Porchetta - Sous Vide Style Part 1

I recently jumped into the Sous Vide cooking style with a DIY unit.  I call him Frankenstein: a cheap Temperature Control Unit powering a $9 used, dumb, slow cooker.  But what to use in my toy?  Motherfucking Porchetta.

Step 1.  Acquire pork belly.  $5 @ Whole Foods.
Step 2.  Scour the meat

Step 3.  Rub.  Apply liberally the following:

• Salt
• Pepper
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Fennel
• Thyme
• Garlic Powder

I ground the fennel, thyme and pepper flakes with a mortar and pestel

Step 4.  Roll it.  Wrap it with Twine.  Rub salt on the fat side.

Step 5.  Bag it.  Try to remove as much air as possible.  The idea here to mimic a vacuum sealed pouch.

Step 6.  Add it to the water bath.  I set the controller for 158 degF.  The meat went in at 9 pm for dinner the next night.  The bag is weighed down to ensure it is submerged.

Stayed tuned till tomorrow for the followup.