Did You Guess What I Was Making???? Homemade Chicharrones!

I was able to get some fresh pigskin at a local market, so I decided to make Chicharrones. 

I started by boiling the skins till they were soft and pretty fragile. This would make it easier to scrape any fat off. Once the skins were boiled (at least an hour), I CAREFULLY (because at this stage they will easily tear) removed them from the pot and put them on a cookie sheet. I then refrigerated overnight. (I boiled these mid day.) Refrigeration makes the fat removal much easier that it would be right out of the pot. The next day, using a spoon, I scraped all of the fat from the skin. (Above) Sometimes there is a small bit of fat on the edges that doesn't want to come off. When that happens, just trim that edge off. You MUST remove all the fat before the skin goes into dehydration.

 Once I completer the fat removal from the skins (above), they were ready for the dehydrator. 

 If necessary, cut skin into manageable pieces that will fit into the dehydrator. Then, 167 degrees for about 16 hours. ALL of the moisture must be removed from the skin or it will not fry properly later on.

 After 16 hours, you will end up with......pieces of "pork plastic", which is how I refer to the dehydrated skins. At this time, you can break the "pork plastic" into smaller pieces to either store or cook right away.

 Cooking them up is easy!!!! Take canola oil to 400 degrees (my oil was slightly higher, but worked fine) and CAREFULLY drop a few pieces at a time into the oil. within seconds, it will puff right up. I get little to no splash back when putting the pieces in the hot oil, because there is no moisture in the pieces. When done (about 15 or 20 seconds) put on paper or in a bowl, and season with your favorite kind of seasoning, or even just salt and pepper.

  To Store Unused Pieces- You MUST keep moisture out. I have double bagged in freezer bags and put into the fridge for a few days. It has worked fine for me. However, I have also been told that another good way to store in the fridge for a while is vacuum packing. I have just tried this method, to see how it goes. If vacuum packed, I have also been told you can freeze for long term storage. I need to try this method. I haven't as yet as mine never lasted that long to have to worry about long term storage!