Ep 43: Pork Belly from the Wood Fired Oven

Pork Belly is a delicious cut of meat. It has a very high fat content, and is best cooked low and slow, so the fat has time to render out, and the result is fantastic crackling, and tender, juicy, melt in your mouth pork. Ask your butcher for a piece of Pork Belly that’s about to (3.5 to 4 pounds). Skin on, and without any bones. If you can, leave it uncovered in the refrigerator overnight, so the skin can dry out a little. To prepare the oven, start with a small fire. Heat the oven until the area of the floor that you’re going to place the pan registers around 275F/135C. You want to maintain the temperature in that area for the roughly 2 hours that it will take to cook the pork. The heat in the floor and dome should remain fairly constant and will gradually roast the pork. The convention heat may vary due to the size of the fire, but that, and the gentle flame, will help create the wonderful crackling. Depending on the size of your oven, you should have plenty of variable temperatur