Dry Slow Roast Pork Belly

Asked by jo1966. Answered on 15th February 2015

Full question

I'm afraid the Slow Roast Pork Belly didn't work for me. I followed it to the letter, including cooking time and oven temperature and the pork was far too overcooked - inedible and very disappointing

Our answer

Pork belly is a very common cut for slow roasting as it is usually has several layers of fat. The fat renders out during the long, low cooking and bastes the meat as it does so, leaving tender pork meat that can be cut with a fork. Well-cooked meat that can be shredded is normal for this type of dish. Nigella's Slow Roast Pork Belly (from Kitchen and on the Nigella website) is cooked at 150c/300F for 3 1/2 hours and then given a final blast at a high temperature to burnish the skin and give a crisp crackling.

Nigella uses a 1.75kg/3 3/4-pound belly, which is quite large. If you are cooking a smaller cut of meat then you may need to reduce the cooking time slightly. Also Nigella's recipes give conventional oven temperatures and if you use a fan or convection oven then you may need to adjust the temperature. The meat should not be dry but if you are using a fan oven the you could also try adding 250ml/1 cup of wine or stock to the pan halfway though the initial cooking time (ie 1 hour 45 minutes) as this will help to create a moister environment around the belly.