Pork

Pork belly burnt ends – first attempt

Posted by backyardsmoking on

I decided to try pork belly burnt ends since I was finally able to find some to work with — Sam’s had started carrying uncured pork belly, and at under $15, the price made it an easy, low-risk experiment.

Raw pork belly slab before cutting into cubes

 

 The recipe I was following called for cubing it into 2″x2″ chunks, since they shrink down while cooking.

Pork belly sliced into 2 inch cubes for burnt ends

 

 I seasoned with my standard rub — paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.

Pork belly cubes seasoned with paprika rub

 

After reading that burnt ends can be tricky to remove cleanly from the smoker, I picked up a new tool just for this cook — a grilling basket/tray to make handling easier. 

New grilling tray purchased for smoking the burnt ends
New grilling tray purchased for smoking the burnt ends, alternate view

 I put the cubes on the smoker, running between 250-275°F, planning for about 3 hours.

Pork belly cubes placed on the smoker

 

 Here’s how they looked after those 3 hours.

Pork belly burnt ends after 3 hours on the smoker

 

 I pulled them, moved them to a pan, and added brown sugar, honey, and butter.

Pork belly cubes in a pan with brown sugar, honey, and butter
Pork belly cubes in a pan with brown sugar, honey, and butter, alternate view
Pork belly cubes in a pan with brown sugar, honey, and butter, close-up

I covered the pan and put it back on the heat — this time on my 14″ WSM, since I was using the 18″ to smoke some wings as a backup plan.

Covered pan of pork belly burnt ends back on the smoker

 

 I let it cook covered for 90 minutes, then removed the cover, added barbecue sauce, and gave it another 10 minutes.

Pork belly burnt ends sauced and uncovered to finish

 

 The Verdict

They were a little overcooked in my opinion — flavorful and very sweet, but not the melt-in-your-mouth texture other people describe when they talk about pork belly burnt ends. Still, worth trying again sometime with a shorter cook. The wings turned out great, but I’d mastered those a long time ago already.

smoked chickem wings as a backup

 Want to see a simpler approach with no glaze at all? Check out my Smoked Pork Belly post. https://https://backyardsmoking.com/smoked-pork-belly/)