Pork Belly - Yum!

Teefus

I've been doing some experimentation with pork belly and seem to be getting things dialed in. I picked up a real nice one at Costco and cut it in thirds. The skin had been removed but there was still a nice fat layer.

I started by scoring the fat cap in cross hatch fashion down to the meat, and coating the whole thing with a liberal coating of BBQ rub. Then it went in a ziplock bag to sit in the fridge for a week and soak up the goodness. I took it out and added some more run prior to placing it on the Egg for a Low and Slow with some big chunks of Apple wood. It went about 5 1/2 hours at 250°, with spritzing every 90 minutes or so with a mix of pineapple juice and apple cider vinegar. One it hit about 160° internal I foil wrapped with some brown sugar and BBQ sauce and let it braise to render out more of the fat. At 200° internal I unwrapped and put it back on the Egg to set the sauce glaze. It spent about 30 minutes at 350° and developed a really nice candied coating.

The result was really tasty, with tenderness akin to Salmon. It sliced, but was fork tender. Next time I'll probably pare down the fat cap a bit. It was 1/4" thick and I think 1/8" would have been plenty. I may try a different rub too. Another week, another tweak.

6baluts

- Very nice job!
_ I am sure I could put a "hurtin" on that for you.

lousubcap

Pork belly is quite easy to experiment with.  Great cook and result right there.

Nailed it. 

shtgunal3

Yum indeed!!!

Teefus

And leftovers!

caliking

Yes, please!

Ragingirishman2

Great cook and thanks for sharing the results of your experiments. Does Costco always remove the skin?  I want to give pork belly a try very soon. 

Photo Egg

Fantastic post!
Looks beautiful 

loco_engr

Eggtastic cook right there!

RRP

Many times now I have done “burnt ends” using a pork belly cut in squares and buried in bbq sauce and lots of butter in a disposable pan but your method seems interesting!

stv8r

I'll have to check my Costco.  Haven't seen pork belly there before.  

lousubcap

stv8r said:

I'll have to check my Costco.  Haven't seen pork belly there before.  

If you find it and also the sliced strips, ask them to take what will likely be a whole 8-10 lb belly and slice to your desired weight.  Always have been able to get that done.  FWIW-

Canugghead

Beauty. Fat layer looks just right to me!

WildmanWilson

That looks great. I have only done them with the burnt ends and loved it that way. A guy I know cooks it to around 200 and then makes pulled pork and he said its great like that too. That's how I plan on doing my next one.