Pork Scratchings

[ClarenceBoddicker]

Maybe I'm just a pork scratchings fiend, but I've been wondering for a while why these aren't a recognised standard hiking/backpacking snack. They tend to have more calories/gram than peanuts, and almost double the protein, and they're deliciously porky (and amazing with beer, if chance allows). I'd have thought these would be up there with peanuts and trail mix, especially with gram counters, but they're rarely mentioned. What's the deal?

[BobMcBob]

I'd guess it has a lot to do with this:

That's not food, it's industrial waste.

[ClarenceBoddicker]

They don't normally look like that though, right? Even then, doesn't bother me. Is the reason that everyone is a massive wuss?

[ClarenceBoddicker]

I should strengthen my claim, by the way: I mean, when I say 'they don't normally look like that', I mean I've eaten a fairly comprehensive selection of pork scratchings in my life (I decided a while ago they were great and tracked down every variety I could find to establish the finest), and I have never seen one look even remotely as gross as that. They (almost) universally look completely innocuous.

[BobMcBob]

Well you may be the lucky one I don't know, I've encountered plenty like that, and I've always been aware of "urban legends" about hairy ones, toenails, eyelashes, etc turning up in them. I may be much older than you and standards have improved maybe?

There's also the fact they taste like the flaky bits that fall out of my socks after a long walk

[teaandpies]

Probably because they taste rotten

[willsdad]

I should strengthen my claim, by the way: I mean, when I say 'they don't normally look like that', I mean I've eaten a fairly comprehensive selection of pork scratchings in my life (I decided a while ago they were great and tracked down every variety I could find to establish the finest), and I have never seen one look even remotely as gross as that. They (almost) universally look completely innocuous.

Don't leave us hanging. .....which are the finest?
I once mentioned to my in-laws that I liked pork scratching, so for my birthday they gave me a carrier bag full I'm sure I've still got some somewhere.

[Essan]

I love pork scratchings - with or without hairs and always take a packet or two on any multi day trips

[Caberfeidh]

Pork Scratchings? It'll be beer and skittles next. They're more of a Southern thing, like whippets and cucumber sandwiches. They taste awful, and look like the bits left over after a botched autopsy. They also remind me of my time working in a hospital burns unit - nothing to do with Ayrshire poets of the 18th Century. I'll stick to good Scottish food, like mashed sheeps lungs and various other organs mixed with barley, stuffed onto a knotted stomach and boiled until the cauldron melts.

Normal Food.

[ClarenceBoddicker]

Most supermarkets carry some brand or other. Oddly, the best selection is in Home Bargains. The best ones I've found are the below, which I managed to get in Home Bargains for cheaper than the fancier but inferior Waitrose and M&S ones.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/?iid=331688341 ... t=0&chn=ps

[WalkingDutchman]

There's also the fact they taste like the flaky bits that fall out of my socks after a long walk

Now you have me wondering how you know what those flakes taste like....


I usually carry a few packs of beef jerky, with different flavors. Nice and chewy, almost 100% protein, and some of the flavors are real nice.

Oh, and whenever I can I have a massive helping of haggis, because I love that stuff. But I do not tend to carry it around, that's usually in restaurants when I've returned to what usually is known as civilization

[basscadet]

There's also the fact they taste like the flaky bits that fall out of my socks after a long walk

Now you have me wondering how you know what those flakes taste like....


I usually carry a few packs of beef jerky, with different flavors. Nice and chewy, almost 100% protein, and some of the flavors are real nice.

Oh, and whenever I can I have a massive helping of haggis, because I love that stuff. But I do not tend to carry it around, that's usually in restaurants when I've returned to what usually is known as civilization

I don't know, Mcsween do a little haggis that keeps for a few days out of the fridge, and is a good meal for not much space/weight while camping I have found

Very 'on the fence' about beef jerky - while I recognise its nutritional merits, its dried to the point that it doesn't seem like real food for me

[WalkingDutchman]

I don't know, Mcsween do a little haggis that keeps for a few days out of the fridge, and is a good meal for not much space/weight while camping I have found

Oh! I'll have to look into that
Although I usually don't have much time for shopping (I prefer to get myself into the hills as quickly as possible after stepping off the plane - so usually not much time for shopping )

[madprof]

Probably because they taste rotten

They taste divine - salt and fat. What a combination.

Best had with a pint in your hand. They are staggeringly bad for you after all, so may as well accompany it with a beer to take away the thought of heart disease.