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Last post 5 years ago by delta1. 40 replies replies.
BBQ'd Pork Belly for New Year's Day
Abrignac Offline
#1 Posted:
Joined: 02-24-2012
Posts: 17,216
I'm going to Q my first pork belly.

Unless otherwise convinced, I'll be cooking it low and slow on my offset stick burner over oak. My butcher shop tells me a whole one runs 12-14 lbs per.

Any suggestions from the resident experts?
ZRX1200 Offline
#2 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,473
I like doing cubes in a hotel pan. Did a wet butter bbq sauce and a dry rub pan, everyone liked the dry rub better.
ZRX1200 Offline
#3 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,473
I used alder wood & apple wood btw
Whistlebritches Offline
#4 Posted:
Joined: 04-23-2006
Posts: 22,127
Got two butts going on my smoker right now.Pork belly same method I'm using.....low and slow with a dry rub.Once they reach 160'ish wrap in foil and crank that heat to about 300.Pull at 180-185 for slicing 200 and up for pulling.I'm doing one of each.

I like pork belly pulled at 185 and sliced for some delicious sammiches.
Whistlebritches Offline
#5 Posted:
Joined: 04-23-2006
Posts: 22,127
ZRX1200 wrote:
I used alder wood & apple wood btw


Never used either........mesquite and pecan are my go to's.You could send me a cord of Apple,I'd like to give it a try.
MACS Offline
#6 Posted:
Joined: 02-26-2004
Posts: 79,584
I cubed mine, smoked them for a couple hours with a good dry rub on a rack... then panned them, covered, with a good BBQ sauce slathered on... then, remove from pan and cook on the rack again until crisp.

Rave reviews.

Got a shoulder from Sam's today. Prolly smoke it overnight.
namadio Offline
#7 Posted:
Joined: 11-24-2014
Posts: 1,621
Damn i need a smoker. Happy New Year!
Mrs. dpnewell Offline
#8 Posted:
Joined: 08-23-2014
Posts: 1,373
The wife wants a smoker. I told her not until we are moved into the NC house, and my shop/barn is up.

David
MACS Offline
#9 Posted:
Joined: 02-26-2004
Posts: 79,584
Mrs. dpnewell wrote:
The wife wants a smoker. I told her not until we are moved into the NC house, and my shop/barn is up.

David


You can get a WSM 18" smoker from Lowe's or Home Depot for $300. It's super portable. 10% discount if you're a veteran.

Easy to use, easy to clean... now what?
delta1 Offline
#10 Posted:
Joined: 11-23-2011
Posts: 28,753
gonna have to give your pork belly method a try...I cut up a slab into 1.5 - 2" thick slices last summer, and cooked them cha siu style...cubed another and smoked them with a dry rub, but didn't do the second step to get them crisp...
Burner02 Offline
#11 Posted:
Joined: 12-21-2010
Posts: 12,861
Mrs. dpnewell wrote:
The wife wants a smoker. I told her not until we are moved into the NC house, and my shop/barn is up.

David



I'm guessing the Mrs will get her smoker if she wants one prior to your shop/barn being up and running.

My money is on the Mrs!
Abrignac Offline
#12 Posted:
Joined: 02-24-2012
Posts: 17,216
Picked it up earlier. Had the butcher remove the skin with about a quarter inch of fat attached. Gonna make some cracklings while it’s Q’ing. Seasoning it white coarse ground black pepper and sea salt. Not real big on heavy sauces.
Thunder.Gerbil Offline
#13 Posted:
Joined: 11-02-2006
Posts: 121,359
MACS wrote:
You can get a WSM 18" smoker from Lowe's or Home Depot for $300. It's super portable. 10% discount if you're a veteran.

Easy to use, easy to clean... now what?



the WSM is a good cooker, for sure, but I sold a WSM because it wasn't that different from what I else I already had and got a Pit Barrel instead. One of the best bbq equipment decisions I made. Just as portable, holds way more meat and no add on electronics necessary. Everything you see on their website for videos, it's all true. It really does work that well and easily. It's like the magic meat cooking drum. It will take you a few times to get the hang of lighting it, but after that, it's so repeatable.

https://www.pitbarrelcooker.com

On another note, never BBQ'd pork belly. Done lots of bacon, but not straight up belly. Have to try that one of these days.
dkeage Offline
#14 Posted:
Joined: 03-05-2004
Posts: 15,135
Thunder.Gerbil wrote:
the WSM is a good cooker, for sure, but I sold a WSM because it wasn't that different from what I else I already had and got a Pit Barrel instead. One of the best bbq equipment decisions I made. Just as portable, holds way more meat and no add on electronics necessary. Everything you see on their website for videos, it's all true. It really does work that well and easily. It's like the magic meat cooking drum. It will take you a few times to get the hang of lighting it, but after that, it's so repeatable.

https://www.pitbarrelcooker.com

On another note, never BBQ'd pork belly. Done lots of bacon, but not straight up belly. Have to try that one of these days.


