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What are the prevailing opinions in the paleo eating world about chicharonies, cracklins, or grattons? I love, love, love these and am curious as to other opinions.

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8 Answers

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Some commercial pork rinds are fried in their own lard. You can tell because they only list pork as an ingredient. But they still are from factory farmed pigs. A local butcher in NYC makes them with pastured pork, but they are $$$$. Unfortunately, they seem hard to make at home.

Since I sometimes render my own lard, cracklings are simply part of the deal. I like to toss them in salads or cook them with seafood.

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Maybe I'll go check where they make carnitas (pork cooked in lard) and see if they also do chicharones. They cook pork in huge vats of hot lard in 'meat alley' here in Melaque. The chicharones have to be eaten right away or they absorb moisture from the air and get all chewy. That is why I bought the bagged version. – henny Mar 3 2010 at 14:23
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 Any chance you could tell us the name of this butcher? (I live in NYC) – Dee Mar 3 2010 at 21:51
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 Dee, email me and I'll give you the info. It's a little underground since she doesn't have a certified kitchen. – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Mar 4 2010 at 2:18
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 Wow. I love it. PaleoHacks is facilitating the underground foodie connections. :) – Patrik♦ Mar 4 2010 at 16:19
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I don't know if there is a prevailing opinion about these in the paleo world. I had to google them to see what you were talking about. If you use free range pork, which has a better O3/O6 ratio than factory pork, and you skip the RC cola, I think they're plum bodacious.

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Yeah, I am planning on making them myself and am curious just how bad the difference will be by using factory pork as I have a small bag of pork belly with the skin in my freezer from before I started reading about and eating primal/paleo. I had been planning on rendering lard but never had time past cutting it up to rendering it. I see lots of info about the differences between grass-fed & factory beef but little about the pork issues. Perhaps I will post another question here about the difference other than factory pork is so bland. – TexasPrimalSurfWahine -TPSW- Mar 3 2010 at 15:21
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 TPSW, lard fat does not contain much PUFA; it's about 40% saturated, 45% MUFA, and 15% PUFA ( foodandwine.com/articles/lard-the-new-health-food ). So the difference between free range and factory pork is tinkering with that last 15%--there are more omega 6 PUFAs in factory pork. I say use up the pork you have and enjoy it! Fry the rinds in their own fat. You can take fish oil supplements to increase your Omega 3 intake. Cheers, – Ed♦ Mar 3 2010 at 18:32
Thanks Ed, that makes me feel better about it! I know what I will be doing this weekend especially since the forecast is for sunshine and 71 degree weather. Chicharones and soaking up the Vitamin D! – TexasPrimalSurfWahine -TPSW- Mar 4 2010 at 16:13
@TPSW -- the bland pork we are being fed nowadays is a dramatically different animal than it was 30 years ago. All in the name of "lean" (bland) meat. – Patrik♦ Mar 4 2010 at 16:25
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Two potential problems I think:

1) probably fried in vegetable oil

2) probably dosed with loads of MSG

Organic free-range chicharones, anyone?

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 I actually thought that chicharones were cooked in pure lard, but the bag of Mexican chicharones in my cupboard says vegetable oil and doesn't even say what kind of oil, so it is most likely creepy canola oil. The only other ingredient listed is iodized salt. – henny Mar 3 2010 at 4:24
Yep. My experience as well. Also, related to this, many supermarkets in California sell Mexican lard, that is really not lard and has been hydrogenated. – Patrik♦ Mar 3 2010 at 21:37
Yes, the so called lard here in Mexico creeps me out. – henny Mar 4 2010 at 1:49
Today I managed to get some true chicharones with only pork/pork fat and some salt. – henny Mar 5 2010 at 3:53
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What do you guys think of these?

BAKEN-ETS® Traditional Fried Pork Skins

http://www.fritolay.com/our-snacks/baken-ets-traditional.html

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 I find them to be very sterile, not enough fat and very little variability between the individual pieces. However, you can get them in the convenience stores and they are just about the only edible thing stocked there IMHO. Baken-ets and jerky are the only options. Oh, and one more thing, they are so dry that you need to have liquids available at all times. I have nearly killed myself by accidentally inhaling the airborne fragments, lol. – TexasPrimalSurfWahine -TPSW- Mar 5 2010 at 11:08
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Pig skin is fried in its own oil just like bacon.

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No, it tends not to be. – Patrik♦ Mar 3 2010 at 21:35
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For my own homemade chicharrones, I just cut up the skin into pieces and put it under the broiler.

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I highly reccomend Mac's original pork cracklins.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mac-s-Chicharrones-Original-Pork-Cracklins-12-oz/10813831

They are available at the WalMart here in South Carolina and are as close to home-made as I've ever tasted: crunchy with visible attached fat (YUM!) They're just fried out pork with salt added.

I am ADDICTED to these things! LOL

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yes yummy & crunchy. I used to get them from the WalMarts in Il and Wi. Now I get them here in TN. – sienna Dec 29 2010 at 23:34
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hi if you want true chicharonies cook the meat over a fire in a skilet or a wack shapet pan made from a plow disc. Over a wood fire. cook it till the fat seperates from the meat. scoop out the meat put on a corn tortills with nschreaded cabbage with salsa and eat

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