pork rinds? i think what your talking about is what in the UK is called crackling. i.e as you roast the pork you salt the fat and it goes really brown and crispy. i love it!
I've never been a big cheese person, normally. I didn't hate it or anything...just not something I normally eat much of. In fact, don't normally buy it at the grocery store....but now, of course, I have several varieties in the fridge and it's added into either veggies or omelets almost every day.
And what's really odd is that when I did Atkins 20-some years ago, cheese seemed to negatively affect the ketosis, so I rarely ate it. This was probably because I was already using up my carbs using too much artificial sweetener....but I apparently got away with it back then. Seems my body recognizes it as sugar/carb now....so I'm having to do Atkins a bit differently this time.
BUT....in exchange for the sweets with the artificial sweetener I could have back then, I'm now enjoying adding all sorts of cheeses to my meals...sprinkle in a little goat cheese, or parmesan or cheddar. Yum.
pork rinds? i think what your talking about is what in the UK is called crackling. i.e as you roast the pork you salt the fat and it goes really brown and crispy. i love it!
In the U.S. (at least in Illinois and Wisconsin) we have both pork rinds and cracklings, and they're usually different textures. The pork rinds are "airy" and have the texture almost of fried corn snacks (like puffy cheetos, funions... almost like styrofoam.) Cracklins are tough and chewy, and sort of sticky when you chew them (it gets caught in your teeth a bit).
I was always told that the pork rind was made just from the subcutaneous fat, while pork cracklins included the skin, but then I found microwave porkrinds (Lowrey's Bacon Curls Microwave Pork Rinds, in Hot & Spicy or Original flavors). And the texture of those was like a cross between what I knew as pork rinds and cracklings.
And to further confuse things, some people refer to the skin and fat of poultry and other meats when it gets very crispy as crackings.
Anyway your post made me curious so I wiki'd it, and learned more about pork skin than I needed to know so to pass on the almost completely useless
information, I'll share the link.
By the way, here in Wisconsin, we have nacho cheese flavored pork rinds. They're really good - too good. Luckily they come in relatively small bags - just the right size to split with DH.
I am not on Atkins but must chime in! I ADORE pork rinds. I come from a long line of hillbillies--and gosh, I think the pork rinds just speak to my soul.
The only time I have them now? I buy myself a bag (the big grab, LOL) only on roadtrips. I like them best with a cold diet coke! Unfortunately, I don't get to take roadtrips very often!
I've never had cracklin's or even seen them up close, but I think the difference is that pork rinds are the skin, and pork cracklin's are the skin with a little meat attached.
Our vending machine at work is stocked with pork rinds now (after many notes from me requesting them), but I haven't brought myself to buy some yet.
I for one won't be depleting the reserve of cracklins or pork rinds, so more for you all to love & enjoy.
I spent so many years eating low cal/low fat that cream, cheese, butter are all Atkins/low carb staples that I really REALLY enjoy. I liked them before, of course, but the guilt almost outdid the pleasure. Now it's just pleasure.
Foods I never really ate before that now I do : mascarpone cheese (which is basically pure butterfat - it's fattier than cream cheese!). I mix in cocoa or vanilla or cinnamon & have a tablespoon or two for my dessert. Yum.
It was so awesome to get my pork rinds back....love atkins for that one. I guess I would say I've actually enjoyed the olive oil and vinegar mix, I put in my salads. I thought that would be so boring but its actually good.
If you like pork rinds, you'll love the Lowry's Bacon Curls, Microwave pork rinds - if you can find them (you can buy them online). The only thing better than fresh from the microwave, is freshly fried. Some asian and mexican groceries will carry homemade ones that are fried daily or at least every couple days.
what's the calorie count for pork rinds ladies??? I used to love these "pre healthful eating" and I'd maybe like to have them once in a while but I assumed that they were high cal. Help!