Pork belly
This is a blimmin’ fantastic slow-cooked pork belly recipe. With very little effort, you end up with that wondrous contrast of meltingly delicious meat and salty crunchy crackling. I’ve tried loads of pork belly recipes using all manner of spices, brines, sauces and seasonings, but we’re going back to basics here. I just serve this chopped up on a board and people can pick at it – it’s heaven, although it doesn’t last long! Sometimes, I add a little homemade apple sauce to cut through the richness.
Ingredients
1-2kg pork belly (free range is best)
Olive oil
Salt
Note: If you’re buying pork belly from your local butcher, ask them to ‘score’ the skin for you so you don’t have to. Sometimes it’s already scored when you buy it – even then I usually add a few more cuts for good measure.
Method
Preheat the oven to 130c conventional bake.
Place the pork belly skin-side up on a clean chopping board and pat the skin very dry with paper towels. If the skin has not already been scored, carefully slice lines right across the belly using a sharp knife, about 1cm apart. You want to pierce through the tough skin and just go into the fat layer, not cut into the meat underneath. Scoring helps the crackling puff up later.
Place the pork belly skin side up in a roasting pan, preferably sitting on a wire rack if you have one. Drizzle and rub a good amount of olive oil all over the whole pork belly (including the underside) so it’s all coated. Sprinkle the skin side generously with salt and massage it in. I give it a hit of cracked pepper here too.
If there’s any meat poking out, try and tuck it under best you can so it’s not exposed.
Place the pork in the middle of the oven (skin side up) and cook in for 4 hours.
After 4 hours, increase the temperature to 150c and cook for another 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, change the oven setting to ‘grill’ on medium-high. Move the pork belly to the top of the oven and grill the skin until it goes puffy and golden all over (it might only take a minute – watch it closely or it will burn!).
Transfer to a chopping board and cut into pieces to serve. For a meal it’s delicious with a nice zesty salad or a slaw and pumpkin or orange kumara mash.
Betcha there’s none left at the end…
Easy, simple, technique and that produces crowd pleasing results. I love this recipe. Made twice lately. Thank you for posting something so simple – often simple is best.
I’m cooking this for the second time, and I thought I’d mention that as I don’t have a rack to sit the meat on I slice 3 onions in half and sit the pork belly on them..round side down..worked great last time and looking forward to the succulent flavour of these roast onions alongside the porkbelly. thanks Chelsea, you are my first stop for tasty, easy to follow recipes
Cheers,
Rob Cook
This is my favourite Pork Belly recipe! Always a hit with the family, it goes very quickly!!! Thanks Chelsea for the great recipe.
By how much do you adjust your cooking time if you use approx half the weight.?
I told hubby I would make Pork belly, he replied “it’s got next to no meat and lots of fat’ – he loves his lean meat. Long story short, I made it and he raved and raved about it! Apparently the most delicious meal he’s ever had!!!
I cooked this last night and although I am definitely not skilled in the cooking meat department, I followed this to a T and it was hands down the BEST pork belly I have ever made! The crackling was perfect and the meat was so tender! Thanks Chelsea! :)
Can I cook roast pork and pork belly together in the oven?
I’ve got 3.4 kg of pork of leg. I suppose I can’t calculate the roasting time along above recipe as leg isn’t fatty as belly. What will you suggest?
We had a 1.6kg pork belly and between 2 adults and 1 toddler there were no leftovers, so delicious!! Also this is the first time I’ve managed to get crackling perfect, probably because this recipe is so simple and easy to follow. Thanks Chelsea
We love this method of slow cooking the pork belly. You can never go wrong and everyone I’ve made it for absolutely loves it especially my husband. Thanks for the recipe chelsea.
Oh we love pork belly!!! I cook mine this way and instead of propping it up on a wire rack I prop it up on onions and apples cut in thick round slices with some fennel cut in half length wise as well. Once I remove the pork from the roasting dish to serve, I blend all the yumminess in the bottom of the pan to make a yummy thick apple and onion sauce! Yummo!!!
Pig head is yummy as well.. especially when it has been smoked cooked in a Hangi
Hi, looks great and is it good for ones health, secondly would it still come out good in a wood stove. Thanks
Hi Chelsea, just wondering what size piece of pork belly you would recommend to feed ten adults, and for what length of time you would recommend cooking it for? Many thanks!
I have to say, pork belly is one of my favourite meals to make and this recipe has quickly become my favourite way to cook it. I’ve scoured the web and the recipe books and tried many different ways, but this truly makes it juicy, succulent and the best crackling – thanks for the recipe Chelsea.
Hi Chelsea
Could I cook the Pork Belly in a covered BBQ and would the time be the same .
May I have a reply to my e-mail address as we are going away and want to cook while we are caravanning on portable BBQ
Made this last night with 645grams of Soggy Bottom Free Range pork, cooked for 3 hours – so good!!
175 comments so far – hope I’m not repeating someone else’s comment – I’m thinking putting the crackling on grill function is going to make it spit like mad and smoke which leaves a very messy oven so any tips on avoiding a messy oven top?
Huh! What fat? Bugger all fat on a belly! Can’t wait. Yummy!
Chelsea this is such a great recipe! So easy! I was always a little afraid of cooking pork belly, thinking i’d either overcook it or the crackling wouldn’t work..But your recipe was a huge success! I’ve now made this for dinner 4 or 5 times and it has always been amazing, thankyou so much.
