Pork belly Porchetta

[AAAsh]

Hey Folks - Going to tackle a 4kgs (9lbs) belly porchetta tomorrow night. Have read quite a few of the methods here, but they all seem to be a little different. Going to do it on the rotisserie. I was thinking of starting at around 500f to form a nice cracking (about an hour), then drop to 400f for the rest of the cook. Expecting it to take about 4 hours. 

Am I heading in the right direction?

I used to find this easy on my Weber, but my last few porchetta attempts have not be that great (i.e. no cracking). Keen to nail this.

Thanks,

Ash.

 

[tekobo]

Converting your temps to Celcius, I think your 500F should get you crackled in about 30mins.  Good to allow 1 hour but do check so you don't end up with burnt skin.  I would then crank the top down to get the temp down to something closer to 350F for the rest of the cook to allow the inside to cook slowly.  Which KK do you have?  I would advise using a split basket or something to catch the fat to reduce smoking.  

Getting good pork crackling in a KK can be difficult because of it's tendency to keep food moist but your high temp start should improve your chances.  

[C6Bill]

Here are my notes, i have done a couple and the results have been good

 

Porchetta

Pat dry before seasoning

Baking powder in the seasoning to help crisp

Let sit in fridge wrapped in pink butcher paper 10 to 12 hours to draw moisture out after seasoning

 

Direct on rotisserie 

Add drip tray 20 to 30 minutes in, or once it flares up

385 degrees until 115 degrees internal temp

Then raise temp to 500 for 20 minutes to crisp 

Or

The Wilbur Method, i found that on this forum

“Roll it and dust with baking powder and salt (the Wilbur method). Baste with the rendered fat every 30 minutes. Increase heat to 400 until the skin crisps. Outside crispy like a chip and inside could be eaten with a spoon.”

[AAAsh]

I have a BB32. I don't have the new rotisserie splitter, but generally just pill the coals up on the front and back.

My normal approach for porchetta is to go hot at the start, then drop the temp to finish slowly, but I am concerned about the KK being too hard to drop the temp.

[tekobo]

You are right, it’s difficult to drop the temp if you have heat soaked your KK. However, if you get it up to high temp quickly, crackle the skin in half and hour and turn the cap right back down, you can lower the temp without snuffing out the fire. 

That said, it sounds like @C6Bill has got good results using his method too. 

[C6Bill]

I believe @remi has been making some really good looking ones

[AAAsh]

So I did the normal prep - dry and leave in the fridge for ~24 hours. Just before cooking, I seasoned with some olive oil, baking powder and salt. Cooked on the rotisserie at 300f for about 4 hours until my internal temp was about 170f and the meat was probing pretty tender. Removed and covered loosely with foil. Cranked the grill to about 500f and finished it for 15 minutes to allow the crackle to form. I did move a few coals directly below, but the heat caused a bit of charing.

Come out great - but forgot the photos sorry

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions.

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by AAAsh