Smoking Pork Belly

[quickray]

I recently stumbled upon an Instagram post by a guy named Sasquatch. He has all sorts of crazy recipes and grilling ideas. He showed a brief video of Pork Belly BBSkewers.

They looked super tasty. I tried to replicate and it came out dry and tasteless.

This is my first time doing Pork Belly.

1. Thoughts on what went wrong? I seasoned/applied rub generously. Even added some red wine and a marinade sauce midway through the cooking process. (See Photo)

2.What is the consistency of smoked pork belly? Like brisket? Flimsy?

3. What does pork belly generally taste like? Mine tasted like nothing. Which blew my mind cause of how much seasoning and marinade I added to it.

Also see my finished product.The black you see is not burn, it is the marinade I added mid way, the Flip Flop Guy sauce which is pretty dang tasty. But, again, the whole thing was tasteless.

 

[sawhorseray]

All I've ever done with pork belly is brine it, smoke it, and turn it into bacon. Can't really think of a better way to use that cut of dead pig meat, somebody will chime in. RAY

 

[gmc2003]

You could adapt a pork belly burnt end recipe to meet your needs. There are many on this site. Just do a quick search.

Here's my first attempt - they tasted great:

Pork Belly Burnt Ends 1st try.

Well this was my first attempt at PBBEs and I now see why everyone goes crazy over these things. PBBEs will most certainly make the party circuit along with pork shots, moinks and ABTs. ...and away we go. Started out with about 3 pounds of pork belly(cut from the 9 pounder I bought). Cut it...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[SmokyMose]

Belly is touchy. When I square off a belly for bacon I save the "off-cuts" to use for something else.
I've tried burnt ends, etc. but if you cook too long the fat renders out and you just have chewy stuff....

 

[jcam222]

Man I love belly and have never come up with dry results. It is so fatty I can’t even comprehend it. What was your finish temp? I take my belly to 205 whether while, cubed or strips.

 

[quickray]

Man I love belly and have never come up with dry results. It is so fatty I can’t even comprehend it. What was your finish temp? I take my belly to 205 whether while, cubed or strips.

I think maybe this is part of my problem. I tried to bring it up to around to 160 then add the “goodies” like the marinade and wine. But it took hours and hours, and the smoker just wasn’t getting it there. I took it off at 150 then added the marinade and wine. Threw it back on in the foil pan and tried to get it to 200. If I recall correctly I had it cooking for like 6 or 7 hours. By the time I took it off I think it was like 190 internal. Was just a chewy dry mess.

 

[jcam222]

I’d suggest just a dry rub and run it straight to 205. No marinade needed. It’s so nice and fatty it should end up moist and enough flavor from the rub. Burnt ends as said above is also awesome. My favorite thing to do with it.

 

[civilsmoker]

I’d suggest just a dry rub and run it straight to 205. No marinade needed. It’s so nice and fatty it should end up moist and enough flavor from the rub. Burnt ends as said above is also awesome. My favorite thing to do with it.

this....pork belly is not bacon smoking thin slices for that long will kill it for sure. Do burnt ends as above or smoke larger sections then Slice and sear/braise with sauce. PBelly is magic......oh and PS not everything on IG is the bomb.....it might look like it and the description sounds like it but most are staged and photo shopped.......ie those peps get money for views......just search pork belly here and you will find many legit recipes.

 

[SmokinAl]

I would just make bacon with it. I have made pork belly burnt ends & they are so rich & fatty that you can only eat 1 or 2 of them. If your having a party & want to put them out as appetizers, then go for it. But I can’t sit down & eat 6-8 of them, they are just too rich. But I’m old & if I was 20-30 yers old I probably could eat a whole plate of them.
Al