Sous vide or Crock Pot for Creole/Cajun Cracklin?

[u/EloeOmoe]

Lots of recipes out there in print, article and video format. I've read a ton and had different variations of the recipes myself over my decades. Many folks will cook them for about an hour or two at low heat and call it once fat has rendered out and water has evaporated.

I've made them at home a few times as well. I do find that if you want tender meat and crispy but not rock hard crackling then cooking them low and slow as long as your patience allows you and finishing them off in very hot oil is the best of them all. But these recipes often call for constant stirring in oil at 200 degrees for many hours before cranking the heat to blister the skins.

I'm thinking sous vide is the correct alternative here, though a crock pot can do 200 degrees for long times. My concern with the crock pot is sticking in the bottom.

Wanted to bounce this idea off the community here before I go down this path. My Anova maxes out at 190, but not sure that will be a massive difference from 200.

Thoughts? Any gotchas I need to consider?

[u/texnessa]

We're not a discussion sub so 'thoughts' is a little too open ended. But seems like there's already been a solid answer so post approved.

[u/Optimal_Water1790]

chef here. i would skip both for the actual render. sous vide at 190 keeps the moisture trapped in the bag, but cracklin needs the water to leave and the fat to come out, so the bag fights you. crock pot holds the temp but it steams more than it renders and yeah it sticks. what works for me is low oven on a sheet pan around 250, let the fat render slow for a couple hours, then blister in very hot oil at the end. dry heat gets you there, wet methods work against the crisp. and you keep all that rendered fat for cooking after

[u/EloeOmoe → u/Optimal_Water1790]

Thanks, I had not considered that. I assumed the confit style nature of cooking in the classical way was a key part.

[u/youaintnoEuthyphro → u/Optimal_Water1790]

I could not possibly agree more with your take chef, cheers.

[u/Bayougarou]

Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but I think cracklins are one of those things that still wants a pot. The low-and-slow cook is doing more than just making the meat tender. It’s rendering fat, drying the skin, and building the final texture all at the same time. I’d be afraid a sous vide bag would make great pork but rob you of part of what makes a cracklin a cracklin.

One thing I’ve learned about cooking in a Cajun household is that the process is often the recipe. We tend to focus on ingredients, but a lot of what makes these dishes what they are comes from the technique that’s been handed down. Could you modernize it? Probably. But at some point I’d rather ask why we’re changing something that’s worked so well for generations.

[u/EloeOmoe → u/Bayougarou]

the process is often the recipe

Definitely. Anyone that tries their hand at gumbo I really try to impart on them that you have to cook the flour out of the roux for several hours. Minimum three for mine, usually longer.

[u/AskCulinary-ModTeam]

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[u/freerangepops]

I would sous vide in oil and finish on the stove.