Pork Belly Burnt Ends - plan & question

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schlotz

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
★ Lifetime Premier ★
Jan 13, 2015
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Coatesville, IN
While I've smoked a fair amount of things over the years, this will be my first go at pork belly burnt ends. Got the basics figured. Hard skin removed, cubed, rubbed & in a bag over night in the fridge. Will smoke on a rack @250º until IT is somewhere around the 170º mark, into a pan covered for and hour or so until tender (IT 195ºish ?) remove cover for another hour to help set everything and pull around 205º or so. I want to glaze these. Thinking a concoction of bbq sauce, butter, bourbon & maybe a bit of brown sugar (not too hot on overly sweet pork). Now the question: glazing to me is not smothering in sauce but rather getting a thin coating on each piece. What's the best way to do this before I put them in then pan to be covered?
 
You have a good plan. For the tendering up / pan step, I don't use sticks of butter or a pint of sauce like some Youtube cooks do, and I thin my sauce so when it cooks down it's not gloppy. . Dippin and glazing is usually on a cooling rack but you can do it in a foil pan. Just cook them tender, then cook them longer. :emoji_astonished: PBBE's are very hard to screw up.

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I forgot to mention, I like to get the sizzle and some bark on them before doing any indirect rendering. On the grate is fine, but sometimes I'll also hang a few skewers of PBBE's in my drum and run it at 275°+. Bottom line is.... it's all good.
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You have a good plan. For the tendering up / pan step, I don't use sticks of butter or a pint of sauce like some Youtube cooks do, and I thin my sauce so when it cooks down it's not gloppy. . Dippin and glazing is usually on a cooling rack but you can do it in a foil pan. Just cook them tender, then cook them longer. :emoji_astonished: PBBE's are very hard to screw up.

Not sure I'm following you on when/how to glaze. Are you tendering up first, then dipping them in a thinned sauce individually? OR putting a small amount of sauce in the pan and shaking them around in it before putting back in the smoker for an hour to set up?
 
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Not sure I'm following you on when/how to glaze. Are you tendering up first, then dipping them in a thinned sauce individually? OR putting a small amount of sauce in the pan and shaking them around in it before putting back in the smoker for an hour to set up?
Sorry, here is a better way to say it: When I move the cubes to a pan, I'll use a few pats of butter and 1/4 cup +/- of sauce that has been thinned down with apple or apple/white grape juice. The pan is covered, returned to the pit and the cubes cook until tender. Of course if the liquid gets too low, add more.

When the cubes are tender I may opt to remove the foil and let them reduce a little. Sometimes this is good enough. But if I opt for more glazing I coat (or dip) in sauce that is thinned a little and return to the pit in a pan, or on a cooling rack to set the sauce. About 10 minutes max.
 
Appreciate you chiming in Al. Sounds like a good way to go.
 
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