APL pork belly recipe question

Jeffersonian

Okay, so I got out the Adam Perry Lang "Serious Barbecue" book and fell in love with a pork belly recipe he cadged from a British fellow. It looks positively amazing, but I have one question:

At one point, he tells me to build an indirect fire on the Egg ("ceramic cooker") to 275* and use smoking wood, preferably apple, on it. Then he tells me to put that marinated pork belly into an aluminum pan and seal it tightly with HDAF and put it on the Egg for several hours to cook.

My question is, if I'm sealing the aluminum pan tightly with HDAF, why am I worried about putting a smoking wood on the coals?

If anyone else has this book and done the recipe, or even if you just have an opinion, I'd like to hear it.

reelgem

That doesn't make any sense. You might as well bake it in an oven.
Personally I would smoke it uncovered with the applewood for about an hour and then cover and finish it off to desired temperature.

gdenby

I do have the book, and enjoyed looking it over. But,... complex! The recipes are really pretty elaborate, aimed at competitions. In this case, the wood is just added at the start, so that the smoke is still there after resting the belly for 2 hours, and then crisping it up.

So, no I don't do that. I tried a few of the recipes, and they were good, but way more work than I needed for my dinner.

I rub the belly, and cook semi-direct, dome 257, just a drip pan underneath, for about 4 hours. Not as crispy as possible, but pretty good, especially sliced for sandwiches.

Jeffersonian

Thanks to both of you. I agree on the complexity of APL's recipes and methods. I've said they're more an exercise in project management than cooking, but you can't deny it's all great stuff. I'll probably follow his method, but leave the pan I'm cooking in uncovered to smoke the belly a bit.