Several years ago when I was forced to sit through these insufferable managerial staff meetings and hour after hour listening to every manager on staff blaming every other manager for their departmental deficiencies, I dubbed that "blamestorming". Well, it appears that this has become a trend in the forum. The difference is that here in SMF, it's all in good fun. I blamed Steve for my latest addiction of creating different brines and brining all sorts of yummy stuff. I got blamed for Ricky's recent affinity for curing and dry aging all sorts of amazing culinary delicacies (as well as a bunch of other stuff he's doing). Sowsage blamed Chopsaw for the sliders...and there are probably a bunch more that I've missed 
In an effort to keep the trend going, I feel compelled to blame Chilerelleno for this one....and I cannot thank him enough for it!! Following his thread documenting his smoked and braised pork belly, I knew I had to give it a run and did so yesterday, and boy am I glad I did.
11# belly cut in half
Rub applied generously
Into a vac seal bag, but only sealed. Did not vacuum. Let it rest overnight
Onto the smoker the next morning. This is about 2 hours in running hickory at 325*
At the 4 hour mark, it's developing the bark and crusting up. Pulled and into the house to add glaze
Glazed and ready to go on the grill at 300*. Covered the baking pan with a cookie sheet while cooking. Lit the right and left burners, set on low, and placed the belly on the top rack in the middle
Made a batch of fresh slaw in the mean time
Did the fork tenderness test at 2 1/2 hours on the grill and it passed with flying colors but earlier than we wanted to eat. Turned off right burner and moved the pan down to the main rack on the right hand side to keep warm. It's all done!!
Sliced and ready to serve. Not my prettiest presentation but it will get the point across.
Money shot!! Meat lightly brushed with a bit of the glaze, the slaw, a cucumber spear that's been in my brine for a couple weeks, and a cauliflower floret that's been in Steve's spicy brine also for a couple weeks
This was without doubt the absolute best pork I've ever eaten!! So moist, so tender, so succulent and flavorful. Literally, it was melt-in-your-mouth tender. Most importantly, Tracy loved this as much or possibly more than I did. What's odd though is that we aren't typically big fans of sauces or glazes but we both felt that the glaze was what set this so far over the top. She just kept saying "this glaze is awesome!!". It's a recipe i put together 6 or 8 months ago and has become a mainstay. I've used it on ribs a few times but mostly our friends love it so I make it for them. In all honesty though, I let the glaze reduce a bit too much and it was too thick...more like BBQ sauce. I hoped it'd thin down on the grill but it did not. Took the pan inside after an hour and gently scraped the glaze off the top of the meat and into the pan. Then added a bit more vinegar and some water to thin it down, then back onto the grill. Chile...once again sir I cannot thank you enough for sharing your processes with us. The meal you did had tremendous merit but you were candid, objective, and honest about where improvement was needed. By sharing that information, you took a lot of the guess work out of it for the rest of us and set us up for success. I bow graciously and humbly at your feet sir You are without doubt a culinary master and when I grow up, I wanna be just like you today is gonna be a gorgeous spit roasted eye Round roast with all the sides. Be on the lookout for another post tomorrow if it comes out as well as I'm hoping it does.
Not likely I'll ever grow up,
Robert
In an effort to keep the trend going, I feel compelled to blame Chilerelleno for this one....and I cannot thank him enough for it!! Following his thread documenting his smoked and braised pork belly, I knew I had to give it a run and did so yesterday, and boy am I glad I did.11# belly cut in half
Rub applied generously
Into a vac seal bag, but only sealed. Did not vacuum. Let it rest overnight
Onto the smoker the next morning. This is about 2 hours in running hickory at 325*
At the 4 hour mark, it's developing the bark and crusting up. Pulled and into the house to add glaze
Glazed and ready to go on the grill at 300*. Covered the baking pan with a cookie sheet while cooking. Lit the right and left burners, set on low, and placed the belly on the top rack in the middle
Made a batch of fresh slaw in the mean time
Did the fork tenderness test at 2 1/2 hours on the grill and it passed with flying colors but earlier than we wanted to eat. Turned off right burner and moved the pan down to the main rack on the right hand side to keep warm. It's all done!!
Sliced and ready to serve. Not my prettiest presentation but it will get the point across.
Money shot!! Meat lightly brushed with a bit of the glaze, the slaw, a cucumber spear that's been in my brine for a couple weeks, and a cauliflower floret that's been in Steve's spicy brine also for a couple weeks
This was without doubt the absolute best pork I've ever eaten!! So moist, so tender, so succulent and flavorful. Literally, it was melt-in-your-mouth tender. Most importantly, Tracy loved this as much or possibly more than I did. What's odd though is that we aren't typically big fans of sauces or glazes but we both felt that the glaze was what set this so far over the top. She just kept saying "this glaze is awesome!!". It's a recipe i put together 6 or 8 months ago and has become a mainstay. I've used it on ribs a few times but mostly our friends love it so I make it for them. In all honesty though, I let the glaze reduce a bit too much and it was too thick...more like BBQ sauce. I hoped it'd thin down on the grill but it did not. Took the pan inside after an hour and gently scraped the glaze off the top of the meat and into the pan. Then added a bit more vinegar and some water to thin it down, then back onto the grill. Chile...once again sir I cannot thank you enough for sharing your processes with us. The meal you did had tremendous merit but you were candid, objective, and honest about where improvement was needed. By sharing that information, you took a lot of the guess work out of it for the rest of us and set us up for success. I bow graciously and humbly at your feet sir
You are without doubt a culinary master and when I grow up, I wanna be just like you today is gonna be a gorgeous spit roasted eye Round roast with all the sides. Be on the lookout for another post tomorrow if it comes out as well as I'm hoping it does.Not likely I'll ever grow up,
Robert
