- Jul 29, 2015
- 42
- 15
I'm going to do a piece of pork belly on the smoker tomorrow. I have about 5 pounds of belly with the skin still on. My plan is to cook it essentially like I do pork shoulder and serve it as pulled pork.
I'm thinking about injecting a little apple juice, although I don't think that's necessary. Probably 4 hours or so of smoke, then wrap it with some sugar to finish it. I've been injecting my pork shoulders lately (Chris Lilly recipe) and they have been fabulous. I wouldn't have thought to inject this cut given the high fat content, but I saw a Killer Hogs video on youtube that looked really great.
Questions:
1. What are your thoughts on injecting? If I do I'll keep it really simple, probably straight apple juice, maybe with a little sugar added.
2. I'm going to pull the meat off the skin, I don't plan on serving the skin, just using it to help hold the moisture in when smoking. I was on the fence about whether to get skin-on or off, but the butcher said he thought it would have more flavor with the skin. Thoughts?
3. I'm thinking about trying to turn the leftover skin (after smoking and pulling the meat off) into cracklins. Maybe just put it back on the pit with to crisp it up? I'm not sure that will give me anything but a leathery mess though. I have a great recipe for cracklin bread though (I usually just substitute crispy bacon).
Appreciate any input on this. I'll post pics as I'm cooking it.
I'm thinking about injecting a little apple juice, although I don't think that's necessary. Probably 4 hours or so of smoke, then wrap it with some sugar to finish it. I've been injecting my pork shoulders lately (Chris Lilly recipe) and they have been fabulous. I wouldn't have thought to inject this cut given the high fat content, but I saw a Killer Hogs video on youtube that looked really great.
Questions:
1. What are your thoughts on injecting? If I do I'll keep it really simple, probably straight apple juice, maybe with a little sugar added.
2. I'm going to pull the meat off the skin, I don't plan on serving the skin, just using it to help hold the moisture in when smoking. I was on the fence about whether to get skin-on or off, but the butcher said he thought it would have more flavor with the skin. Thoughts?
3. I'm thinking about trying to turn the leftover skin (after smoking and pulling the meat off) into cracklins. Maybe just put it back on the pit with to crisp it up? I'm not sure that will give me anything but a leathery mess though. I have a great recipe for cracklin bread though (I usually just substitute crispy bacon).
Appreciate any input on this. I'll post pics as I'm cooking it.