Ive never used any electronics with my WSM cookers. EZPZ

May grab a Pit Barrel some day though. Looks interesting
Thunder.Gerbil Offline
#15 Posted:
Joined: 11-02-2006
Posts: 121,359
dkeage wrote:
Ive never used any electronics with my WSM cookers. EZPZ

May grab a Pit Barrel some day though. Looks interesting



Neither did I Kipp, I was just poking fun at Shawnski for going and buying a digital controller for the WSM from virtually the word go...

The PBC really kind of surprised me, I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it is. I had the WSM, I had two 55 gallon UDS drums, one with hanging rails like the PBC, and I simply did not want to believe that the 30 gallon PBC could maintain a temp and cook as well as it claimed with so little effort and no tinkering while it's running short of occasionally cracking the lid to increase airflow and boost temp at end of the cook.

It's a somewhat different design than the others, it runs at a higher temp than the WSM, and it's not fuel reloading friendly, but it makes it work because at the higher temp it should finish everything in less than one full load of fuel (6-8 hours burn time). So much heat is reflected back onto the food and it traps enough moisture that stuff cooks wonderfully. The big shocker for me was having racks of ribs hanging in there, the bottom tips of which were only 4 inches from the coals and they not only didn't burn, the racks cooked completely evenly from top to bottom. My 55 gal drum with rails couldn't do that. I put the UDSes up for sale on craigslist the next day.

I have the original as it was all they made at the time, but the new PB-jr is very intriguing. a 14" drum that does 6 racks, 3 chickens, 1-2 briskets, a butt, a turkey. More than enough capacity for a family and even small events. And at $230 delivered, it's no wonder they can't build them fast enough.
MACS Offline
#16 Posted:
Joined: 02-26-2004
Posts: 79,584
Poke away, mah brutha... I literally loaded the WSM, set the DigiQ, and never even thought about it. Makes overnight cooks a breeze.

You can say you can set the WSM with the vents and forget it, but you'd be lying. You know as well as I do, temp swings, wind, any number of factors can affect it and it requires some tinkering to hold it at a set temp, albeit every couple hours or so. Fine if you start in the early morning and drink beer watching it every couple hours, but not good if you want to sleep soundly, without worry of temp swings.

WSM with the DigiQ can hold a temp rock solid at whatever you set it for with barely a 1-2 degree temp swing for damn near 18 hours with one load of fuel. Beer

Put that in your barrel and smoke it.
Thunder.Gerbil Offline
#17 Posted:
Joined: 11-02-2006
Posts: 121,359
MACS wrote:
Poke away, mah brutha... I literally loaded the WSM, set the DigiQ, and never even thought about it. Makes overnight cooks a breeze.

You can say you can set the WSM with the vents and forget it, but you'd be lying. You know as well as I do, temp swings, wind, any number of factors can affect it and it requires some tinkering to hold it at a set temp, albeit every couple hours or so. Fine if you start in the early morning and drink beer watching it every couple hours, but not good if you want to sleep soundly, without worry of temp swings.

WSM with the DigiQ can hold a temp rock solid at whatever you set it for with barely a 1-2 degree temp swing for damn near 18 hours with one load of fuel. Beer

Put that in your barrel and smoke it.


That's kind of my point. The PBC actually cooks without adjusting and it doesn't need 18 hours of fuel.

Different strokes, yo.
grmcooper Offline
#18 Posted:
Joined: 10-10-2006
Posts: 20,430
I hear TG holds a lot of meat in his prison purse.
delta1 Offline
#19 Posted:
Joined: 11-23-2011
Posts: 28,753
if God didn't want man to use electricity, he wouldn't have allowed Ben Franklin to be born...
Abrignac Offline
#20 Posted:
Joined: 02-24-2012
Posts: 17,216
It’s about half an hour from being ready. I snatched a piece a few minutes ago. Why did I wait this long do one?
delta1 Offline
#21 Posted:
Joined: 11-23-2011
Posts: 28,753
I'm thinkin it won't be long before I do another...
Abrignac Offline
#22 Posted:
Joined: 02-24-2012
Posts: 17,216
The damned thing turned out way better than I expected. IMHO, shoulder butt is a distant 2nd place. Next time I’ll probably make a thin basting sauce, but other than that I’ve got it down to a tee.

BTW, cooked over a 50/50 mix of post oak and cherry splits. Real BBQ is done over wood, not pellets, charcoal, gas or electric.
MACS Offline
#23 Posted:
Joined: 02-26-2004
Posts: 79,584
Blah, blah, blah... what do you think the pellets are made of, Einstein?

Wood.
Abrignac Offline
#24 Posted:
Joined: 02-24-2012
Posts: 17,216
MACS wrote:
Blah, blah, blah... what do you think the pellets are made of, Einstein?

Wood.


