Crispy BBQ Bacon Pork Belly Bites and Brisket

blind99

Strips of pork belly are first cooked in a crock pot.  Essentially a hot brine, with a bit of pink salt.  I make the brine right in the crock pot, and add the belly strips, and cook for about 6 hours, until the meat turns soft and the fat starts to render.  This is the end of step one.  Step two: Then the strips go onto the egg for an hour or so to smoke.  This was done last night.  You can see that the strips have a bit of reddish hue - that's the nitrite in the brine.  It doesn't totally penetrate, but it gives the pork a bit of mild bacon flavor.  Finally, step three is to cut the strips into cubes and crisp them in a cast iron pan.  I'll do this tonight when guests are here.  The nice thing is that you can stop and refrigerate between any step - easy to prep ahead.  I'll use different rubs and sauces to change up the flavors.  




Brisket is a prime from Costco.  I'd say that this is the nicest brisket I've got from them.  It got trimmed, rubbed, and put on the egg this morning around 8 AM, hopefully done around 4 or 5.  Oak and pecan smoke, running at 285.




for @jeepster47 - https://myflameboss.com/cooks/20976

More pix later.  Raising a glass to the folks at the Blast!

bhedges1987

Will be staying tuned!

lousubcap

Looks like a great way to spend the day-can't be a brisket cook on the BGE.  Standing by for the home-run/money shots.

blind99

@lousubcap I agree --  I love cooking briskets!  This one was a really nice piece of meat.  A lot of the flat had coverage, so the whole thing managed to get nice and tender.  This was an easy brisket.  On at 8 at 285, checked it a few times in the afternoon and gave it a rotation, and done at 3:30.  No wrapping.



Before the brisket, we took down many, many pork belly bites.  Dang these things are delicious!  I really need to get a new knob for my side burner!

lousubcap

As expected, a home-run right there.  I could do some damage to that brisket.  Those pork belly bites sound like another winner.  Your guests likely don't know how good they had it.
BTW-love those mid-range (timing-wise) cooks when they work out.  Last one I did at around 275 on the dome rolled-in at 0.7hrs/lb.  Caught me a little short but called the audible and enjoyed.
But as you well know, if I plan for that cook pace I will be screwed by the friggin cow.

blind99

@lousubcap that's the timing I shoot for too. Seems to be a good rule of thumb. 

bgebrent

Yessir!  2 helpings please!

blind99

@bgebrent you got it! Hope you all made it back home safely!

theyolksonyou

Those bites, sofa king awesome!

tarheelmatt

Nicely done brother! 

blind99

@theyolksonyou @tarheelmatt thanks, and great job at the butt blast!  looks like you guys turned out a ton of awesome food and had a great time.  i hope there was no more police involvement on the way home!

theyolksonyou

I set the cruise all the way home.  

SmokeyPitt

Man that looks awesome.  Did you follow a recipe for the crock pot bacon?  I would really like to try making my own but I'm too impatient for the traditional method.  

blind99

@SmokeyPitt this only partially penetrates the strips of pork belly. I was looking for a way to give the pieces of meat a hint of bacon - but it doesn't cure it all the way through. 

Bacon is super easy, even though you do have about a week of waiting. But I'm intrigued by your idea. I wonder if a sous vide setup could accelerate the cure?