Pork Rinds -- HELP!
 

Are all pork rinds alike? The reason I'm asking is that so many terrific sounding recipes have pork rinds as one of the ingredients. I bought a bag at Wal-Mart, and when I opened them they smelled so awful that I could not bring myself to even taste them -- the smell was so bad that my stomach did flip-flops! Thought I read someplace that the ones you micro-wave are better, so I also tried them -- same thing -- I could not even taste them. Also, DH had the same reaction, and he'll eat almost anything!

So, is there a brand that tastes (or, at least smells ) better? I am hoping that all pork rinds are not created equal and there is a brand out there somewhere that I could at least stand to taste!

Thanks for your help!

Peg

I think they are equal...
 

And though I like crispy fat on a pork roast, I do not like the taste of rinds as a snack...

I definately do grind and season them to use as filler or coating for fried chicken and such however. I also make the recipe for French Toast or waffles with them. You would not believe how good they are.

But snack on 'em. Nope. Can't handle it.

P.S. They are available in flavored varieties too. BBQ is most often found here in the Midwest...

Donald :wave:

My personal opinion - they are all nasty. Anything that smells that rank isn't going into this body.

From my experience, not all pork rinds are alike. However, I've never thought any I tried smelled nasty so maybe the smell you don't like is the normal smell that you'll get from any brand.

Pork rinds don't vary a whole lot, but it seems that some brands are more consistent. I bought some at Harris Teeter (a SE grocery store) and found them to taste good, but some were really hard. Since they only carry one brand, I tried Bi-Lo. Bi-Lo is THE place for all your pork rind needs. They had three different brands, plus multiple flavors in each brand. I got a couple bags of the Bi-Lo brand. They are very good with no hard, overcooked chunks.

MMM, I love a snack of pork rinds and cream cheese.

I try not to breathe in through my nose when I open the bag. And I had to force myself to try one. I don't think they taste great, but they seem to taste better than they smell.

So far, I've cleared a whole bag in less than a week by using them as "dip chips" for my tuna breakfasts. They taste ok if they have something else on them.