SMOKED PORK BELLY!

So I really appreciate well cooked food at any given restaurant as most people, but my next thought is could I reproduce this or make it in a similar way. I had pork belly at a couple fine dining places and it was well cooked but the portion size was so small for such a tasty dish. So the first thing that I wanted to smoke in my new smoker was the bacon-like meat of a pig. 

Locally there weren't that many places that sold pork belly but to my pleasant surprise, Costco had some really nice cuts. My preferred cut is that there may be about 1:1 of meat and fat. Another nice thing about pork belly is that its a reasonably priced meat. 

Several food sources online recommended cutting the meat into 2" x 2" cubes, but in my case the meat was precut into 12 inch strips so it was easier to make them more rectangular. Don't get carried away with measuring the meat, because regardless of irregular shape it will still fit into your watering mouth. 

Savich Barbecue Rub

1 cup dark brown sugar

2 Tbsp dry mustard 

2 Tbsp onion powder

2 Tbsp garlic powder

2 Tbsp kosher salt

2 Tbsp ground black pepper

1 Tbsp smoked paprika

Save 2-3 TBSP for the glaze

5lbs of pork

Generously rub each side of the pork cubes/rectangles with the rub. Then allow it to sit for 1-2 hrs at room temperature so that the meat may acclimate and not be as cold when placed in the smoker. The sitting out at room temperature varies depending on the amount of time I have before the smoker is ready. 

Before or after seasoning, depending on how long it takes your smoker to heat up and being producing a nice thin blue smoke, I get the wood chips and water set up in the smoker. This time I started with hickory wood chips for the first 30 minutes and then apple wood every 30 minutes for 5hrs.  

Depending of the type of racks, it may be easier to take the racks out, set up the meat and then place the meat already on the rack back into the smoker. 

It was a cooler summer day, for the Fourth of July this year so the smoker temperatures hovered at 200 degrees F for most of the cooking time. For the last 1.5 hrs I increased the temperature to 275 F. 

At the 3.5 hr mark, I removed the pork from the racks and placed it into an aluminum pan to which I add the following ingredients and spread them as evenly as possible. 

Moisturizing Glaze

1 stick of unsalted butter

1/2 cup of dark brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place it back into the smoker for 1.5 hrs so that the meat may become more tender. 

At this time, it good to make the glaze that will be added on top. I like to keep the glaze on the side and it can be added as desired. The two fruit jelly or preserve options that work well with pork are apple or peach. I created my own glaze this time and it was really good because that's what they said. The kids even enjoyed the glaze on their chicken the next day. 

Savich Pork Glaze

Bonne Maman Peach Preserve 13 oz 

(Favorite store (Wegmans) bought preserve)

2 Tbsp of rub from the above recipe

Place the ingredients into a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer (more like a bubbling action in jam/preserve). Set aside to add to the meat when it finished cooking. If it cools down too much, heat it up for a couple minutes so its not a jelly consistency. 

The photo looks delicious but it's way better. I will do my best to describe how mouth watering it is. The rub has caramelized and mixed with the hickory and apple smoke to create a nice bark. As soon as you take your first bite you taste the bark followed by the fat that has cooked down to a denser form and is soft and full of bacon flavor. Then there is a nice layer of tender and juicy pork meat that just falls apart in the mouth and minimal chewing is required but you chew it a little more just for the lasting flavor. Just try it for yourself!

I can't help but say that my Independence Day dinner couldn't have been better. With 5 pork belly pieces in my belly, I could have hibernated for a couple hours and sucked my thumb but I had some coffee instead.  

Learning points:

1. If the smoker temp is 200 F cook for 3.5 hrs. If closer to 300 F 2-2.5 hrs would have been sufficient. 

2. A temp probe for the meat is not necessary because the pieces are so small, its very easy to cook the meat well.