Simon's pork belly

[SimonH]

My version of pork belly, cooked long and slow.

Now not many people have one but I can highly recommend buying a sous vide, (effectively a water bath) and a vacuum sealer. Believe me these simple machines pay for themselves many times over. You can spend a few hundred on these but the one I've got is a Giles Posner second (the box had a dent) from ebay for about £60 delivered and then the vacuum sealer which was about £50. Once you start using one you'll be amazed how tender even the cheapest cuts of meat come out :xxgrinning--00xx3:

Ok, the belly of pork. Cook for 9 hours at 55C in your sous vide then take out of your vacuum sealed bag and pat dry with some kitchen towel. Next put it in the fridge over night weighed down, I sandwich it between two heavy chopping boards.
Next day preheat your oven to its highest setting, score the skin with a really sharp knife (a stanley knife will do the trick) and pour over a kettle full of boiling, then once again pat dry. Liberal amounts of salt and whatever other seasoning you fancy are then rubbed into the skin together with a small amount of olive oil.
Finally stick it in your preheated very hot oven for about 35-40 minutes. Try to resist eating straight away and leave to rest for 20 minutes before carving :biggrin:

[Terpe]

Thanks Simon :xxgrinning--00xx3:

I'm a big fan of pork belly if it's cooked very long and slow and is melt in the mouth tender with a crispy (not hard and crunchy) skin.

Not an easy one. I'm intrigued by your equipment. Enough to see what's available here.
I do love kitchen gadgets of any kind especially when they help create something special.

[SimonH]

Thanks Simon :xxgrinning--00xx3:

I'm a big fan of pork belly if it's cooked very long and slow and is melt in the mouth tender with a crispy (not hard and crunchy) skin.

Not an easy one. I'm intrigued by your equipment. Enough to see what's available here.
I do love kitchen gadgets of any kind especially when they help create something special.

I swear by it, plenty of recipes on the internet. A cheap cut of beef will come out perfect, moist and tender. So much so that it'll keep your family in sandwiches for a week being able to cut it very finely :xxgrinning--00xx3:
Hence why I said it'll pay for itself many times over :smile:
Then the vacuum sealer can be used for sealing cuts of meat and freezing :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[imagine]

My mouth is watering, sounds delicious, hard to get good tender meat here of any kind - with the exception of chicken. With opening our cafe and bar in the not too far away future, the equipment you mention may well be worth looking into, not just for the cafe, for but personal use too.

In fact. I think it would be a big money maker for the cafe!

Alhough I have never heard of the a Giles Posner, I need to read up and look into this. :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[imagine]

Aha, Giles Posner is the brand name. I searched and found a chocolate fountain :Erm:

Ah, a water bath, looks like a large deep fat fryer

[SimonH]

Aha, Giles Posner is the brand name. I searched and found a chocolate fountain :Erm:

Ah, a water bath, looks like a large deep fat fryer

That's it, here's a link to one on eBay :xxgrinning--00xx3:

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/251241388175?nav=SEARCH

[SimonH]

My mouth is watering, sounds delicious, hard to get good tender meat here of any kind - with the exception of chicken. With opening our cafe and bar in the not too far away future, the equipment you mention may well be worth looking into, not just for the cafe but for personal use too.

In fact, I think it would be a big money maker for the cafe.

Although I have never heard of a Giles Posner, I need to read up and look into this :xxgrinning--00xx3:

Sorry, Giles Posner is the manufacturer of the one I use, there's lots out there, but for domestic budget use, I chose this one.

They've only been popular for household use for the last year or so, but all the top restaurants use them. Great idea to use it in your cafe. Could be a real draw, especially once people taste the quality of the food. :biggrin:

[imagine]

Sorry, Giles Posner is the manufacturer of the one I use, there's lots out there, but for domestic budget use, I chose this one.

They've only been popular for household use for the last year or so, but all the top restaurants use them. Great idea to use it in your cafe. Could be a real draw, especially once people taste the quality of the food. :biggrin:

Thanks Simon, just been looking on Amazon at info and found the brand Giles Posner website. I am going to search for availabilty in Phils, and a reasonable size for a cafe :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[raynaputi]

You don't have to buy a sous vide and food sealer. There are alternatives for these in your regular kitchen! :xxgrinning--00xx3: Unless of course you will use it in setting up your cafe & bar like Imagine.

http://food-hacks.wonderhowto.com/how-to/cook-food-perfectly-home-with-super-cheap-diy-sous-vide-machine-0148452/

[SimonH]

You don't have to buy a sous vide and food sealer. There are alternatives for these in your regular kitchen! :xxgrinning--00xx3: Unless of course you will use it in setting up your cafe & bar like Imagine.

http://food-hacks.wonderhowto.com/how-to/cook-food-perfectly-home-with-super-cheap-diy-sous-vide-machine-0148452/