Dried & pressed sawdust brunt over an electrical coil. See ☝️.
Thunder.Gerbil Offline
#25 Posted:
Joined: 11-02-2006
Posts: 121,359
The coil is just an igniter, it only runs at startup, once the wood is burning it turns off for the rest of the cook.
dstieger Offline
#26 Posted:
Joined: 06-22-2007
Posts: 10,889
Stumbled into a BBQ place in downtown DC (Hill Country Market) a few weeks ago and had BBQ pork belly for the first time. It was incredible. Almost made me want to go right out and get a smoker.

Seems crazy that even having lived in a number of southern states, the best bbq from any restaurant I've ever had was downtown.
delta1 Offline
#27 Posted:
Joined: 11-23-2011
Posts: 28,753
love my Cook Shack electric...uses wood chunks...6oz wood for 35lbs of pork butt smoked for 14 hours...set it and forget it overnight...
Burner02 Offline
#28 Posted:
Joined: 12-21-2010
Posts: 12,861
dstieger wrote:
had BBQ pork belly for the first time. It was incredible.


How was it served, sliced, cubed/chunks or other?
dstieger Offline
#29 Posted:
Joined: 06-22-2007
Posts: 10,889
Hand sliced to order. They have the bbq slab on cutting board and you tell them how much you want.
Abrignac Offline
#30 Posted:
Joined: 02-24-2012
Posts: 17,216
Cut into 1" squares
Burner02 Offline
#31 Posted:
Joined: 12-21-2010
Posts: 12,861
Along the lines of burnt ends?
delta1 Offline
#32 Posted:
Joined: 11-23-2011
Posts: 28,753
yummmm...burnt ends...
Burner02 Offline
#33 Posted:
Joined: 12-21-2010
Posts: 12,861
All this talk about smoked pork belly made me want to try one. This past Thur, I did a 4.25lb belly on the large egg. I removed the skin as part of the prep and rubbed the belly with yellow mustard and then covered with Hog Killer rub. Had the egg at 250 grate temp and smoked with peach wood until the belly reached 190 internal. I also sprayed the belly with apple cider vinegar a couple of times during the smoke. I was expecting a 4-5 hour smoke, but it took approximately 7 hours.

When I removed the belly, I tented it with foil and allowed it to rest for a couple of hours. Once it cooled, I foiled it and in to the frig it went. Fast forward to Sat night at my little brothers hunting camp.

After an unsuccessful afternoon deer hunt and a couple of cold beers, I sliced the belly in 3/8 to ½ inch slices. The slices were placed on a hot grill for a couple of minutes just to warm them. Once removed, the slices were cut in half. We made sandwiches by placing 2-3 half slices on a potato buns, topped with Q sauce and slaw. Needless to say, no pork bell was left. I will be doing more pork belly in the future and will be giving the burnt end method a try.

I almost forgot to mention desert: Four Roses Small Batch and AF 858 maduro.
frankj1 Offline
#34 Posted:
Joined: 02-08-2007
Posts: 44,211
Burner02 wrote:
All this talk about smoked pork belly made me want to try one. This past Thur, I did a 4.25lb belly on the large egg. I removed the skin as part of the prep and rubbed the belly with yellow mustard and then covered with Hog Killer rub. Had the egg at 250 grate temp and smoked with peach wood until the belly reached 190 internal. I also sprayed the belly with apple cider vinegar a couple of times during the smoke. I was expecting a 4-5 hour smoke, but it took approximately 7 hours.

When I removed the belly, I tented it with foil and allowed it to rest for a couple of hours. Once it cooled, I foiled it and in to the frig it went. Fast forward to Sat night at my little brothers hunting camp.

After an unsuccessful afternoon deer hunt and a couple of cold beers, I sliced the belly in 3/8 to ½ inch slices. The slices were placed on a hot grill for a couple of minutes just to warm them. Once removed, the slices were cut in half. We made sandwiches by placing 2-3 half slices on a potato buns, topped with Q sauce and slaw. Needless to say, no pork bell was left. I will be doing more pork belly in the future and will be giving the burnt end method a try.

I almost forgot to mention desert: Four Roses Small Batch and AF 858 maduro.

i dunno, Dan.
Sounds like a successful day of hunting to me...man that sounds so good!
firemanmike109 Offline
#35 Posted:
Joined: 05-28-2016
Posts: 251
Future, try curbing the large pork belly into 6 pieces.
firemanmike109 Offline
#36 Posted:
Joined: 05-28-2016
Posts: 251
Cubing***
ZRX1200 Offline
#37 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,473
So you correct “cubing” but I’m still wondering who “future” is.
Abrignac Offline
#38 Posted:
Joined: 02-24-2012
Posts: 17,216
Been giving the stick burner a real workout lately. Q’d every weekend this year. Gonna do either a brisket or shone beef plate ribs this weekend.
delta1 Offline
#39 Posted:
Joined: 11-23-2011
Posts: 28,753
smoked a few slabs of beef ribs a few weeks ago...delicious....and fun to eat, if you don't mind greasy sticky fingers and a face covered with sauce...
delta1 Offline
#40 Posted:
Joined: 11-23-2011
Posts: 28,753
gonna have to start planning the menu for the MorroBay FishnHerf 3...
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