Your Air Fryer Is The Secret To The Crispiest Pork Belly Burnt Ends

Pork belly is known for its thick layer of fat that provides great flavor and decadently crispy skin. Consequently, it's also one of the best cuts of pork for burnt ends. Originally relegated to the charred crusts of beef brisket, burnt ends are the result of the fattiest parts of meat rendering down into crunchy meat bark. Because pork belly possesses an even coating of fatty skin, the entire cut can be made into chunks of burnt ends. We recently interviewed Rich Parente, chef and owner of Clock Tower Grill in Brewster, New York State, who raises the pigs he sources for the many pork dishes on his menu.

While he opts for smoking pork belly to maximize flavor and texture, he thinks the air fryer is the secret to the crispiest pork belly burnt ends, saying, "An air fryer is a great place to finish pork belly burnt ends. After they're smoked, finish them in an air fryer to make sure each bite is nice and crispy."

An air fryer is engineered to produce the crispiest crust without deep frying and in a fraction of the time it would take in a conventional oven. Slow-cooking methods like braising or even slow roasting often finish pork belly off under the broiler, but an air fryer ensures that every side is as crispy as that broiled top skin. Just throw your pre-smoked meat pieces into the air fryer at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for around 10 minutes. If you're not smoking the meat it will take more like 20 minutes to cook and crisp in the air fryer.

These utterly decadent crispy yet melt-in-your-mouth bite-sized burnt ends will be a hit whether you serve them alone or integrate them into a more elaborate recipe. You can take them in flavorful directions with a quick glaze or sauce to toss them in both before and after they crisp up in the air fryer. If you skip the smoking altogether (not everyone has a smoker, after all) and make burnt ends entirely in the air fryer, they won't have the smoky, savory depth, but they won't take hours to smoke either. Replace that flavor stage by using a great dry rub or pork-friendly marinade. 

Pork belly is a popular Asian protein, so you could create a Korean barbecue sauce for your burnt ends made with gochujang, honey, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. They'd make for a delicious appetizer to garnish with sesame seeds and scallions. You could also serve them with butter lettuce and julienned veggies to make flavorful lettuce wraps. Or use the same veggies and coat the meat in a sticky glaze to stuff into bao buns with cilantro leaves and chilli. Since burnt ends were originally an American barbecue tradition, you can toss pork belly burnt ends in your favorite store-bought brand of barbecue sauce to serve on game day. They'd make the perfect upgrade to a creamy batch of slow cooker mac and cheese. You could also swap bacon for barbecue sauce burnt ends in this recipe for slow cooker baked beans.