Anyone from Louisiana?

[Beekissed]

Just curious of how a person could get aholt of some of the cracklins you all are so famous for. To order them online is like exchanging one's firstborn for a small bag of cracklins. Anyone make them? Sell them for a decent price?

Just want to try some!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

My brother-in-law kills a few pigs a year, but its mainly when its more when its cold. I would have thought everyone makes cracklings. We call them gratons....you have to roll the R's. If I can figure how to get some, I'll see what I can do. One of our local grocery stores has them sometimes.

 

[Beekissed]

Not pork rinds? Real thick, kettle made cracklins like they make in Cajun country?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Having an absolutely Pavlovian response here! Cracklin's = YUMALICIOUS!!!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Bee.......I bought you some, and some for my family and guess what....My kids ate them all!!! But they really weren't the absolute best I ever had. I'll try again. Next time, I'll get 4 times what I bought to make sure I have one to send you. I can't believe everyone that lives in the country doesn't do this. Maybe just a lost art. Or maybe the rest of the country takes better care of themselves and we love the stuff too much to care.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm past worrying about how long I'll live and am eagerly awaiting the event...pork doesn't scare me!

How sweet to think of me, Rhoda! I'll pay for the price of them and the shipping, just let me know, please? I can't wait to taste them..they looked so good on the Dirty Job's episode I saw...

 

[TanksHill]

Wait, are you talking about all the little brown bits left over from rendering lard? And if so why are the ones in Louisiana so good?
Do they season theirs?

Gina

 

[mississippifarmboy]

I've got a hog to butcher soon Bee. I'll let you know when I do and I'll send you a few pounds of them.

Do you like the soft cracklins or the hard squeezed ones?

 

[Beekissed]

I don't know the difference! I just saw them on an episode of Dirty Jobs and they looked bigger, meatier and more substantial than what is called "pork rinds" around here. Now, when I was young we used to get the big slabs of bacon that you cut yourself...anyone remember those?

Well, the bacon slab was backed by the pork skin and we'd cut that up in strips and fry it...it was good but not much flavor, IMO.

MFB, could you describe how you make yours, seasoning, methods and different types? We don't see anyone doing such things up here and I'm mighty interested in the whole process....looked pretty labor intensive and the chunks of cracklins were huge compared to anything I'd ever seen.

Could you educate me? Pretty pleeeeeeaaaseeeee......

 

[mississippifarmboy]

I don't know the difference! I just saw them on an episode of Dirty Jobs and they looked bigger, meatier and more substantial than what is called "pork rinds" around here. Now, when I was young we used to get the big slabs of bacon that you cut yourself...anyone remember those?

Well, the bacon slab was backed by the pork skin and we'd cut that up in strips and fry it...it was good but not much flavor, IMO.

MFB, could you describe how you make yours, seasoning, methods and different types? We don't see anyone doing such things up here and I'm mighty interested in the whole process....looked pretty labor intensive and the chunks of cracklins were huge compared to anything I'd ever seen.

Could you educate me? Pretty pleeeeeeaaaseeeee......

Bee, I'm no expert, just a country boy that butchers his own pork. What we call cracklins might not be what others call them in other parts of the country.

The "pork rinds" you see in the store are I think made of the skin, but I have no idea how they get them so ... empty? They are fluffy and all air. I like them ok, but no idea how to make them and they sure ain't cracklins like I know them.
Our cracklins are just the back fat with the skin attached that we cut into strips and cook out over a slow fire in a 30 gallon cast iron wash pot on butchering day. When you get all the lard cooked out you can, you dip out the "leavings" and they are our cracklins. The soft cracklins are just drained on a piece of hardware cloth above the pot so the drippings fall back in the pot and allowed to cool. They are sorta like cooked fat-back, pork jowl or something like that except they have no lean meat at all. They are still heavy, but have most of the lard cooked out. The hard cracklins are squeezed until you get every drop of lard out that you can. We use a cracklin squeezer made from two hand carved paddles hinged together at the blunt end and with lots of holes drilled in them. We just scoop up some "leavings" and squueze them good then set them aside. They are allowed to cool and dry out and are as hard as a rock when they cool. This is the kind we break into tiny pieces to make cracklin cornbread.
I must admit.... we almost never season ours either way, just eat them. They don't have just a whole lot of flavor, but I like them. The soft cracklins won't keep near as long and a lot of folks around here will grab a handfull out of the can we keep them in and put them on a paper towel on a plate, sprinkle a little Cajun seasoning on them and pop them in the microwave for a few seconds. Heating them softens them up and the seasoning sticks to them then, Yummy. Like I said, I like them plain, but I've seen folks put everything from Cajun seasoning, butter, Tony Chachere's, to garlic salt and dried spices and ground red pepper on them.

You can buy the hard cracklins in bags at the grocery stores here.