Best way to cook Pork Belly in air fryer

Pork belly slices do have a particular way of cooking in an air fryer which will ensure the fat renders into the meat, to make lean pork belly into juicy tender pork meat.

Pork belly is by far my favourite meat and thus I've tried my very best to cook belly slices the best way I know how. What I do is ensure the skin is facing up at all times by making sure the slices are always standing upright; 1 inch or so slices do like to topple over, so its your job to keep them standing.

With pork belly a personal favourite of mine, I found out early on in my air frying days, pork belly does indeed cook far better in an air fryer.

To utilize an air fryer as best as you can with pork belly, do ensure to first cook pork belly slices up to a whopping 1 hour and 20 minutes - at a slow, low temperature of 130°C / 265°F to render the fat into the lean pork meat.

Air frying pork belly is similar to cooking pork ribs in an air fryer really, where each meat types must be cooked on a low heat for a minimum of an hour and twenty minutes.

Pork belly mustn't be wrapped in foil like pork ribs so instead the slices should be exposed to the heat at all times.

What I have found air frying pork belly multiple times over the years, is that the slices must be kept upright at all times to utilize the heating element above.

I will admit you probably won't achieve a genuine crackling skin when air frying pork belly slices, but I promise you, you will be close to it. Where there's an option to place each belly slice under a high broil/grill, you could at least achieve a light crispy skin.

There will be challenges I'll admit but in this hour, to and hour and 20 minutes cooking time, its vitally important you check on the air frying pork belly as often as you can; as a slice or two will always need standing back up - as the slices will fall over as they change shape the longer they cook.

Situate all pork belly slices into a tight grouping in the air fryer basket when necessary, as it helps to keep them balanced when they have something to lean against. In addition, you could always lean each slice against the sides of the basket.

Keep belly slices standing

What I have found to be the best way to cook pork belly - which I am referring to the long 1 inch slice kind - is that all slices must be kept upright at all times.

Whole pork belly joint can be faced down on the air fryer basket with the skin facing up at the heating element - and that is how it should be done - to cook the pork belly until you have a juicy centre with a super crispy skin on top.

Unfortunately, cooking pork belly slices in an air fryer, and any conventional oven really, is made a little difficult when all these 1 inch or so slices want to do, is topple over.

And the reason they will eventually topple over, as oppose to stay standing for the duration of the air frying time; is simply because the slices will move as they cook, due to them shrinking in the heat, and thus will deform in many ways.

Its your job for the duration of the pork belly cooking time to therefore keep them standing up as they cook within the basket.

Be sure to open the air fryer basket sporadically to ensure each slice is still standing up right with the skin facing up; if they aren't then be sure to stand them back up using a pair of tongs.

Balance against each other

Best way I have found to keep all pork belly slices standing, regardless of thickness, is to simply balance them up against one another.

What that means on your part is to use any pork belly slice that is still standing, to balance a prone to falling over pork slice, to be pushed up against any standing slice - to ensure the problematic slices stay standing for a little while longer.

What this will entail is grouping all pork belly slices - up to 6 in a pack in most cases - of which all will be centred in the basket where you'll push them all together.

I really do recommend you do keep the belly slices pressed together because the longing the air frying time goes on, it will be your best course of action to keep each slice standing.

Good pair of rubber tipped tongs will be your friend during this process, where the tongs will be used to pick each fallen slice back up, as well as pushing them up against each other to create a tight grouping.

Why not sit a double sheet of foil around the bottom of pork belly slices which can be used to form an elevated edge; which should help to keep the slices standing, and so to will keep your air fryer basket clean as the rendered fat is collected in the foil. Additional option can be use of parchment paper, although it can't be shaped as well as foil.

Rotate standing slices

If you've been paying attention thus far you will remember I mentioned several times about grouping the pork belly slices together; in an effort to prevent them falling over as you must exposed the skin to the heating element at all times.

And for that to happen each pork belly slice must be facing up as they stand side by side.

With between 4-6 pork belly slices standing beside each other early on in the air frying process, you'll find its easy enough at first but will require your intervention at regular intervals later on, to stand the slices back up in place.

When you do this, its important but not absolutely necessary, to rotate the pork belly slices positioned in the centre of the grouping; to then pick them up using tongs, to re-locate them on the outside row of belly slices.

I feel pork belly will cook extremely well the way I recommend you do it, which is unlikely to see under cooked pork with such a slow cooking time of 1 hour and 20 minutes. But it certainly doesn't hurt to rotate all the slices whenever you get the chance.

Summary

When it comes to cooking pork belly slices in particular in an air fryer, all that matters to you is to keep each and every pork belly slice standing upright at all times.

Why you will do that is to render the fat downwards into the pork meat to tenderize it. If pork belly slices are cooked on their side or upside down, then the fat will spill out, as oppose to rendering through the tough lean meat.

Keep each pork belly slice standing upright at all times by simply keeping a close eye on proceedings, which will require you to open the air fryer every 5-6 minutes to ensure the slices are still standing.

Expect the slices to stay standing within the first 10-15 minutes of air frying time, then it will only get worse as each pork belly will shrink in size, and thus will all fall over simply because they're changing shape as they are cooking.

Open the air fryer basket to pick up each fallen pork belly slice, while using the other pork belly slices to balance the problematic slices against one another.

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