Pork Belly Burnt Ends
when I found out about Pork Belly Burnt Ends, I HAD TO make them. I've cooked these a few different times now, and they always turn out delicious. If you love bacon, you'll love this pork belly burnt end recipe too!
Servings 8
Calories 550kcal
Ingredients
- 4 lbs pork belly
- 3 tbsp Traeger Leinenkugels Summer Shandy Rub
- 8 tbsp butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup honey
- ½ cup bbq sauce
Instructions
- The first thing you'll want to do is score the top of the pork belly with a sharp knife. Make the cuts about a ¼ inch deep.
- Rub the entire surface with olive oil. You could use mustard if you'd like instead. The only purpose of the oil is to help the rub adhere to the surface of the pork belly.
- Don't skimp on the rub. You want every inch of the belly to be covered. You'll lose some of the seasonings as the meat cooks, so it's really hard to overdo this step.
- Set your smoker up to cook with indirect heat at 225 degrees.
- Put your seasoned pork belly on a grill rack, and place it in your smoker. You want to bring the internal temp up to about 165 degrees, which typically takes about 60 minutes per pound of meat.
- Once the pork belly hits an internal temp of 165 pull it off your smoker, and place the cooked pork belly on a cutting board.
- Cube the pork belly into 1-inch pieces, and place the cubes in a disposable baking pan.
- Cube up 8 tablespoons of butter, and place the cubes on top of the burnt ends. Add ½ cup of brown sugar, and ⅓ cup of honey.
- Toss the pork belly in the pan to get all of the pieces evenly coated, and then sprinkle another tablespoon of the rub you used on top of the pork belly.
- Cover the pan with foil and seal it up tight. Throw it back on the smoker and turn the heat up to 250. Don't go much higher than 250, because you'll risk burning, and you don't want to burn the burnt ends just yet!
- Check the temp of your burnt ends after an hour or so. You want the temp to get up to about 195 degrees. If you're there, great!
- When you do get to an internal temp of 195, add a ½ cup of your favorite bbq sauce and toss with the pork belly and juices in the pan.
- Crank the heat up on your smoker to 400 degrees, and let the pork belly cook uncovered for approximately 15 minutes. This will crisp up some of the pork belly cubes, and give it that tacky finish you're looking for.
Nutrition
Calories: 550kcal