By John Merwin

While watching the Super Bowl last night, I got pigskin fever. Pigskin, I recalled, is an old term for a football. Then my addled brain tumbled in sequence to fried pork skins, which are a fantastic snack food.

Like me, you’ve probably fished with pig skins also. Who among you hasn’t rigged a bass jig with an Uncle Josh pork frog or tipped a Johnson’s Silver Minnow with a strip of cured white rind?

Uncle Josh used to make fried skins, too, as people food instead of bass food. But for some reason I can’t find them online any more. So maybe they decided fish bait is better business and quit that sideline.

And that all reminded me of closely-related pork cracklings, the crispy brown bits you get when rendering pork lard or frying down strips of salt pork. As a little kid on family camping trips, I distinctly remember to this day the sounds and smells of frying salt pork as my mother cooked it on a big griddle over a fire, thereby extracting enough grease to then fry some smallmouth bass fillets. I hung around for the cracklings, although the fish were pretty good, too.

Thinking about all that just about drove me nuts last night, and I almost drove into town at halftime, hoping against hope that I might find some fried skins. But I didn’t. The reason I didn’t is because I’m on a diet and trying to lose a little weight. Being on a diet is driving me crazy. As if you couldn't tell....

Comments (13)

from MLH wrote 2 years 2 days ago

I also get the taste for fried pork rinds - lucky that local stores stock them.

All parts of the pig are edible. Pretty much salted rendered skins. Fat, protein, and salt - seems great for those on low/no carb diets. But, they are so dry that I can't resist a beer to wash them down. Still a great combination.

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from finnyk wrote 2 years 2 days ago

I lost 23 pounds eating as many pork skins as I ever wanted. Of course, there wasn't much else I COULD eat, though. They are one of the great snack foods of our time.

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from buckhunter wrote 2 years 2 days ago

If I do have the occasion to eat one there better be plenty of beer around to wash it down. Otherwise I'll stick to just fishing with them.

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from cas0905 wrote 2 years 2 days ago

me and my buddy always stop on the way out and the way back from hunting or fishing to grab a bag or too
its a little tradition i recon

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from seadog wrote 2 years 2 days ago

Zero carbs--that's health food! lol And they go great with beer--it's practically the perfect food.

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from rudyglove27 wrote 2 years 2 days ago

It's great for Super Bowl event and Family celebrating especial occassion..We love them and it's a great snack, like above stated, they are excellent with beer!!!

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from tbogg10 wrote 2 years 2 days ago

well i have only tried them once, and i prolly wont eat em again

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from alabamaoutlaw wrote 2 years 2 days ago

I like mine with a little tabasco sprinkled on the and a cold beverage

+3 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from alabamaoutlaw wrote 2 years 1 day ago

I have memories of a big black cast iron pot with a fire built under it rendering fat and adding oak ashes for lye soap making and when the skin would have all the fat cooked away you had some sure enough good cracklins.That soap we used to make would cut grease or anything else off your hands but don't get it anywhere sensitive.WOW

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from jamesti wrote 2 years 1 day ago

no pork for me. nasty stuff! i'll stick to deer and elk jerky! just try to beat smoked trout!

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from Beekeeper wrote 2 years 14 hours ago

Perfectly allowable on the Atkins diet! No carbs...

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from 86Ram wrote 2 years 11 hours ago

They're known as pork rinds in the South... They're the ultimate snack for the hunter, fisherman/woman

Like fatback is a staple in green, black eyed peas and purple hulls

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from crm3006 wrote 1 year 52 weeks ago

Every well stocked pickup should have a bottle of Tabasco just in case the irresistible urge for pork rinds overcomes the driver on the way to or from the fishin' hole, or anywhere else, for that matter.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

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from alabamaoutlaw wrote 2 years 2 days ago

I like mine with a little tabasco sprinkled on the and a cold beverage

+3 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from MLH wrote 2 years 2 days ago

I also get the taste for fried pork rinds - lucky that local stores stock them.

All parts of the pig are edible. Pretty much salted rendered skins. Fat, protein, and salt - seems great for those on low/no carb diets. But, they are so dry that I can't resist a beer to wash them down. Still a great combination.

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from finnyk wrote 2 years 2 days ago

I lost 23 pounds eating as many pork skins as I ever wanted. Of course, there wasn't much else I COULD eat, though. They are one of the great snack foods of our time.

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from buckhunter wrote 2 years 2 days ago

If I do have the occasion to eat one there better be plenty of beer around to wash it down. Otherwise I'll stick to just fishing with them.

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from cas0905 wrote 2 years 2 days ago

me and my buddy always stop on the way out and the way back from hunting or fishing to grab a bag or too
its a little tradition i recon

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from seadog wrote 2 years 2 days ago

Zero carbs--that's health food! lol And they go great with beer--it's practically the perfect food.

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from rudyglove27 wrote 2 years 2 days ago

It's great for Super Bowl event and Family celebrating especial occassion..We love them and it's a great snack, like above stated, they are excellent with beer!!!

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from alabamaoutlaw wrote 2 years 1 day ago

I have memories of a big black cast iron pot with a fire built under it rendering fat and adding oak ashes for lye soap making and when the skin would have all the fat cooked away you had some sure enough good cracklins.That soap we used to make would cut grease or anything else off your hands but don't get it anywhere sensitive.WOW

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Beekeeper wrote 2 years 14 hours ago

Perfectly allowable on the Atkins diet! No carbs...

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from 86Ram wrote 2 years 11 hours ago

They're known as pork rinds in the South... They're the ultimate snack for the hunter, fisherman/woman

Like fatback is a staple in green, black eyed peas and purple hulls

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from crm3006 wrote 1 year 52 weeks ago

Every well stocked pickup should have a bottle of Tabasco just in case the irresistible urge for pork rinds overcomes the driver on the way to or from the fishin' hole, or anywhere else, for that matter.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from tbogg10 wrote 2 years 2 days ago

well i have only tried them once, and i prolly wont eat em again

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from jamesti wrote 2 years 1 day ago

no pork for me. nasty stuff! i'll stick to deer and elk jerky! just try to beat smoked trout!

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

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All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.