL Don't forget the Capt. Morgan and apple juice in the foil. You just need a couple of tablespoons of it and it will fall apart. Good luck!

On the pork skins I want the ones that puff up real big.I love them!


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## bigarm's smokin

*Just shows to go ya Paul, your warped,  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	









 haha, just kiddin, I am slowly learning, it takes twice as long to BBQ, than I figure on. After another 20 or 30 smokes, I might figure that out?  Terry*


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## walking dude

at the mexican grocer where we get our japs........MAN i need to find smaller ones........these last was too hot for me to handle.......but the neighbor took em off my hands...........heheheh.......she had one for breakfast.........MAN......i will for those days back.........used to be a eat a whole raw jap with no problems............now its nexium daze........and STILL can't eat the large ones

anyway  back to subject

this store.......had them rinds as big as your HEAD.....HUGE.........and best of all........CHEAP...........

so momma will be following this thread  closely

d8de


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## deejaydebi

There was a thread about this awhile back but for some reason I can't do a search tonight I keep getting the same new posts ...


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## cowgirl

When I make them, I use lard or peanut oil, get it up to 375 degrees like BigArm's said.
They puff up more if they have been chilled before frying. You have to be careful though because the chilled ones make the oil splatter a bit.
Good luck with them.


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## urban griller

You want a cooking oil with a high smoking point (above 400F) try:
Cottonseed (420F)
Rapeseed (438F)
Grapeseed (485F)
Safflower (510F)
Get the temp up above 375F, closer to 400F if you can.
Make sure the skins are completely dry before putting them in the oil, for an awesome flavour you could smoke them first for a few hours, this will help dry them out as well!


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## scotty

try this link

http://www.deltablues.net/cracklin.html

*YOUR MOUTH WILL WATER . THIS IS A  MUST READ*


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## chadpole

I appreciate all the good information ya'll have provided. I am not so much into the cracklins as the puffed up pork skins. I noticed this weekend that the girl frying up some skins at the flea market had a box of them cut into 1 inch x 1 inch squares that she put into a dutch oven of oil. When they would start frying they would pop up like pop corn into these beautiful puffed pork skins. I asked questions about where you get the skins used to make them and she acted like it was  top secret inteligence and you had to have an FBI clearance to know this stuff. I got so mad with her I wouldn't buy any of her pork skins. I guess I could buy a pack of skins and go to a meat packing plant and tell them I'm looking for this type of pork skin.
         Like I said before thanks for all input on this,BTW ,I do like cracklins too! My grandmother would make cracklin cornbread when I was a young boy. I have only had it a couple of times since then.


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## Dutch

One of our local gorcery stores has a stong Mexican market base and as a result, the meat department carries pork skins. Now that I have a turkey fryer, I'll have to try my hand at making them.


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## navionjim

chadpole;97573 said:
			
		

> I need to find out how they make those pork skins like you get at fairs or flea market type skins.
> 
> That's a great question:
> Here in Texas at the flea markets some of the Mexican vendors sell Cheecharones (forgive my spelling of that please) and it's cool to watch! They have a huge kettle of hot oil just like the "Kettle Corn" sellers use only the Mexicans throw a handful of really small 3/8 cubes of pork (skin / fat?) in the kettle, and the stuff just explodes in size. It only takes a minute for them to cook and they serve them with a really good hot sauce. Hot and fresh they taste allot like bacon only crunchy and spicy. Addictive as hell but I have no idea what cut of meat or skin they start with to make them.
> Jimbo


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## zapper

http://www.emerils.com/recipes/by_na..._version2.html


Give me a minute and I will try to find another one


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## deejaydebi

Wal-Mart used to have these hot pork skins in a bag at the registers here that you nuked and they puffed up. Kind of like microwave popcrn. I loved em - buy they don't have them anymore.


What exactly is a pork rind? Is that the belly skin?


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## chadpole

DeejayDebi;98011 said:
			
		

> Wal-Mart used to have these hot pork skins in a bag at the registers here that you nuked and they puffed up. Kind of like microwave popcrn. I loved em - buy they don't have them anymore.
> 
> 
> What exactly is a pork rind? Is that the belly skin?[/quote
> 
> Debi, the pork rind is the hard skin on a hog across his back and sides after the hair is taken off during processing. It is very tough and hard to slice even with a sharp knife. I am not sure if that is what they use for this type pork skin that puffs up when fried at high temps.


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## kueh

copy/paste

In an episode of Dirty Jobs on Discovery channel, Mike Rowe made pork rinds. If memory serves, the rinds/chips are first rendered of most of the excess fat at a moderate temperature, removed, cooled, then fried at a high temperature.

The first rendering is started with boiling water, to release the fat.  The water is boiled off, leaving the lard and pork bits.

Dirty Jobs Season 4 Episode 5 - Skull Cleaner.... the cracklin' maker is in this episode.

The pork is essentially processed like "french" fries.  They're cooked at a lower temperature, then flash fried to puff/crisp 'em up.

For some more detailed information, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_rind

Guess my information is wrong.  The Dirty Jobs episode is from season 2.

And just found the vid clip,  http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...deoid=16977409


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## navionjim

DeejayDebi;98011 said:
			
		

> Wal-Mart used to have these hot pork skins in a bag at the registers here that you nuked and they puffed up. Kind of like microwave popcrn. I loved em - buy they don't have them anymore.
> 
> 
> I remember those too Debi,
> Just like microwave popcorn only pork rinds. I bought some years ago in Oregon, they were made by "Mountain House Foods" which was associated with a company called Albany Freezdry. Both were local Oregon companies close to where I grew up. I haven't seen them in years either.
> Jimbo


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## richtee

Not without a license.


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## deejaydebi

So are you saying the thick hard skin with the nipples on it I cut off my pork bellies and throw away is a pork rind or cracklin waiting to happen?


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## kueh

Yes, the skin on pork belly is used.  You could use the skin on back fat, but that's almost pure fat.


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## walking dude

hey rich.........

your sig. sounds like a ex-wife of mine..........couldn't get away from her either....LMAO



d8de


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## deejaydebi

Dang it! It'll have to keep the next one! Hard to believe that stuff will be soft enough to chew just frying it though.


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