Treat Belly Like Butt?

[Count Porcula]

Six days back, I fired up my new WSM and made a clumsy effort to copy Malcom Reed's 300-degree no-water-pan pork butt. The result was magnificent. He scores the fact caps on his butts (sometimes) into cubes, and the cubes turned into bark-covered knobs of pure joy. The entire butt was great, but the fat was the best part.

I have never smoked a pork belly. It occurred to me that a belly would probably be like the fat cap on a butt, except without all that unnecessary actual meat. Today I bought a slab at Costco, and I want to see what I can do with it. I might also buy a small butt to smoke at the same time, since there is a limit to the decadence I can endure.

There could be, anyway.

So...if I treat this pretty much like the butt I smoked, will I get what I want? Scored on one side. Three hundred. No water pan. Hickory chunks. Basic rub. Remove at 160-ish internal and finish on a broiler pan covered with a foil tent.

Maybe I should just cut it in cubes to begin with, but that would increase the work.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I just smoked a belly like John did for his tacos. Man that good stuff. This what he did. I think it will work for what you want to do.

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/pork-belly-tacos-w-appleslaw.334824/#post-2625567

 

[Count Porcula]

That looks pretty interesting.

The tip about using the broiler sounds useful.

I want to score my pork, though, and I want a nice, dark bark, so I would be doing things a little differently. I would use the same rub I used last time.

It occurs to me that with all that fat and no water pan, I could have problems with burning grease. I wanted to omit the pan because it's what Reed did, to get added flavor from fat hitting the coals.

 

[thirdeye]

I smoke 3" strips of belly, scoring the fat cap and stuffing herbs in the slits.

 

[Count Porcula]

Looks fantastic.

 

[JLinza]

My opinion is... yes. You can cook this very similar to a butt.

 

[Count Porcula]

Now I'm concerned about grease fires. I do not want to use a pan, but a grease fire sounds like no fun whatsoever. I mean, sure, fun if you planned it...

Maybe I'll have to do this with a pan. That kills the direct heat as well as the fat smoke.

I am only planning to do half a slab. I wonder if that's small enough to avoid problems.

 

[KonaRich]

Six days back, I fired up my new WSM and made a clumsy effort to copy Malcom Reed's 300-degree no-water-pan pork butt. The result was magnificent. He scores the fact caps on his butts (sometimes) into cubes, and the cubes turned into bark-covered knobs of pure joy. The entire butt was great, but the fat was the best part.

I have never smoked a pork belly. It occurred to me that a belly would probably be like the fat cap on a butt, except without all that unnecessary actual meat. Today I bought a slab at Costco, and I want to see what I can do with it. I might also buy a small butt to smoke at the same time, since there is a limit to the decadence I can endure.

There could be, anyway.

So...if I treat this pretty much like the butt I smoked, will I get what I want? Scored on one side. Three hundred. No water pan. Hickory chunks. Basic rub. Remove at 160-ish internal and finish on a broiler pan covered with a foil tent.

Maybe I should just cut it in cubes to begin with, but that would increase the work.

"like the fat cap on a butt, except without all that unnecessary actual meat"....no. just no.

What goes with it? A nice hot bowl of beef tallow with pats of butter floating in it?

Now, I gotta eat a beef or pork tenderloin to get the thought of this out of my mind. :D

 

[Elf@shore]

Now I'm concerned about grease fires. I do not want to use a pan, but a grease fire sounds like no fun whatsoever. I mean, sure, fun if you planned it...

Maybe I'll have to do this with a pan. That kills the direct heat as well as the fat smoke.

I am only planning to do half a slab. I wonder if that's small enough to avoid problems.

NO PAN?
I would do this ?
Add a pan with Apple juice , like half inch or less?
As it cooks, flip the meat and add a tad of water to prevent burning.
When that is done ?
Add more liquid?, But there should be from the meat ?
It tenderizing the meat and adding flavor that you chose.
then for a bark?
Remove the pan
Proceed
All I can is try the water pan, maybe let it dry out, the ditch it?
I am a firm believer in a water pan with juice !
I guess its an educated element that I know what works ?
Ball in yur court !
Have fun !
ELF

 

[Count Porcula]

I have half of the slab in there, scored and covered in rub. No pan. The temperature is 257 right now, going up slowly. It hit 313, but that was after I opened the lid. Then it dropped. Added a little charcoal.

I am going to have to study up on WSM temperature control.

The Cajun Bandit door was tricky to adjust, but it seems to work very well. One strange thing is that it appeared to have a gap when viewed from outside, but from inside, it seemed tight.

 

[InstinCure]

First things first, I said it in your other thread but check out the hot smoked bacon forum, Pop's brine in particular, and get some prague #1 or insta cure either online or at a local butcher shop.

I've tried lots of weird scoring ideas on the fat. Hasselback/jacketed both rolled and hung in hopes of crispy hot smoked bacon. My favorite is probably skewering bacon-burnt-ends; Cubes of cured belly (I.e. bacon).

A wet cure penetrates about 1/4" of meat from all sides, so cubed belly only needs a couple days brine.

I imagine skewering uncured pork belly burnt ends is superior to using a pan.