Dry-aged crispy pork belly
Ten days in the making, one hour in the oven. No salt-drying, no skin-pricking, no vinegar, no bicarb, no blanching — the dry age does all of that work, and the crackle takes care of itself.
- Time
- 1 hr, after 10 days dry-ageing
- Serves
- 4
- Kit
- Oven
- The cut
- Pork belly, dry-aged
Method
- Start with a dry-aged belly
Ten days of dry-ageing dries the skin completely. That replaces every crackling ritual you’ve read about — no salt-drying, no pricking the skin, no vinegar, no bicarb, no pouring boiling water over it.
- Season simply
Rub the belly with avocado oil and sea salt. That’s the whole ingredient list.
- Roast hot, then lower
Start the oven at 250°C and drop to 200°C, about an hour in total, until the skin has puffed glass-crisp and the meat underneath is juicy.
- Slice and listen
A sharp knife straight down through the crackle — if the ageing and roast went right, you’ll hear it before you taste it.
Every crackling trick exists to dry the skin. Dry-ageing just does it properly — once the skin is truly dry, the oven does the rest.