First try at cracklin'

I'm developed a strong like for cracklin lately. I eat a very low carb diet, and what better for the the macros than the high fat/high protein pork deliciousness.

My go-to for cracklin is Danny & Bonnie seafood in Gretna. I haven't tried all the different places in Acadiana, but I like D&B better than Best Stop and Don's.


My friend and I decided to give it a go on Sunday while watching the Saints game. Got the pork belly from Costco. It was $2.79/lb. The slab was ~9lbs. I used around 5lbs at this time.




First stage was frying at 250, for around 40 mins until golden brown. This was our first time, so we were concerned about overcooking. Perhaps we could have gone longer in this stage.





Here's how they looked while resting after the first stage.






Used a different smaller pot and cranked the heat up to 400F. Experimented with cooking time and tried a few batches at 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes. 2 left the cracklin too soft. 3-4 were similar, making me think I should have cooked longer in first stage to get more of a crunch.

2nd stage underway:




I've watched D&B prepare the cracklin and upon frying they use a squirt bottle with vinegar and then a special seasoning that the guy told me they get from some place in Texas. We tried a few different batches with different seasoning. Best to me was vinegar plus slap ya mama and a little extra cayenne thrown in.





Final product:







Verdict: They came out good but not as good as the ones I get in Gretna. D&B charges $15.50/lb. I think our 5lb of belly yielded 1.5-2lb of cracklin. It's a lot of work and time so I think I'll stick with making the Westbank run when I'm getting a craving.



Here's what the Danny & Bonnie cracklin looks like: