Bone in pork belly

jimi1234

I have a 4lb pork belly, bone in, skin on. When I look at the bottom at the bones, it looks like it was trimmed up St Louis style. That is, if I cut the belly off, I'd have St Louis style spare ribs. I'm wondering how to cook it. Has anybody ever cooked one of these?

One idea I had was to just cook them like spares using 3-2-1 and when that is done, throw it under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp up that skin. 

I was also thinking of just throwing it in the Egg at about 275 or so for 5 - 6 hours and then throwing it under the broiler to crisp up the skin. 

As for saucing, I'm thinking of saucing after I crisp up the skin and putting it back in the Egg at the low temp for a few minutes to set the sauce or maybe even a low oven so the heat will be drier. But I don't want to lose the crisp skin. I figure if I sauce before I throw it under the broiler, the sauce will burn. Another idea is to just serve it with sauce on the side. 

I'm going to serve it on the rib. 

Any thoughts? Does anybody have experience with this?

Cheers!
Jimi1234

Darby_Crenshaw

skin isn't going to crisp up like you think.  it takes a loooong time in a BGE to crisp pig skin, unless you maybe grill it direct (something i haven't done and am just making up)

i have cooked nothing but the skin itself, and it took maybe 5 hours at 250, rendering a ton of fat, before it was not-chewy (notice i didn't say 'crisp').

will be interesting to see if anyone has done this.

when i get a bone in belly, i take off the belly and use it for bacon, and do the ribs as ribs

jimi1234

Do you think sticking it under the broiler in the oven for a bit before I am ready to carve can crisp up the skin? Or maybe blast it at about 500 deg for about 20 mins? 

I've read some recipes for pork belly that claim hitting it with high heat at the end will crisp up the skin. I just wonder if the under the broiler or just at 500 deg would be better to attempt this. I.e. will the skin burn quickly under the broiler.

Darby_Crenshaw

hard to say.

i have never had luck getting the skin-on to truly crisp.  it is thick, and the egg does no favors for drying things out.  i find it chewy.

a direct blast may help after a long and slow cook, but you don't want to burn it.

you can get crisp chicken skin at 225.  it isn't the heat that makes for crisp skin, it's letting it render the fat and dry out.

edit: you can try slicing it in a checkerboard pattern.  i do that with pork shoulder (picnic shoulder).  a little better, but still chewy

jimi1234

True enough. Hopefully there's somebody who has tried this with experience. If not, I'll be the guinea pig!

At least the skin will be easy to remove with the soft fat if it doesn't turn out well. I can remove it and try to dry it out and crisp it up separately for snacks later!

Ladeback69

The only part of the pig I ever got that had the skin on it was a fresh ham and I had the butcher cut it off.  Like @Darby_Crenshaw said it will take some time to crisp up.  You can always remove it and cook it separate.  I really want to try cooking some pork belly, haven't tried it yet.

blind99

That sounds like one odd cut of meat! I think it will be tough to get the crispiness you are after but maybe a torch or some pan frying would help. Can you post a picture?

i do crispy pork belly bites pretty often. The belly gets a long slow cook - which I actually do in a crock pot. Then I crisp the edges by frying in a cast iron pan. But the skin is off so not much help. 

20stone

+1 on butchering out the ribs and curing the bacon (@Darby - "bacon as bacon and ribs as ribs")

smokeyw

I have done these in the past and you can get them to crisp up. You have to cook it long enough to render out the fat. Then you have to crank the heat up in order to get the skin crisp. Like @darby_Crenshaw said, you have to be careful not to burn the skin. It seems like I went about 350 indirect for an hour or so but kept checking it to make sure it didn't burn. I can't remember the exact temp or time.