For The Pork Belly Burnt Ends:

• 5 lbs pork belly, sliced into cubes
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup dry rub

For The Sauce:

• 1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce, I personally use a sweet heat for these
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp honey

The Process:

Raw pork belly comes in all sorts of sizes ranging from small strips to full slabs. I recommend buying a full slab, because if you're gonna serve these pork belly burnt ends to guests you're gonna need it! You might consider having your butcher remove the skin. You will have to do a little extra trimming when ya get it home, but having your butcher do it will save you some time and money. 

Now do any extra trimming and cut it up into 1 1/2 to 2 inch cubes. Some of the fat will render and they will shrink during the cook, so don't worry about em being to big.

Now apply enough EVOO to coat the meat and apply your favorite dry rub to the cubes. Be generous, I use about 1 cup (give or take) of dry rub for 5 lbs of meat. Simply adjust the amount of rub based on the size of your pork belly. You want them covered good! Now place em on a Wire rack similar to this one.

Put the rack over a pan to catch the drippings as they sit because they will drip. The wire rack helps when you are puttin em on and takin em off. Now let em sit while you go fire up your smoker.

Preheat your smoker to 225 – 250 degrees. I use fruit wood for the smoke. Cherry is a great choice for color and a sweeter flavor. But if you're not a big fan of Cherry, Apple is another great choice. Smoke uncovered for three hours. You're looking for a dark red color and a modest bark. Once the pork belly burnt ends have been on for 3 hours, remove the pork belly cubes from the smoker and place them into a foil pan, add your BBQ sauce, butter, and honey, and stir it up so all the cubes are coated well. Now cover the pan with aluminum foil and put it on the smoker and cook for an additional 90 minutes or until the internal temperature (IT) is roughly 200 – 203 degrees Fahrenheit. So that means that your gonna need to use your instant read theremometer. 

Now if you don’t have an instant read thermometer you should really consider adding one to your list of weapons. After all, Smokin & grillin is mostly about internal meat temp, not time. Here is the one I’ve used for years and it has never let me down, and I highly recommend it! It’s my go to Instant Read Thermometer for gettin it right!