Slow Cooker Pork Belly

5 from 2 votes

Slow Cooker Pork Belly is melt in your mouth tender! Less than 10 minutes of prep time, juicy pork, crispy crackling for an easy family meal.

Prep Time10

Cook Time4 15

Total Time4 25

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Western

Keyword: slow cooker pork belly

Servings:

Calories: 1248kcal

Pork: start by removing any packaging from the pork (discard) and place it on a plate in the fridge overnight to dry out the skin.
Dry rub: next place the pork onto a clean, dry chopping board skin side down. Sprinkle the flesh with the fennel seeds, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Then use your hands to massage the dry rub into the meat.
Liquids and sugar: grease the slow cooker insert with cooking oil. Then pour in the chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. Use a wooden spoon to gently stir and combine.
Cook: place the seasoned pork belly into the slow cooker and put the lid on. Set the timer and temperature for 4 hours on high.
Grill/broil: with 15 minutes left for the pork cook time turn the oven on. Set it to grill at 200°C 392°F6. (Or you can use the air fryer).
Crackling: When the cook time is up, remove the cooked pork from the slow cooker and place it on a sheet of tin foil over a wire rack. Wrap the foil around the pork and use foil balls to ensure the crackling is even. Pour the olive oil over the top and use a basting brush to spread this out evenly. Then sprinkle salt over the top of the oil. Place the pork into the oven on the top shelf. Cook till the crackling has bubbled and hardened (15 to 20 minutes).
To serve: remove the pork from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving. Serve it with roast vegetables and gravy.

Note 1 - Pork belly: remove any packaging and place the pork on the plate (uncovered) in the fridge overnight. This ensures that the skin will dry out. If you don't have overnight, aim for a couple of hours. Also use paper towel to pat the skin dry before seasoning.
Note 2: Fennel seeds: as with the rest of the dry rub, we want to massage this in to the flesh so that it 'sticks' . I find it easiest to start with the fennel seeds as they are the bulkiest and then follow this with the garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
Note 3 - Why is my skin not crispy? Cooking the pork belly in the slow cooker is great as the meat is tender and juicy. It does, however create a challenge to getting crispy skin. Crispy crackling is best achieved when the skin is dry (24 hours in the fridge overnight). But then the slow cooking process makes the skin tacky. For best results, ensure the oven is hot, there is a little oil used, but not too much and keep a close on it as it grills.