First attempt at pork belly burnt ends.

[forktender]

Cut up the belly last night and rubbed her down and stuck it into refer for the night

Put it in the Camp Chef at 5:00 PM on heavy smoke at 225* with a Amazing Maze full dust I made from some Comp Blend Cook'in pellets I also fill a smoke tube full of the Cook'in pellets.
( I want these to be super smokey )

My wife works swing shift so on her days off we normally don't eat until about 9:00 PM because we are awake until 4:00 AM. Not really sure what I'm going to fix to go along with it yet.
Most likely a chopped slaw of some sort.
Hopefully there will be more pictures to come. LOL!!!

This might take a little longer than I thought. Snacks fir the little lady.
So far so good.

My snacks, LOL.

Thanks for the tips, I'm going to give it about 20 more minutes.
Here is what they are looking like at about 3 hours into the cook.

Honey, brown sugar, butter and a little Mexican Coke ah cola added to the foil pan. Back on the cooker at 265* until I get hungry.LOL!!!

Thank you all for the great ideas and the awesome support network, this site is awesome.

Thanks for looking.
Dan:cool:

 

[KrisUpInSmoke]

Looks like it's going to make a good dinner! Waiting to see how it turns out for y'all.

 

[chilerelleno]

Love them PBBEs... Look forward to the money shots.

 

[flatbroke]

FT FTW. Solid man Solid.

 

[forktender]

I think I started out with the temp a little bit low it was running about 195* for the first hour. They weren't rendering down as much I thought they should have at that point so I bumped it up to 275* which is around 265* on my cooker.
We might be eating later than normal. LOL, story of my life when it comes to Q'ing, oh well it's our Saturday.:cool:

Typing on my damn phone, sorry about the mistakes.

 

[forktender]

Ok, I have a question for ya'll.
How much are these things supposed to render down?
Should there be visable fat between the meat layers or should that pretty much all or nearly all render down?

Thank you.
Dan

 

[zachd]

About 205 IT
Take one and squeeze it between your fingers. It should have a little texture but be soft to squish.

It shouldn't be all the way rendered down if you do that I would think it would be too dry.

 

[zachd]

go to 1840 I don't have sound on the computer I am at but it looks like he is explaining about squeezing it

 

[zachd]

Or follow Malcom reeds advise. His is how I cook mine

 

[mike5051]

I've never cooked pork belly. Once that fat starts melting, I would think the process would go pretty fast. I'm picturing cubes of bacon in my mind, and i would want most of the fat rendered, but i may be completely wrong! Hope someone with experience chimes in.

Mike

 

[forktender]

Thanks guys, I added a photo at the 3 hour mark, I'm going to start saucing and wrapping in a few minutes. I really appreciate your help.

Dan.

 

[petehalsted]

I foil mine in a pan midway through to help really render them down. Fat is still there but is completely melt in your mouth, it has no "firmness" to the fat at all.

 

[forktender]

I foil mine in a pan midway through to help really render them down. Fat is still there but is completely melt in your mouth, it has no "firmness" to the fat at all.

Yeah, I misspoke I meant to type glaze with honey, brown sugar and butter then into the foil covered pan. Thanks for catching that.
I guess the beers are catching up on me. LOL!!!

 

[forktender]

For some reason it won't let me load the last two pictures to the original thread.

My wife hates fatty meat and she went back for seconds.
Personally I didn't think that I would like this, cuss I'm not really into overly fatty meats either.
But I have to say these things turned out to be awesome.
The left overs will make amazing pork'in beans. On a scale of 1 to 10
I'd have to give these a 6-7 with a few points knocked off for my arteries. LOL!!!!!
Salad was chopped slaw with pickled beats, red onion and red potatoes with honey balsamic vinegar.


Thank you for all of the help and tips.
Without you guys, I would've tanked this one.

Thanks a bunch.
Dan

 

[SmokinAl]

Those look fantastic Dan!
They are some of the best I have seen on here!
Congrats on such a good job with your first try & also getting a ride on the carousel!!
Al

 

[gmc2003]

Great looking PBBE's.

Point for sure.

Chris

 

[petehalsted]

Looks like you really nailed the sticky part! My wife trims the fat off everything, but she still eats a few of my PBBE everytime I make them.

BTW Salad with balsamic vinegar counteracts any fat in your meal... at least that is my theory and I am sticking to it!

 

[forktender]

Thank you all for likes, and the encouragement when I was feeling a little unsure about how these were rendering down. Thank you for featuring my smoke Al, and sorry about all of my edits. LOL!!!
I only know how to post pictures from my phone but I can hardly see the keyboard when it's time to type. (old eye's and sausage fingers makes typing on the phone rough)

Things I will do different next time:
1. I won't put the rub on until right before they go onto the cooker, they were just a touch salty the sweetness saved my bacon. LOL!!!

2. I will start them out at a higher heat for the first hour 275* then cut it back to 250* to try to render them down a touch more.

3. Make sure to cut them all the same size so they all end up the same doneness.

4. Buy some Hickory pellets to kick up the smokiness a touch.

We had a nice meal last night and it was fun trying something that I have been wanting to try ever since I saw the first P.B.B.E's here on the forum.

Thanks again.
Dan

 

[mike5051]

They look awesome Dan! Great job and congrats on the ride!

Mike

 

[forktender]

Tonight they were ever better, I vacuum sealed them and placed them into a pot of water for 1.5 hours at a slow boil. Which rendered then down even more and kept the meat from drying out. Once they came out of the water I sauced them again lightly and placed them into a 400* oven for 10 minutes to tighten them up a touch.
Oh my god they literally melted in your mouth I was overly impressed with them tonight and still have four chunks for a pot of pork & beans....yum!!!