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Can I make crackling from cured ham skin?

I have a cured ham, which I have removed the skin to glaze.

Can I bake the skin and make it into crackling?

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The short answer is yes, you most definitely can but with a few caveats. First, if the skin has any significant amount of sugar on/in it from a glaze or cure it will burn fairly quickly and likely impart a bitter flavor before you are going to achieve the proper crisp a crackling is known for. Also, with hams, there is likely going to be a ton of salt in the skin to begin with and this is likely going to be intensified when you fry it up so be aware of that.

I've never had good luck baking pork skin for crackling since the texture is never the same and it takes a lot longer. Deep frying is a much better/authentic way to go.

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  • Thanks for the info, I normally get good crackling from roast pork. I tried it with the skin from the ham, but it didn't turn out very well.
    – Petah
    Dec 29, 2012 at 9:42
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I just tried it, and It comes out fair. I figured I would do it because I had nothing to lose. My husband loves crispy bacon, and I guess it reminds a little of that, though a bit chewier. It only took about 60-90 mins in 350 F oven. I used the fat from the ham and rendered it. So I had removed most of the fat off the skin. Yes, this was from a store bought smoked ham.

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