BBQ Brethren "Something Crispy This Way Comes" Throwdown

Alan, those rinds are calling me and my girl, seriously!

Alan, ... I noticed that your kids disappeared .... I was just joking about them being crispy. :shocked:

After some talk in the Fatty throwdown thread about some fatty empanadas I was craving some of that Really southern food my Panamanian MIL makes.

Well low and behold when I was at the butchers they had a few pieces of pork belly and I said to myself, "Self, that there would make some excellent chicharones". So that's what I did.

Here we have the belly before and after it's rub down with some salt and baking powder.



Why baking powder you ask? Well it does three things; first it helps to dry out the skin along with the salt, second the alkaline helps to break down the skin proteins so they can crisp up, and finaly the browning of the Maillard reaction happens more efficiently in an alkaline environment. Alternatively, that's the way my MIL does it.

Here it is after an overnight rest in the refrigerator uncovered on the rack that you see there.

Yeah, I can't tell the difference either other than the sun is streaming in the window.

The belly was then sliced up into generous inch wide strips with slashes in the meat about an inch apart. That way you get a long strip of skin and an nice inch wide cube of meat.


These all went into the a foil pan with about an inch of water. The idea is that the water helps to render out the fat and prevent the meat from burning. After awhile the you end up with a lot of rendered fat so your are basically making pork belly confit.

Here we are after about 3-4 hours at 225


At this point you basically have the most moist and tender melt in your mouth pork belly. It's really good but not as good as it could be. If you have the time it makes for a better final result to let the belly cool in the pan with the fat. Eventually the fat solidifies around the meat and it can be kept in the fridge for weeks like this. Today I didn't have time to wait.

The strips went on to a hot grill to get crispy.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Please use this pic for my entry


Thanks for looking!

Wow Fatty, those really look yummy! I think I need to try them.

Hey Bluey, are you submitting those for the bread throwdown as well?

WOW those look great Fatty

Gore I had to delete some pics and did the wrong ones wiping out my childern they will be back soon.

Nice there:thumb: To the store for me, gotta do that:-D

Alan in Ga said:

Gore I had to delete some pics and did the wrong ones wiping out my childern they will be back soon.

Click to expand...

You wiped out the children! :shock: Amber is going to be really mad.

bluetang said:

No Mon, I thought I'd go a whole mulberry, bacon, mmmm bacon, key lime, mango, crawfish thing, but I'm thinking now maybe a bit North there Mon.

Click to expand...

Ooooo, sounds interesting, but MAKE SURE YOU TAKE THE HEADS OFF!

There is some seriously fine looking crispy goodness going on here...

Battered and Fried pig candy

Ok so I figured what could be more crispy then battered fried bacon. I started by coating the bacon with some rub and brown sugar then off to the smoker til crispy. Mixed up a thin pancake batter with cinnamon and nutmeg. Battered then deep fried the pig candy. After cooking I dusted with powdered sugar and drizzled with raspberry syrup. These were so good I will definitely try this again.

I think Amber is practicing up for a breakfast throwdown. My that looks delicious.

Mmmm, That is a must do!

Fatty, that bellie looks wonderful! and Amber, that is indeed some crispy goodness!!

Well I smoked a brisket and a butt in the Backwoods for poker night with my friends and one thing that came out of them was some Nacho’s. I also threw some corn on the BGE, set the nachos on the extended rack to melt the cheese and made some homemade herb butter for the corn.

In The Backwoods


The Corn


Heb Butter


Ready


Da’ Bomb Nacho’s
Entry Pic


Thanks For Looking

Now you're making me really hungry

Been a while since I have entered a TD. Thought I'd throw a hat in the mix and see what happens.

Char Siu per Landarcs' marinate recipe on the grill gettin' all crispy on the grill with some Pipe rigate and a crispy salad:





Not happy with the final shot but that's all I got. Use this one I guess.

Shiz 'n Gary, Dudes, that is all so fine, I'm starving over here for both! Gonna be a tuff one.