Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends

These Smoked Pork Belly burnt ends were inspired by the magical and delicious beef burnt ends. They are super tender, full of flavor and very easy to make. They can be served as an appetizer or as a main course. I recommend them as an appetizer because they won't last long!

 

Things You'll Need To Pull This Off:

 

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

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.

Wire Rack

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!

Now, remove the foil, close the lid to the smoker, and smoke for another 15 minutes to let the sauce thicken up.

So there ya go, you jus made yourself some Smoked Pork Belly Burt Ends!

You know what time it is now… If you made enough for friends and family, give everyone their share and watch em smile! If no one is talkin, or they're makin some noises that you may or may not have heard before, you know you did good!!!

Enjoy my friends, and smoke on!

If this Blog article and recipe helped you out, why not share it with people you think might get some help out of it too… Sharin Is Carin!!!

And why not sign up for our "Getting Smoked" newsletter and come hang out in “The Smokin Meat Mafia” Closed Facebook Group where everyone shares their food porn pics, videos, tips & tricks, recipes, and a whole lot more… and they do it all while encouraging each other, and without all the BS that goes on in a lot of other groups!

You can Sign Up by clicking Let Me Meet "The Family" below...

Let Me Meet "The Family"!

Straight From The

The Pit Boss