Pork Belly - Tips

[ice_mf_mike]

Doing some pork belly as i saw some nice Belly at Costco. They are in strips not the slab but nice and thick.



Tips? Dont want to do burnt ends as i cant have all that sugar. Was just going to rub it up and smoke it until probe tender. But what about the skin? How can i get it crispy?



Any other tips? i saw a recipe that says to brine for 2 hours then rinse and rub? Thoughts on that?


Also how long do they take roughly? Figuring out if i have time to brine.

 

[darita]

I've done PB strips many times, but never with the skin still on. I do them just like I do ribs and they come out great. With skin actually on is a different ballgame.

 

[Marquez]

Chud has a video for crunchy skin pulled pork, maybe it'll be useful here.

 

[jkief]

I just did pork belly yesterday and today. I got the small slabs at the commissary and they were on sale. I cut the skin off and filled a cast iron pot with enough oil to submerge the skin. Heat it up to 350 and drop the skin in. Oil temp should drop to 240-270. Let it fry for 30-60 minutes. Take it out when golden and floating and let drain on paper towels for 30-60 minutes. Heat oil back to 350 and back in they go for 10-20 minutes. Oil shouldn’t drop below 320. Take out and immediately season with favorite seasoning. Pork belly got injected with a salt, water, maple syrup, and curing salt mixture. Then submerged in the same mixture overnight. Pull it out next day and rinse excess salt off. Smoke at 150-170 until internal temperature is 150. Refrigerate until firm. Cut into slices and cook up the most amazing bacon you’ll ever have. No pic of the cracklins. They went too fast.