Food

Not true, one of them did a pudding for the critics with honeycomb in it. William Sitwell raved about it and said he would buy honeycomb from her for life.

pork came out amazing, crackling not so much.

Don't think I'm getting the skin hot enough, will probably start cooking the skin seperately from the flesh, so I can get some decent crackling in future..

Did you dry the skin out in the fridge over night ? dont know why im advising my crackling is always shite. CSB.

In other news shin of beef ragu just finishing off after 3hrs smells great.

amazing, crackling

I dry the skin, prick it all over, salt rub and whack it in oven.

I dunno what it's called either but found it here. my folks have one, but wooden and old possibly home made, it's quite "medieval torture device"

Blast it on full for the first 15/20 minutes

tried that, not sure the oven got hot enough for that to have an effect,
on this point what's the consensus, over on at full whack? or under the grill at full whack?

I blast in oven on full for first 20 mins

m8, grill will char it.

I think you could do with more scoring too, I go for parallel lines about 1cm apart, I think this helps get the heat in and around and crackle it up. This, and using salt/wipe off, more salt method, seems to work for me.

Blast it on full for the first 15/20 minutes

This is what works. The oven has to be cranked all the way up and has to be up to temperature first.

Turn it down then low and slow.

I get this from my pork shoulder. (apols for blurry pic)

Whats a reliable truffle oil source?

This won the Grauniad crackling technique test; involves hair driers and hot oven at beginning and end

That's what I do, oven on full to start then knock it straight back down then up again at the end...

And if that doesn't work, carve the skin off and do that separately at the end...

Also scalding hot water on skin, pat dry and leave at room temp before putting in oven. See so many people put meat straight from the fridge into the oven, which is nuts

Dearly beloved is getting me a sous vide contraption for Christmas, what one should I be getting?

Really want a vacuum sealing gizmo as well, that may be a step too far tho'... Baby steps...

Also don't salt the skin until last minute or the moisture drawn out by the salt will stop it crackling (apparently).

Sous-vide sans vacuum? Bro. Do you even masterchefz?

I just wanna poach eggs in their shells to start, even if it means it's the first thing I have to do when I wake up... I'll wind up getting a vacuum thingy as well, obvs... In for a penny, etc...

And I haven't Mastercheffed in forever, tedious middle class cuntery of the highest order... Chevrons...

I have the sansaire. But i would get the anova if i was going to buy again now.

You should 100% get a vacuum sealer too.

Just seen Lakeland now do a clip-on sous vide immersion unit.

I was looking at the Anova and it's pretty cheap too, thanks... :)

OK, which vacuum wotsit to get?

I have an earlier version of this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/FoodSaver-V2860-IUK-Vacuum-Sealer/dp/B002C7E1RC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

But i`m not too sure which is best now.

As @jb000 says the Anova is the preferred sous vide wand/immersion circulator. The WiFi 2nd gen one gets really great reviews. $189 AUS for the bluetooth/wifi version which I think is the better option as I read about patchy bluetooth.

The JML vacuum sealer gets solid reviews for the price.

You can hack a slow-cooker with a Raspberry Pi for £30 to make a reliable sous-vide.