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 1.6kg to 1.8kg (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 temperature to work with if you need more, or less, heat throughout the cooking time.

Now that the oven is prepared, let me go through the steps I took.

The first important step. Pour yourself a glass of wine.

Take the Pork Belly out of the refrigerator about an hour before you plan on cooking it.

Next. In a small pan add 1 tbsp black pepper corns, 1 tbsp fennel seeds, and 2 tsp cardamon seeds. Place the pan in the oven. Toasting the spices will draw out their natural flavour. Put them in a mortar and pestle with 1 tbsp flakey seas salt, and grind into a powder (use a spice grinder if you prefer).

Pat the pork dry with some paper towels. Then using a sharp kitchen knife, or clean utility knife, carefully score the skin in the direction you plan to cut the final roast, no more than ¼ inch deep. Try to avoid cutting through to the meat.

Rub the spice mix all over the pork, including into the cuts.

For the gravy. Roughly chop 1 onion, 1 fennel bulb (including some of the stalk), 1 carrot, and 2 or 3 quartered tomatoes. Crush 4 cloves of garlic. Add some sprigs from the fennel, and some thyme. Add them all to your roasting pan. Season with salt, pepper, and add any leftover spice rub. Drizzle over some olive oil and toss everything together.

Place a metal rack over the vegetables, and then place the pork on top of that. Now it’s ready to go into the oven.

Keep an eye on the pork, and rotate is occasionally to be sure it cooks evenly, and so the skin doesn't burn. I did that about every 30 minutes. It should be cooked through after about 2 hours, but if you want to use a meat thermometer, I think the ideal temperature is 160-165F/72-24C. When it’s done remove the pork to a warm dish, and let it rest while you make the gravy.

Add a few pieces of fuel to the fire to bring the temperature up.

Remove as much oil from the roasting pan as possible (there will be a lot*). Return the vegetables to the oven and roast for a few minutes. Add about ½ cup of white wine and reduce that in the oven. Add 1½ cups of chicken stock, return to the oven and reduce by about a third. Strain the gravy into a saucepan and return to the oven while you slice the roasted pork.

The wine is a 2017 Blanc Fumé de Pouilly, from Louis Benjamin Dagueneau.
The music is “Charango" by Mark Thomas Hannah.

*save the rendered pork fat to roast some potatoes.

[thebones]

Watched every single video you made, and all i can say is that You are the reason i made wood fired oven in my back yard, finished 6 months ago, still learning, still failing, but also i made some great food...

[liaokang]

In this madding world full of bloodshed and chaos, it is soothing to watch you cook so gently and elegantly. Thank you.

[BehindTheFoodTV]

Clive I don't know whether I enjoy your culinary prowess more or your cinematography. Absolutely lovely to watch. I might have to try this myself!

[AlbertoEDojas]

Sofisticación, elegancia, técnica, reflexión. Un artista. Felicitaciones de un argentino desde España...!

[texasfar]

Wow....just wow. You nailed it Clive. I watched your podcast and saw you were gonna make this soon. And if course you did NOT disappoint. Well done sir, looks amazing.

[Longwoodfu]

This is one of the reasons why I made my oven. You inspired throughout my build and made some delicious food. Never knew how I was going to cook a pork belly. And yet again you showed me the way. Brilliant! Thanks!😊

[BillHartCooks.]

Thank you for what you do. I just realized that you do this because you actually love cooking. The world needs more people who are passionate about the things they love to do.
Well, at least if it is cooking really good food.
Carry on!

[HolisticHealthEducation]

Hello Clive. I saw your video you did with the wood fired oven manufacturers. So I knew what to expect as your next upload. 😊 Also, I think that you could also add "entertainment value", as a additional quality of your videos. I find them very relaxing and a real stress detox, hence they are always a great start to a weekend.

[seangillen]

These videos are so relaxing. Very well produced.

[stevedavidson]

Love your videos I wish you would make more. I know it’s tough at times.

[arribaxx]

This has got to be the pinnacle of perfection! Well done, sir. Greetings from a fellow wood oven enthusiast in Peru!

[JoseValdez-wt]

Clive, please reconsider guiding us with your soothing voice and detailed comments that help a lot... in any case, these are masterpieces that my family values a lot...

[AntonioLopez-gfoj]

Chef Clive your video content does not disappoint, gracias por lo que haces por tu audiencia.

[goats]

Glad to see more of your videos. I haven’t been tracking your work lately and pleased to see you’re still making videos. I live in a northern climate where pine is the prevalent wood source so I’m on the fence about building a pizza oven. But something hit me today to search for the oven and so glad to see your videos come up. Thank you brother, much appreciated.

[RollerGuideX]

Love the video work. Sounds and it's so nice to see the full process... especially the start. Still watching to see how the food pans out :) Awesome as always.

[DavidRodriguez-cidm]

It is my honor to spend this few minutes here. thank you, very refreshing.

[martiganuk]

Hi Clive hope you’re well.
Missing your videos. Finally got my oven built, and going through your catalog of videos again.
Looking forward to when you’re posting gain.

[remarkable]

That pork looks incredible! The crackling was perfect -- you're making me hungry. Kudos to you for adding a splash or two of that amazing Blanc Fumé to the gravy!

[MH-zinb]

I can't express how much I've been enjoying your videos. Your content is a breath of fresh air, and it's clear that you put a lot of passion and effort into each one. I learned so much from your recent video. I eagerly anticipate more of your incredible content. Your channel is a true gem, and I'm so grateful for the inspiration and joy it brings!

[daviddlamini]

After he said, "let the video speak for itself", indeed it did. I honestly don't know how you keep the quality as good as it is but your videos continue to be complete watch throughs for me. If there was ever a channel that deserved a million subscribers its yours, but congrats on achieving the 100K milestone either way.