Throwing a backyard barbeque or having friends over for the big game? Nothing says I can outcook you more than Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends! Sure, have your friends and family bring over some sides and their sad attempts at some tasty barbeque, but walk out with a tray full of perfectly juicy pork belly burnt ends and they will all bow to your glory! Obviously, this simple recipe is meant to be smoked, but it can also be cooked in your kitchen oven with the same great results. Now scroll down to see the ingredients, get your own favorite BBQ seasonings and sauces, crank your smoker or oven up to 275 degrees, and let’s get to cooking!
Start out with a skinless pork belly. Now there are two main theories in this next step. Either leave it whole and slice it after the first cook like some sort of savage, or spend a few minutes slicing it into strips and eventually into cube form like a barbecue god! I’m not here to judge you, too much, but trust me and cube up the belly into about 2” x 2” pieces. These will render down and shrink somewhat during the cook so don’t worry if they look too big for appetizer bites at this point. Lay them all out into a disposable pan and coat with your favorite barbecue seasoning. I’ll be using a sweet sauce later so I’m starting out with a spicy rub myself, but you do you. Once fully seasoned, lay out the bites on a smoker tray or grates fat side up. You just want to make sure the smoke can get to every side and piece to maximize the flavor potential.
As you can see in the picture above, I place a tray of apple juice, apple cider vinegar, and some water beneath my pork belly to keep the smoker moist throughout the cook. This is optional, but once again, you should probably just listen and DO AS I SAY AND DO! Now we are cooking pork here so I prefer apple wood for my smoke, but honestly any fruit wood seems to do the trick pretty well. Let these little piggies cook at 275 degrees until the internal temperature reaches between 190 and 195 degrees. This could take up to 3 hours so have some apple juice ready to spritz on the pork every 30 or 45 minutes as your precious little barbecued, artery-clogged heart desires. Now some people ask if they should flip or turn the pork during the cook and I have one simple answer…HELL NAW! Ain’t nobody got time for flipping a million pork belly bites when there is no need since heat and smoke are reaching all around them already anyway. Plus you want to keep that fat up top so it continues to naturally baste each bite throughout the cook anyway.
Once your pork belly bites reach that internal 190 to 195 degree range, pull them from the smoker or oven and dump them into that same disposable tray you used to season them earlier. You probably should rinse it out beforehand, but these little piggies are going back into the smoker another hour so be a clean freak with a new pan or risk trichinosis as you wish, but I tend to just rinse it out and reuse myself. Now comes the fun, super healthy part where you douse them with some sweet barbecue sauce or honey, maybe even some maple syrup if you’re Canadian, eh? I tend to use a maple bourbon barbecue glaze myself that seems to compliment and offset the spicy rub I started with earlier. Sweet, heat, can’t be beat!
Throw the whole pan back into your smoker or oven and let them go for about another 45 minutes to an hour. Check them after about 30 minutes and look for the sauce or glaze you used to begin thickening up and caramelizing. They were already cooked before this step so it’s more of a personal preference when to call them DONE. Sneak some bites and let your tongue decide when to call it. After all, Gordon Ramsey or myself are not there to scream and call you names when you overcook the simplest thing ever! My final advice is probably the most key to perfecting these delicious, mouth-watering, mega tasty smoked pork belly burnt ends……….don’t screw it up, but definitely be sure to gloat and rub it in everyone’s face how you are now the King of Q!
SMOKED PORK BELLY BURNT ENDS
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