Porchetta Epic Fail

[yakima]

Dry brined pork belly, followed Kenji's Serious Eats recipe, together with guidance from Meathead's book. Did it yesterday on rotisserie, Big Green Egg. The Combustion, Inc. wireless thermo and display are totally slick. Temps right, meat and fat crust perfect. BUT, ratio of fat to meat way too high. Nasty. It shot thru me like a tsunami. Will not even let 80 pound dog touch it.
Traditional Porchetta has loin mixed in, which should temper the fat. This Costco pork belly was the thickest one they had. A thinner one may have been preferable. I have good luck with turning belly into uncured bacon, but yesterday was a total loss.

[Oakgrovebacon]

That is a shame, sorry I did not turn out good.
I have turned lots of bellies into cured bacon - then I did pork belly burnt ends. Wow. Give them a shot sometime.

[PNWsmoke]

Pork belly burnt ends +1

[TripleB]

We've all had cooks go astray. It always hurts more when we put so much time and effort into it. Drive on and don't look back.

[Troutman]

Yea a thinner belly would have done the trick. Even if you have to pound one down or butterfly it helps with the overall fat ratio. Traditionally you roll a pork pork loin into the center and the fat/lean ratio evens out. Next time give us a picture, love porchettas.

Here's an old recipe I've made several times. Note how I butterflied the belly. PORCHETTA

[SheilaAnn]

yakima …. Yeah, that all belly porchetta recipe is rich, to say the least. At least wrap the belly around a tenderloin to balance all that fat!

[jfmorris]

yakima sorry to hear about the belly disaster.

Good idea to not feed it to the dog too. How do I know? I used to give my dogs the scraps when I pulled a butt, i.e. any excess fat or gristle. Last time I ever did that one of the dogs got sick... sick as a dog! She ended up with pancreatitis, spent a weekend at the vet, and cost me a bunch of money...

Lean pork doesn't mess with them, but the vet basically told me that pork fat has something dogs can't digest. I see mixed information about that on the internet, but I do know that in our case, the excess fatty scraps triggered an issue in a 20 pound dog. And that pork belly is a LOT of fat. It would take a lot more to affect an 80 pound dog I am sure. I am of the opinion better safe than sorry though, and the only scraps I'll let the dogs have now are from chicken or beef trimmings.

Also, if you use onion or garlic powder in your rubs, like I do, both of those are toxic to dogs...

[randy.56]

Sorry it did not work out, you are a inspiration, as I do not have the confidence to even try one. You just found out what does not work. The next one will work.

[yakima]

$35 for the pork belly. Consider it tuition. I appreciate the good tips above re butterflying the belly.

[FireMan]

Wow, shot right thru ya huh? Need to meditate on that awhile.

[yakima]

It is not a topic that anyone in his right mind needs or should meditate on. Unless seated on a porcelain throne!

[FireMan]

Ah! The throne room!

[WayneT]

Sorry to hear it didn’t work out on the ‘first’ try. Keep calm and chive on.

[FireMan]

“It didn’t work out”, so, what are ya sayin? 🫣

[yakima]

Oh, it all worked out.