I tried this for the first time yesterday at our 25th Anniversary party for twenty friends. https://www.vindulge.com/smoke...ds-recipe-and-video/

Most of our friends are not really crazy about smoked meat. I have shied-away from pork belly all my life.

I followed the recipe exactly as stated, but necked-down to a 3-lb pork belly because I would be serving it as one of many appetizers.

1. My recommendation is to stay as close to 225 degrees as you can.

2. Cut into 1" cubes instead of 2". Nearly everyone (except me) cut their cube in half.

3. Smoke uncovered for two hours instead of three. Take a look at the color and adjust from there.

4. Where they say "cook for additional 90 minutes", take a look after 60 minutes and adjust from there.

5. Where they say "(IT) is roughly 200 - 203 degrees"; cut yourself some slack, 200 to 210 would be fine.

6. Don't use an overpowering rub. SPG (Salt, Pepper, Garlic) is great.

My result, because I followed the recipe, was that the bark was a little too dark. The tenderness was melt-in-your-mouth. The flavor was on the extra-spicy side because my rub included chili flakes. The platter I served them on however was cleaned. I expected to have some leftovers for today. Didn't happen. The greedy bastards ate them all.

Happy Anniversary! Kensco

X2. Oh well, if the greedy bastards ate them all, then you were a success. I have learned that lesson the hard way over the years while -playing 'host'. Wellington would eat his supper before going to a dinner party as he knew he would never be allowed to eat at a state function while talking with diplomats, etc.

Gad!

True, Bill. Read Elizabeth Langsfords book "Wellington, The years of the Sword." A great treatise on his life + the Peninsular campaign. (+ saved the free world from the Corsican ogre

Burnt ends and outside cut is the recipe for overeating at its best...a load of blackcrust outside cut, and slab of sweet onion, a dab of bar b que sauce slathered on a bun, and a cool Lone Star, is the necter of the Gods...pork, goat, lamb, or beef

By the same light, I have always been most fond of the crusty top on the scalloped potatoes casseroles. I do mine with diced ham + use real cream + cheese. A fat pill I admit but GAWD, it's so good1

The corner slice of lasagna works for me also.

"The corner slice of lasagna works for me also."

Massimo Bottura, chef and owner of Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy (which has several times been voted the world's best restaurant) has an item on the menu called "The Crunchy Part of the Lasagna".

My wife makes the most amazing lasagna. Like Kensco, if I get to cut my own slice I go for the crunchy corners.

Quit it! I'm salivating from all of this talk!

Just like the old Gary Larson "Far Side" cartoon where the 2 polar bears are biting into an igloo. The one says "I love these things, crunchy on the outside + soft in the middle."

I miss The Far Side. Pure genius.

The early "Dilberts" were the same. "The Dilbert Principle" explained the meaning of life and how to navigate the corporate world. Again. Pure genius.

One of my favorite Far Sides that I saved + pinned to my office wall was the picture of the little crew cut, glasses-wearing fat kid (Gary Larsen I'm sure) running around a kitchen table with timberwolves right behind him with the caption :Luposlipaphobia, the fear of being pursued by timber wolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a newly waxed floor.

Not to totally hijack this thread, but I always had the latest Far Side calendar on my desk in my law office. I still have these soft side books sitting here in my office at home: The Far Side Gallery 1, The Far Side Gallery 2, and, The PreHistory of The Far Side. No matter how many times you look at them they are still as funny as the first time.

No worries there, I think everyone is having a good laugh. The rumor was that Larson quit his column (+ being funny) when he got sober. If true good him + his health but a bitter pill for comedy.