Useful, but a complete faff :smile:

Wiring up a thermostat and thermometer to save £70 tops is daft in my opinion, as for the other ideas :doh watching and trying to regulate the temperature for 9 hours, you'd have to be :crazy:

I suppose the same could be said for a toaster, deep fat fryer or rice cooker ;)

[raynaputi]

Useful, but a complete faff :smile:

Wiring up a thermostat and thermometer to save £70 tops is daft in my opinion, as for the other ideas :doh watching and trying to regulate the temperature for 9 hours, you'd have to be :crazy:

Well, not everyone has money to spend on these things like you. At least they can have an alternative. :xxgrinning--00xx3: I wouldn't buy one coz I know I won't use it often. You don't know how resourceful some people are, so don't call them daft.

[SimonH]

Well, not everyone has money to spend on these things like you. At least they can have an alternative. :xxgrinning--00xx3: I wouldn't buy one coz I know I won't use it often. You don't know how resourceful some people are, so don't call them daft.

In my opinion it is daft, going to all that hassle of buying a accurate thermometer and thermostat then wiring it all up, it probably wouldn't save you any money.

There're alternatives and other options to toasters, deep fat fryers and even rice cookers but most of us have them :smile:

As for use, I use mine on a weekly basis :biggrin:

[raynaputi]

I love cooking siomai and puto, but I don't have a steamer. :xxgrinning--00xx3: What do I use? Rice cooker. We do have the thermometer though. Sometimes, a little resourcefulness is good. We didn't have a lot such cooking tools in the Philippines, but you'd be surprised at the resourcefulness the cooks in our family do have. :biggrin:

[Pete/London]

Poached eggs:

Lay some cling film over the top of a cup and gently push it into the cup to form a pouch.

Break an egg and place on cling film pouch, twist the ends of cling film together and place in pan of boiling water. Leave for around 3 mins, depending on how you like your eggs, remove from water...and then from cling film.....voila...perfect eggs with no washing up!

[sars_notd_virus]

My version of pork belly, cooked long and slow.

Now not many people have one but I can highly recommend buying a sous vide, (effectively a water bath) and a vacuum sealer. Believe me these simple machines pay for themselves many times over. You can spend a few hundred on these but the one I've got is a Giles Posner second (the box had a dent) from ebay for about £60 delivered and then the vacuum sealer which was about £50. Once you start using one you'll be amazed how tender even the cheapest cuts of meat come out :xxgrinning--00xx3:

Ok, the belly of pork. Cook for 9 hours at 55C in your sous vide then take out of your vacuum sealed bag and pat dry with some kitchen towel. Next put it in the fridge over night weighed down, I sandwich it between two heavy chopping boards.
Next day preheat your oven to its highest setting, score the skin with a really sharp knife (a stanley knife will do the trick) and pour over a kettle full of boiling, then once again pat dry. Liberal amounts of salt and whatever other seasoning you fancy are then rubbed into the skin together with a small amount of olive oil.
Finally stick it in your preheated very hot oven for about 35-40 minutes. Try to resist eating straight away and leave to rest for 20 minutes before carving :biggrin:

Any pictures? :Rasp:

[Arthur Little]

Hmm ... :yeahthat:? Well ... :anerikke: ... it's you who's said it yourself! :icon_rolleyes:

Until you mentioned it, none of us here had the slightest inkling you'd a pork(y) belly! :cwm24:

[SimonH]

Hmm ... :yeahthat:? Well ... :anerikke: ... it's you who's said it yourself! :icon_rolleyes:

Until you mentioned it, none of us here had the slightest inkling you'd a pork(y) belly! :cwm24:

:laugher: Well spotted :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[fred]

In my opinion it is daft, going to all that hassle of buying a accurate thermometer and thermostat then wiring it all up, it probably wouldn't save you any money.

There're alternatives and other options to toasters, deep fat fryers and even rice cookers but most of us have them :smile:

As for use, I use mine on a weekly basis :biggrin:

I might convert our broken rice cooker with a 50 watt incandescent light bulb and an alarm clock.
Would that work? :wink:

[Terpe]

I might convert our broken rice cooker with a 50 watt incandescent light bulb and an alarm clock.
Would that work? :wink:

I've got a broken rice cooker converted to a coconut charcoal fuelled cooker.
Complete with fan working AC or DC

:xxgrinning--00xx3:

Anything's possible in the Philippines

[SimonH]

I might convert our broken rice cooker with a 50 watt incandescent light bulb and an alarm clock.
Would that work? :wink:

No, you'd have to take the filament out and then wrap the foil from a cigarette packet round it to increase the wattage the 87.6 and then set your alarm clock to half past Thursday :wink:

[the_Sherwinat0r]

pork belly is the best