Column Reprint: Pork Rinds
Please note that this article is from 2004; many of the products listed are sadly no longer available.
Years ago, some furious online detractor of low carb diets threw at me the accusation that I ate “pork rind cake.” This is not true. I have never eaten a cake made from pork rinds, and had never heard of such a thing till the accusation was made. And though she subsequently posted a link to a recipe, that is the only time I have ever heard of pork rind cake in my near-decade on a low carb diet.
However, the discussion illustrated one thing: Pork rinds are symbolic of a low carb diet to many people. Many people also dismiss pork rinds as the worst possible junk food, and therefore cite the fact low carb diets allow pork rinds as evidence that this is a freakishly unhealthy way to eat.
But are pork rinds so unhealthy? And how do they compare to other options?
It’s no surprise that 1 ounce of plain pork rinds has no carbohydrate. But you may be surprised to learn that pork rinds have almost twice as much protein as they do fat. You’ll get 8.8 grams of fat, and 17 grams of protein, almost as much as three eggs! 155 calories. All of this makes pork rinds quite satisfying –– a 1 ounce bag should keep you full for hours.
More surprising, over half the fat in pork rinds is monounsaturated. 4.1 grams of the fat in pork rinds are monounsaturated, and another 1 gram is polyunsaturated. Just 3.3 grams are saturated fat, though I should add that I am convinced that natural saturated fats are a healthy food.
By comparison, 1 ounce of potato chips has almost the same calorie count –– 152 calories –– with 15 grams of high-impact carbohydrate. They have 9.8 grams of fat –– a gram more than the pork rinds –– and just 1.98 grams of protein. All this adds up to a predictable blood sugar roller-coaster –– and the hunger that comes with it.
Potato chips have less monounsaturated fat than pork rinds –– just 2.7 grams. The saturated fat content is nearly the same, at 3.1 grams. All of this adds up to pork rinds being a healthier and far more filling snack choice than potato chips.
How about other snacks? Corn puffs have 15.3 grams of carb, with only 2.15 grams of protein. They contain 9.8 grams of fat, and 157 calories. You knew these weren’t a healthy snack, right? Pretzels have been touted as a healthier alternative, because they’re low fat –– but they have 22.5 grams of carb in one ounce, all of it from refined white flour. Only 2.6 grams of protein, and 1 gram of fat –– you’ll be hungry again very soon.
Nuts and seeds make good low carb snacks, with plenty of healthy fats, protein, and minerals, and fiber that pork rinds lack. But if you’re keeping your carbs to “induction” levels –– 20 grams a day or less –– pork rinds are a better choice.
So despite their reputation, pork rinds are a perfectly respectable food, offering more in the way of nutritional value and hunger satisfaction than most things that come in cellophane bags.
That being said, plain pork rinds are not one of my favorite things. There are some cool flavors on the market now, though; if you haven’t tried them, do! Gram’s Gourmet won the Carb Aware Consumer’s Choice Award for Best Snack Food for their pork rinds, which come in Cheddar Cheese, which makes them taste very much like those nutritionally empty cheese puffs, and Sweet Cinnamon & Butter. Cinnamon pork rinds? You bet, and believe it or not, they’re wonderful. I’ve also seen barbecue flavor, salt and vinegar, hot and spicy, and sour cream and salsa –– I love this! One caveat: Read the labels. I once bought barbecued pork rinds with so much added sugar there were 14 grams of carb in a serving!
Aside from their value as a filling and reasonably nutritious low carb snack, pork rinds serve another purpose in low carb cuisine: They make great crumbs. Dump a bag of pork rinds in your food processor with the S-blade in place and run it for a few seconds, and you’ll have pork rind crumbs to use in place of bread crumbs for coating foods, or use in meat balls and meat loaves. Keep them in the fridge! I usually have both plain and barbecue flavor pork rind crumbs on hand.
Here’’s my sister’s decarbed version of the meatloaf we grew up on –– Philippa was our mom’s mom.
Philippa's Meatloaf
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup crushed pork rinds
1/2 cup Carb Countdown Dairy Beverage
1 egg
1 medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon salt or Vege-Sal
Just plunk everything into a big mixing bowl, and use clean hands to smoosh it all together very well. Pack it into a loaf pan, then turn it out onto your broiler rack. Bake at 400 for 40 minutes.
5 servings, each with: 318 Calories; 26g Fat; 18g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 3 grams usable carb
Notes: Carb Countdown is nationally distributed, but you can use half-and-half if you prefer. Vege-Sal is a wonderful seasoning made with salt and powdered dried vegetables, available in health food stores.
New Notes: Carb Countdown is still being made, but is now called Calorie Countdown. It appears to only be available on the East Coast. You can use half-and-half in this recipe instead; according to my Master Cook it actually cuts a gram of carb off the per-serving total!
Gram's Gourmet folded several years ago, taking many of my favorite low carb specialty products with it. But you can make your own cheese pork rinds -- great for quelling Cheetos cravings -- by buying cheddar cheese powder and shaking it up with a bag of rinds. Amazon.com has several brands of cheddar cheese powder for sale. Here are a couple:
Kraft Mac-and-Cheese Topping -- the familiar stuff that comes in the packet with their mac-and-cheese. Keep in mind you have to buy a dozen shakers at a time!
Once you have cheddar cheese powder in the house, you can also use it to turn tofu shirataki into a very credible imitation of standard boxed macaroni and cheese, should you miss it.
