How to Smoke Pork Belly

A quick and simple primer on how to prepare and smoke pork belly.

Transcript

00:00Behold the best bite in all of barbecue, the pork belly burn end. Pork belly is

00:04pretty widely available nowadays, especially at your big-box store. I like

00:08getting them in the strips because then you can see how much meat you're getting.

00:11Pork belly is naturally a little fattier cut, so I want as much meat as possible

00:15when I'm buying it. After I cut the strips into roughly 2-inch cubes, I

00:19slather and season in the traditional way with some mustard and some barbecue

00:23seasoning. Light up the coals and throw in a split of wood. You can use whatever

00:27you like. I like using oak or hickory. The burn ends cook for about two or

00:30three hours naked in the smoker just like that, and then they go into a foil

00:34pan and I add some additional seasoning, brown sugar, honey, butter, and some

00:39barbecue sauce. That additional moisture helps to tenderize and braise the pork

00:43belly burn ends while they cook covered for an additional hour or hour and a

00:46half. The burn ends are done when they're soft pillowy cubes of meat. This is the

00:50bite of barbecue that has it all, but get your napkins ready because you're gonna

00:53need them.