Method

Lay the pork belly on a cutting board and pat the skin dry with a paper towel.

Set the blade of the craft knife so that it’s just long enough to cut through the skin without cutting into the meat. Carefully cut parallel lines along the surface of the skin at even intervals.

Place the pork belly onto a wire rack on a baking tray and pop it in the fridge overnight to dry out the surface of the skin, this will ensure perfect crackling.

The next day… 

Remove the pork belly from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 230 ºC.

Rub the skin with salt and be sure to get it into the score lines in the skin. Once all of the scores have been salted, rub the excess salt off the skin.

Brush with oil and immediately place the pork in the oven and set a timer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, drop the heat to 160 ºC and continue cooking for another hour. For extra pop on your crackling, you can brush the skin with oil and turn the grill on full for the last 5 minutes of cooking time. Keep an eye on it while it grills so it doesn’t burn.

Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.  Carve your belly roast with crispy pork crackling and serve with roasted onions, garlic, apples and sliced pears.

To see a step-by-step method, click here.