Crackling?

[Sterla]

MIL and I are making roast pork for tea, and I'd like to try and get some crackling out of it too (yum!). I've never done it before, and MIL isn't quite sure how to go about it either.

So, how do I do it???

[Mum2SweetCs]

you need to score the skin and rub heaps of salt in and let the salt draw out the moisture for a few hours

then you can pan fry it before putting it in the oven.

[Elocin]

Salt and oil always gets my crackling perfect!!

[skybie]

i rub with salt and oil and then baste(sp?) every half an hour with the oil and juices in the pan, works everytime

[Olive]

im drooooooling! i love crackling

[luna moth]

Score, rub with oil, then salt salt salt salt salt.

[Sterla]

Thanks for all your replies. I had to get it started before I got a chance to read all the replies, but I did find something on a website... basically just to rub in lots and lots of salt, then start in a very hot (245 degrees) oven for the first 20 mins, then turn down to 190 degrees for the rest of the cooking time. This one said not to use any oil . I guess I'll just have to wait and see, but it smells gooooooood (which is saying something in my pregnant everything-smells-and-tastes-gross state!)

[Arimeh]

Sooo... you'll be expecting us around... 6.30ish then? lol

[Sterla]

Lol Mel - sorry, full house already tonight. Another time?

[Netix]

Sterla, the way you found online to do crackling is about how I do it. Lots of salt rubbed into the scored skin and fat, then hot oven, then not so hot oven.

I also put mine up on a roasting rack (actually, I confess, its the grill rack out of the old oven from the caravan that I reclaimed from the bin!) in the tray to keep it out of any juices, and so its not sitting 'down' inside the pan.

Fast Ed on BHG pours boiling water over the scored skin to make the skin/fat recede a bit and really open up. Just means I think that the salt goes in a bit better. I tried it and it worked, but it probably would have been just as good if I hadn't of done it that way.

[sweetgloss]

Hi Girls, I actually attempted my first crackling a couple of months ago, I looked up a few recipes online till I got the general idea, and salted it well (but I dont really think i over-salted it) anyway it was SO salty it was inedible, the texture was good but all that salt- blergh!!
Is there a particular type of salt that needs to be used? What did I do wrong?

[Netix]

I use ordinary cooking salt (iodised), not the big sea salt granules. As for the quantity of salt.... I sprinkle somewhere between medium to heavily, rubbing a bit of the salt in the cuts. Then another light sprinkle and whatever stays on the skin, stays on, the rest just falls off. Crackling is meant to be a bit salty, but not so that it is inedible. The point of the salt is to draw the moisture out of the skin. Good luck for next time though.