Follow these simple instructions for How to Air Fry Rind-On Pork Belly Strips and you can have soft unctuous meat with super crispy pork crackling ready to eat in under 25 minutes!
6Rind-On Pork Belly Strips - around 100g/3½oz each
1tspOil - see notes
¾tspSeasoning - see notes
4tbspWater
¼tspSea Salt Flakes
Instructions
If your air fryer requires pre-heating, start this setting now.
Thoroughly dry 6 Rind-On Pork Belly Strips.
Use a sharp knife to cut slices in the rind no more than 1cm/⅓inch apart.
Drizzle over 1 tsp Oil and ¾ tsp Seasoning and toss to thoroughly coat the pork.
Place the belly strips into the air fryer basket. Arrange them so they are sitting skin side up. This will allow the skin to get the maximum heat and crackle.
Pour 4 tbsp Water into the underneath of the fryer basket. If you are using an oven style air fryer, add the water to an ovenproof dish on the shelf under the pork or on the bottom on the fryer. The water will create steam and help to cook the soft pork meat.
Cook for 15 minutes at 200c/390f.
Carefully brush with a little extra oil and sprinkle with ¼ tsp Sea Salt Flakes. This will help the skin to crisp further.
Cook for a further 5 minutes at 200c/390f.
Check the pork is cooked through, you can see this by making a cut and checking that the meat is nearly white in the centre of the thickest part. Unlike chicken, pork can be eaten with a slight pink blush but if you prefer it more cooked, put it back in for 2 minutes at a time.
Allow to rest for at least 3 to 4 minutes before tucking in. Spoon over juices that have collected in the bottom of the air fryer for extra flavour.
To Cook From Frozen
Cook for 10 minutes at 200c/390f.
Carefully brush with a little extra oil and sprinkle with ¼ tsp Sea Salt Flakes. This will help the skin to crisp further.
Cook for a further 10 minutes at 200c/390f.
Check that the pork is sufficiently cooked in exactly the same way as if cooking from fresh!
Notes
Oil - Choose your oil to match your flavouring. For example use garlic, salt and rosemary with olive oil or for a more neutral flavour, sea salt and black pepper with vegetable oil.
Seasoning - Choose any seasoning mix, spices or dried/fresh herbs. Make sure that salt is included in the mix. You can also add a little citrus juice.
I used vegetable oil with a 50/50 mix of garlic salt and paprika.
The air fryer version of this recipe is tested in a Cosori Lite (CAF-LI401S) with a 3.8 litre capacity. The square(ish) shaped basket is 21cm x 21cm and 24cm on the diagonal.
Not all models advise preheating is required. Please follow the recommended instructions for your model. Mine has a specific preheat setting which is 4 minutes at 205c.
For this recipe, I can easily fit 6 rind on pork belly strips - around 600g in total in the basket at a time. This gives plenty of room to allow air to circulate.
As all air fryer models are a little different, you may find that you can fit more or less in at a time. Some models include stacking shelves which will increase capacity.
Required cooking times and temperatures can also vary between models and brands. If you know that your air fryer runs a little hotter than most recipes suggest, use a lower temperature. And vice versa. Equally if you find that food cooks more quickly in your machine than instructions usually state, reduce the cooking time (or check it earlier) and vice versa.