Hog butchering is done frequently this time of year on Amish farms. The job is messy and no one wants to render lard or clean intestines when its 100 degrees outside in July. So late winter, before the busy gardening season begins, is prime time for pork. Elizabeth Coblentz, the original Amish Cook, wrote about hog butchering in an early column. She wrote about it with graphic accuracy. Back in those days I would try to sell the column to newspapers by sending a sales packet with sample Amish Cook writings in it. I sent one of my packets to Ron Krueger, food editor of The Flint Journal in Michigan. He couldn't be persuaded to subscribe to The Amish Cook (a huge disappointment to me at the time) but he wanted to run one column, the one about hog butchering because he found it "fascinating." So, with my blessing, he published it. And that concluded the column's briefest of runs in The Flint Journal.
One of the most fascinating aspects of pork butchering columns written by The Amish Cook is the reference to "cracklin's" or "cracklings." These are fried or roasted pig skin, that some people really like or really dislike. The top photo is a picture of some of Lovina's recently made cracklin's. And below are a picture of cracklin's made by an Amish-Mennonite family in Kansas that I visited over the winter. Notice how different each version of "cracklings" look? I 'm not sure what accounts for the difference, and it's possible that these are different pork parts altogether, different types of hogs, or maybe I just don't enough about pork to write about it:) Any pork people out there know much about cracklings and what accounts for the different coloration and texture?
Zelka Cani
The top picture of pork crackling is just chopped up or diced pork fat. Please note that the skin itself is actually removed, it is not used in the crackling process, it is the thick fat under the skin that is fried up. The picture below is fat that has been shredded or ground and then fried, hence the different texture. The shredded crackling will be a more 'melt in your mouth' crackling. Some tend to have some meat on it also which is a more flavoursome crackling others will remove the meat all together and just have pure fat. When the fat is rendered, the solid bits are called crackling and the liquid fat that is left is what is called lard. It is allowed to set and then used in cooking etc..In old times it was used to make soap also. It does not make a difference what type of hog is used, it all depends on how much fat is on that hog. Yummy, please send us some. My husband would move the earth for fresh made crackling.
Sheila
You have described the cracklings I grew up having. No skin on. This was one of my favorite childhood foods served with eggs and toast for breakfast.
Kevin
Yum!:) Thanks for stopping by, Sheila!
Donna Vincent
I live in south Louisiana and cracklings are quite common. You can buy them in grocery stores. Here we cut up the skin with a little fat on it and fry in a little lard . It actually makes more lard in the process and you have cracklings . What made the difference in the 2 pics is temperature and size. Frying at high temps will make darker cracklings. We like to cut them larger and fry them at medium heat. You have to watch them close as they cook. What does Lovina do with hers. Does she cook with with them or snack on them? Here we snack on them and also put them in cornbread.
Graham Friesen
Hi Kevin,
I was brought up making cracklings my whole life and make them my self. In the mennonite community cracklings were actually a by product of rendering lard. They were the little pieces of pork left behind when you ground up the pork fat with or without the rind attached. Myself i prefer the rindless(no skin) way of making cracklings. An easy way to make them in any amount of quantity is grind up the part of the pig that you would use to make bacon and put it in a large pot and boil it till all the water is out of it and the lard is clear with the pork cracklings a nice bronze color. I take the cracklings and put them in four portion containers and freeze them. When you want to eat them you take them out and fry them till they are bubbling in their fat and a little browner. Then you strain them, throw them back in the frying pan add a little water salt and pepper to taste and let the water steam off. Take them and put on a plate and pinch them with a little piece of bread and enjoy. There are other variations of making them all of which i have tried but prefer this way. Also when you are boiling off the water in the pork you constantly have to stir them. It is about a 4 to 5 hour process so you get quite a workout making them. If anyone wants to know more about making cracklings feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]