Perfect Crackling

I may have accidentally stumbled on the perfect method of cooking crackling.

The microwave at work gave up the ghost this week (as did the washing machine), so I went down to the Indesit factory outlet shop in Yate and got one of those Hotpoint microwaves that combines a cooker into it. Brilliant little thing for only £99.

Hay hates it when I make pulled pork, especially when I make crackling, as the smell gets all over the house - open plan with two minstrel galleries does have its drawbacks (we normally put a moratorium on any cooking after 8pm for that reason). I therefore decided to make the crackling at work in the new microwave, using the oven setting. 

I started it off at 175 degrees (not realising I could turn the temperature up) where it languished for about an hour and a half while very slowly starting to crackle, if somewhat half-heartedly and only at one end. Once I read the manual (doh!) and discovered I could increase the temp, I whacked it up to 200 and, within about 4 minutes, it had puffed up beautifully as if I'd deep-fried it.

Perfect. Next experiment is to repeat the experiment at home in the Redfyre. The problem at home, though, is that the oven tends to retain moisture, whereas the microwave dispels it immediately. The Redfyre (AGA lookalike) should have a stovepipe chimney, but we never fitted it - guess we should have to help draw the moisture into the cooker hood..