Perfect pork belly recipes please

[MrsNuckyThompson]

Both DH and I absolutely love pork belly when it is all soft and melting and when the crackling is, well, crackly!

However, we can never seem to get it right at home. I've perfected the meat itself by placing it on a rack in a roasting dish, putting a little water in the roasting dish and covering everything with foil. Then a long, slow, 2 hour+ roast in a very low (140) oven. However, obviously that does nothing for the crackling!

I then finish it by either turning the oven way up, but this takes at least half an hour and can then dry out the meat, OR sticking it under the grill which then only crackles the top and then sometimes burns it.

What is your fool proof recipe?

[IndridCold]

You could try separating the skin from the meat, cook them both long and slow (if you could put the skin on a rack over the meat that would be ideal). Then rest the meat on a warm plate, whack the heat right up and cook the skin for 15 mins or so. Make sure the skin is well scored.

I always cook the skin separately now using this method. It spends all day in the bottom oven of the Aga, followed by a blast in the top oven, and gives a very light, crunchy crackling.

[Graterater]

I always start with blistering hot heat then right down and lots of white wine in the roasting tray. Then two or so hours.

Most important is what do you do to the crackling before?

It needs to be scored loads. Then rubbed with packs of salt and left to draw out the moisture then dried off. I do this obsessively a few times over. You need the fat to be really dry.

[WorkingBling]

Agree with graterator. Start with high temp and turn down as soon as you put meat in. Also make sure the fat is scored and dried and salted. After scoring (unusually get butcher tondo this) I pour a kettle of boiling water over the fat. Dry it. Then salt it. Delicious.