Planning first pork belly cook: couple questions

[DaveD]

Howdy folks, tomorrow I'll be making my first pork belly, so not surprisingly I have some questions

I have a 6.6lb/3kg belly from our local Wegmans. This was from a grocery delivery order, so I didn't pick it out myself. Here it is when I took it out of the chestie. EDIT: It is skinless.



Game plan is to simply smoke it up as is, I have no interest in doing any curing, and want to make a straight belly meal before I experiment with anything like burnt ends. Have watched several vids from Chuds, Mad Scientist, Hey Grill Hey, Malcom Reed, and a couple other places, and plan to just run it as I would any other large cut like pork butt or a chuckie - low and slow, and if/when it stalls put it into a foil boat for the rest of the way. I don't want to wrap it completely or add liquid/sauce/glaze, keeping it simple on the first go round.

I'll season it in some straightforward fashion tbd, either just salt & pepper, or with a good pork rub like Memphis Dust. Dinner tomorrow will be PBLT sammiches, again nice and simple.

OK questions: Do people dry brine pork belly overnight? I have not seen that mentioned yet, those I've watched just seasons and start cooking. Is there something about belly that doesn't benefit from a dry brine the way everything else does?

Fat cap: once I get the piece thawed and can inspect it, I'll be able to see the meat to fat ratio. Is there any upside to thinning down the fat in places to try to balance out that ratio, or just let it ride and render out?

Drippings: Presumably this cut will produce a lot of drippings as the fat renders. I'll be catching the drips in a pan until it goes into the boat. Worth saving those drippings? Would they be sort of a pork equivalent of beef tallow?

Thanks for the input!

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

The drippings will be like bacon grease. Very good. I dunno that I'd use 'em like tallow, but certainly usable for cooking and such.

I like plain ol' S&P on pork belly. Maybe trimming a little of the fat isn't bad - I like cranking the heat the last little bit and really crisping the top up.

Man, pork belly is goooooooood.

[CHNeal]

Watching this carefully as I’ve never cook one either but really want to!

[nunyaz]

CHNeal - ditto, brother!

[mrichie1229]

+1

[Clawbear57]

+2

[Oak Smoke]

I’m watching also. I have 2 Durock bellies in the freezer and haven’t decided how to cook them.

[smokin fool]

Only done one pork belly as burnt ends using Malcom Reeds recipe.
Very simple recipe, I'd like to try cooking a whole belly but not a cut stores stock around here.

[Murdy]

Same here. I've done 2, both as burnt ends, one using the Malcom Reed recipe and the other sous vide. I preferred the former. Definitely easy to do.

[nunyaz]

smokin fool - yup, lookin' at YOU Porter Road

[Steve R.]

Is the skin trimmed off? That might be a consideration. I have no experience with this, other than making bacon.

[DaveD]

Yep, skin is off, good question - added to the OP!

[Rob whatever]

I would consider slicing the belly into a more portion-friendly sizes. You will get more bark. I haven't brined pork belly and I have never trimmed off the fat. Any rendered fat would be lard and you could save it, although it would have some flavor of the rub you put on it I would think.

It's one of my favorites - you'll enjoy it. Pork Belly Burnt ends are awesome. Major crowd pleaser.

Rob

[WillTravelForFood]

"Major crowd pleaser"?

Why are you sharing with others?

[Bad Hat BBQ]

I like to trim the fat on the top & bottom; cut 4-5 inch strips ;dry rub all sides with a brown sugar based rub

Smoke at 300 ish (The pic was not cut into strips ...but I think it is better when it is)

[Bad Hat BBQ]

Cut into small bits, a heavy sprinkle of pork belly on top of crackers, smear of cream cheese & pepper jelly is favorite appetizer.

Cut into larger chunks for Tacos or Fajitas / Wraps

[PNWsmoke]

Looks Nice

[bbqLuv]

Ditto on Pork Belly Burnt Ends
Malcom Reed, read, and others on YouTube.\
Here is my favorite short video I use for a review: Pork Belly Burnt Ends Video - YouTube

[DaveD]

Folks, I get it. You love burnt ends. From my OP: "Game plan is to simply smoke it up as is, I have no interest in doing any curing, and want to make a straight belly meal before I experiment with anything like burnt ends."

I'm smoking this cut whole.

[Allon]

When in doubt...

Smoke it...

[ecowper]

I have only ever cooked them as asian style burnt ends or made bacon, so not much direct experience to help. I think your game plan sounds solid, though. Looking forward to your cook and how it turns out.

[WayneT]

I’ve cubed a pork belly and smoked one whole and for ease of handling, regardless of the end product, prefer the latter method. It’s a real pita to prep and manage all those cubes while they rest precariously on a wire rack. True, they get more smoke that way, but my burnt ends produced from smoking the pb whole were just as good, imho. Are you smoking solely on the Copperhead 5 or doing another SNS + Copperhead approach? Going with the latter approach should give you more smoke in the end product, even though you have those killer pellets.

[DaveD]

I'm going on the PB the whole way Wayne, having just used the kettle for a steak cook tonight. I want to get this on first thing in the morning and the kettle is still glowing embers, so can't clean it out in time. I'm sure it'll be just fine.

[captainlee]

I'm watching too, i have never smoked one but am anxious to give it a try.

[klflowers]

I have only done bacon, so I am watching

[shify]

Smoking plain pork belly is not like brisket where there is an agreed upon final temp. You can smoke to around 165 and slice it like bacon or you can smoke to ~200 and you'll get more of a pulled texture.

I prefer the 165 degree approach, pretty much treating it just like the uncured bacon it is. After you are done smoking it, you can either slice and serve or slice/pan fry and serve. I like the latter approach for the better texture. Can also use the frying time to glaze if desired

And if you have any leftovers, you have basically completed step 1 towards pork belly burnt ends (PBBEs are not cured). Just cube up the leftovers, sauce as you please and add some sugar and butter and put in a foil pan and then braise in the oven/smoker for another hour or two

[nunyaz]

sheesh! 🙄 you had me at 'bacon' @shify
definitely going to get some Porter Road PB and try it every which way but raw
Peace,
Nunyaz

[DaveD]

I'll definitely have leftovers, so that's a great idea, to do some burnt ends with those. They seem kinda popular