Hi Chelsea – I’ve done this in the oven a couple of times and each time it has been to die for!! Now that the weather is heating up rather rapidly in South Australia, I was thinking about taking the cooking outside. Would this work in a kettle type of bbq over hot coals (we have a temperature gauge on the BBQ) and then pop under grill to finish of crackling. Your thoughts?
just cooked a 500gram pork belly with bone in. I followed the guideline of cooking for 3 and a half hours for the firat 130 degree cook. Wow. Soooo yummy. The skin was beautifully crisp and golden. I served it with a plum and port jus, pickled apples and roasted kumara. But, there was a big problem… it is so seriously delicious that even for 2 people 500gm of pork belly is just not enough :)
LOL, I love those 80’s views about eating fat. Fat is not bad for you. Used to love seeing weight watchers ice cream, which was reduced fat and increased sugar lol. Anyway, this is the most amazing recipe for pork Belly EVER. Only time I’ve nailed it is with this recipe, just got to plan early or you end up eating at 11PM! :D
I brought a pork belly once from Pak n sava it was full of …like rib bones is that normal? Or should I get a good one from local butcher, Xmas just around the corner x
It’s ok if it has bones in it! More flavour. But free range from your local butcher is nice too!
Such a great recipe – and so simple :) I have never enjoyed pork so much. Thanks for the awesome recipes and your friendly approach to cooking.
Thanks!
I am going to cook this tonight!! ??
Yum! Wasn’t a pork belly fan until tonight. How can something so simple and easy be so yum? But it is! Bellissimo! Washing it down with Cadbury Apple Crumble Chocolate now.
Cant wait to try this!! a question – would you do the same cooking time for a piece that is 750g or do you shorten the cooking time?
Hi Chelsea. I made this the other night and it was just WOW! So easy and absolutely delicious. This is the new favourite meal in our home. Thanks :)
Hi there, If a rack is not used is the pork more likely to dry out?
Thanks
Yes the bottom can go a bit hard and chewy.
Hi Chelsea, I’m about to try this recipe… the kids can’t wait for tea tonight. I have a steam oven – should I do the first stage of cooking with steam? Many thank.
No that will ruin the cracklin!
Hi Chelsea, in making your pork for dinner tonight. I’m a little nervous as I always seem to dry out pork and can never seem to get good crunchy crackling. I have a 500g pork belly with bone in. Do you still suggest shortening the first stage of cooking by 30 mins when the bone is in or keep the cooking time the same?
Thanks!!
Chelsea that was fab and an easy recipe too. Thanks very much. The person who posted it’s the chocolate of the meat section so right. Yum it was delicious last night and agree with the person who suggested it as an extra meat at xmas. Yum !
Hi
I want to do this recipe however my grill function is not working. Would it work if I removed the pork and fried it upside down to get the skin crispy?
Hi
I made this last night and flipped the meat briefly into a pan to crisp up the fat.. which worked well. Apart from that I followed the recipe exactly ..put on a rack , correct temp etc. Was quite disappointed that the end result was quite overcooked and not like all the other reviews. I even had cut down some of the cooking time as could see that it looked overdone. It was ok but not juicy at all. A shame as was first time I’ve cooked that type of cut.
Yes, it won’t work as well or puff up, but will still go quite crispy.
Hey Chelsea, this is my fave recipe!! just wondering how log to leave it in the over if i am only cooking about 500g or so?
Hi Chelsea – not sure if you still monitor comments after this long! This has been a winner for me on many occasions now, thank you. This time I have a rolled pork roast – would this method work with this cut? Last time I just followed the directions on the packaging and roasted it for 1.5 hrs but it was chewy and the crackling didn’t work at all :(
Just wondering what I did wrong as I tried this recipe but my crackling didn’t work, I had it on fan bake.
Longest 41/2 hrs ever! Mmmmm …. Nom nom nom …. Dribble dribble ….drooooool …..
Hi Chelsea, I’m going to try this recipe for mum’s birthday on Wednesday and pretty excited about it! Just have a mundane question for you…what type of apples do you use to make your apple sauce? (out of interest!). Thanks :)
Have just put it in the oven :)
This is so good. We live in Greece where the pork is fantastic.
We like it with apple sauce which we haven’t been able to find here so we make our own:
1 apple, peeled/cored/chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
3 whole cloves
sprinkle of powdered cinnamon
Put all into small saucepan, bring to boil (small amount of liquid will just bubble) turn down heat to very low, cover and leave for 10-12 minutes or until apple chunks are soft enough to mash. Take out cloves before mashing or you’ll lose them.
Serve hot or cold with meat.
The pork belly recipe is absolutely delicious Chelsea – thanks:)
plato-gb
Sorry to ask – I want to order this from the butcher – cooking for 7. What should I ask for from a size, cut perspective
Hi Chelsea, The temps you put for the oven are they fan forced and if not what would the fan forced be or it is better not to use fan force.
I have just under 1kg pork belly what would be the cooking time for this its 889g I’ve rubbed it down with Chinese 5 spice salt and olive oil being a small portion was wandering if same cooking time of 4 hrs?
Hi Chelsea, I made this with an asian slaw which cut through the richness of the pork really beautifully and was a perfect refreshing accompaniment. We didn’t need anything else, simple and perfect! I’d had that pork belly in my freezer for ages worrying about how to cook it, this is foolproof and I’ll definitely be doing it again. Thanks.
Best pork belly recipe EVER. Always crackling 100% of the time! Thanks Chelsea!!
I love this recipe .. My husband always asks for a sauce… Any ideas
Thanks Rose
Hello Chelsea
Is it possible to use Pork Scotch Fillet instead of belly?
thanks so much for this… made it for my son’s bday dinner…success! impressed the heck out of the family with this baby!
Persuaded hubby-to-be to make this on Friday. Absolutely amazing! And the best crackling ever made in this household. Thanks Chelsea, you’ve made a chef of my man, know he’ll be making this his speciality now :)