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The ultimate pork belly

The ultimate pork belly cut into slices with a side of apple sauce

The ultimate pork belly

Name: The ultimate pork belly
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 3 h
Total time: 3 h 25 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 2kg piece boneless pork belly cut from the middle of the belly; 1 tbsp fennel seeds; 2 tsp black peppercorns; 3 garlic cloves roughly chopped; handful of rosemary; handful of thyme; 4 bay leaves; 40g flaky sea salt plus extra for the skin; 1-2 tbsp sunflower oil; apple sauce and your choice of roast trimmings, to serve

Barney Desmazery

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Serves 6 - 8

Easy

Prep: 25 mins

Cook: 3 hrs

plus at least 8 hrs curing and resting

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Guarantee tender meat and crispy crackling every time with Barney's ultimate recipe. Every element is considered to create our best-value roast for a crowd

Gluten-free

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Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

2kg piece boneless pork belly

cut from the middle of the belly
1 tbsp fennel seeds
2 tsp black peppercorns
3 garlic cloves

roughly chopped
handful of rosemary
handful of thyme
4 bay leaves
40g flaky sea salt

plus extra for the skin
1-2 tbsp sunflower oil
apple sauce

and your choice of roast trimmings, to serve

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Nutrition: Per serving

kcal495
fat37g
saturates12g
carbs0.1g
sugars0g
fibre0.1g
protein40g
salt1.6g

Method

step 1

Pat the pork belly dry using kitchen paper. Score the skin at roughly 2cm intervals in one direction (not in a criss-cross) using a sharp knife, taking care not to cut down into the flesh.
step 2

Toast the fennel seeds and black peppercorns in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 2-3 mins until fragrant, then grind together using a pestle and mortar, or blitz in a mini chopper along with the garlic, rosemary, thyme, bay and sea salt to make a damp green salt mix. Spread over a shallow tray or dish roughly the same size as the pork – if the sides have less height than the pork, all the better.
step 3

Lay the pork flesh-side down on the herb mixture, pressing on it to make good contact with the meat, but not the skin. Salt the skin generously and evenly, working it into the cuts. Chill the pork, uncovered for at least 8 hrs and up to 24 hrs so the skin dries and the meat absorbs the flavours. The herby salt mix should dissolve into a sticky brine.
step 4

Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Lift the pork from the herb mixture and thoroughly wipe or scrape the herbs from the flesh. Pat the skin dry using kitchen paper, brushing away any visible excess salt. Put a wire rack or trivet over a large roasting tin and sit the pork on top, skin-side up.
step 5

Roast for 2 hrs 30 mins, undisturbed. Remove the pork from the oven and brush oil over the skin liberally. Turn the oven up to 240C/220C fan/gas 9 and roast for another 20-30 mins, checking every 10 mins, until the skin is puffed up, crisp and golden. Lift the pork onto a board and leave to rest, uncovered, for 10 mins, then use a serrated knife to carve the pork into thick slices. Serve with apple sauce and all your favourite roast trimmings.

Barney's steps to success

Wake the spices
Toasting the fennel seeds and peppercorns before crushing wakes them up, giving the pork
a deeper, warmer flavour.
Fine brining
Blitzing the salt with garlic and herbs creates a fragrant cure that draws moisture while seasoning the flesh more deeply.
Know the score
Single-direction scoring helps the skin puff and crisp evenly and the salt penetrate the flesh while keeping the crackling in sticks, rather than scratching-like squares.
Dry it out
Leaving the pork uncovered in the fridge removes surface moisture, which is the enemy of crackling. The drier the skin before roasting, the better it will blister and shatter.
Take it slow
Pork belly needs enough time at a gentle temperature for its connective tissue to soften and the layers of fat to render. Rushing this stage can leave the meat chewy and the fat tough.
Turn up the heat
A coating of oil before turning up the oven in the last stages helps conduct the heat evenly across the skin. It encourages fat to render and the crackling to puff, blister and turn glass-like, rather than hardening.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2026

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