Smoked Pork Belly is everything you love in good BBQ, with unctuous smoky flavor, meaty bite, and lip-smacking juiciness. Once hard to find outside of butcher shops, whole pork belly is easy to get your hands on these days and inexpensive at that. The preparations and applications for pork belly are many, but we will focus this recipe on simple a simple process and really maximize the natural flavor of the meat itself, which is the way we love down here in Florida! We removed the thickest parts of the skin on this belly to allow for smoother cook and better fat rendering. Apply barbecue sauce at the end if that suits your tastes. Serve this as a standalone protein or use it with nachos, tacos, pasta, etc.
Those Florida Guys seasonings used in this recipe:
Yields: 1 Batch | Prep Time: 15 Minutes | Total Time: 12-14 Hours
Ingredients:
3-5 pound slab uncured pork belly
2 cups apple juice
1 Hard Apple Cider
4 tbs. yellow mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. Those Florida Guys FL Errthang
Those Florida Guys FL Gulf BBQ
Barbecue sauce (optional)
Process:
1 | Bring the smoker up to 225 degrees.
2 | Remove the thick parts of skin with a fillet knife if still on, otherwise trim an excessive fat pieces, but do not trim off the fat cap.
3 | Score the top layer of fat on the pork belly in 1-inch squares, just barely into the muscle.
4 | Mix the yellow mustard, Worcestershire, and FL Errthang, then apply evenly all over the pork belly.
5 | Apply FL Gulf BBQ liberally on all sides, making sure to work as much as possible into the scores on the fat cap.
6 | Place the pork belly on the smoker with the fat cap up.
7 | Smoke until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees (about 6 hours).
8 | Mix the apple juice and half of the hard apple cider into a spray bottle. Spritz generously every hour while the pork belly is cooking.
9 | Prepare two 4’ lengths of non-waxed butcher paper, overlapping.
10 | Once the belly reaches 165 degrees internal, remove from the grill and wrap in the butcher paper with ½ cup of the apple juice.
11 | Wrap tightly and return to the smoker until the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees.
**we recommend putting a rimmed pan under the wrapped pork to capture any juices**
12 | Carefully remove the belly from the butcher paper wrap onto a cutting board and drizzle with the juices from the wrap.
** Optional: return the pork belly to the smoker, brush with BBQ sauce, and cook for 10-15 minutes to let the sauce set.**
13 | Remove the pork belly to a cutting board and let it rest on the counter for 15-20 minutes. Cut into slices or cubes.
14 | Serve and enjoy!