Smoking pork belly ahead of time

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dobson156

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jun 10, 2019
38
15
If I wanted to smoke a pork belly the day before so it'd be completely cooled by the time it is to be served, how would be the best way to heat it back up?

I'd be smoking it in my offset smoker and I'd want to be able get the skin to become crackling. I know I can do that if I were serving it on the day, but not sure how to reheat it back up without drying out the meat or without losing the dryness in the skin that allows the skin to crisp up properly.

Thanks
 
Got a sous vide? That would be easy peasy.
Sadly not. But that is a good shout if I did.

I was thinking of braising it back up to temp, but I am worried the skin wouldn't crisp if its been reheat in "wet heat".

I guess reheating in a really low-set over is probably the best way. I also thought I could do one of the following.

Smoke until 63C internal temp, and then heat it all the way the following (92C) in a conventional oven. Perhaps not taking it all the way to 92 the first time round might mean it's less dry but still smoked.
 
I agree the final product you want to achieve would help with the best reheat method. Since belly has so much fat, I would not worry to much about drying out. That is an issue with lean meats, not as much with belly, burnt ends type fatty cuts.
 
I was going to do thick slices, I'm open to other ideas though
Mayve cook to finish temp and cool, then cube and do pork belly burnt ends with it. It's fatty enough it shouldn't dry out when you toss it with the butter and sugar and BBQ sauce to reheat. You could also cube it , thread onto kabobs, sear on a hot grill and glaze at the end.
 
So I've decided to smoke it dead early on Christmas morning to 63c and drive it over, where I'll then finish it to 92c.

I'll wrap it in cling film and put it in a (warm) cooler rather than try and cook it and heat it again.
 
I did it as I said above. Due to the cooling that happened in transport I finished it in a 200C oven and that got the skin to crackle as desired. Thanks everyone :)
 
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