Has anyone smoked a fresh pork belly?

Watching an Arby's commercial about their new pork belly sandwich got me to thinking. First I bought one, and it was pretty good, then I started thinking about smoking one for our next party.

Is it worth it? What I saw on the Internet looked like I would end-up with more or less pulled pork, only not as much of it. Is there a good reason to smoke a pork belly versus a pork butt? The guy in the link below makes it sound like a smoked pork belly would be an incredible piece of meat; better than pulled pork.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU8nqH8Jb_8

Anyone done one?

I think I would skip the injection. There doesn't look like enough muscle to hold it.

To be clear, pork belly is just another way of saying bacon. So, if you want a fairly fatty smoked product with a lot of fat to meat ratio, then it might be really good. Some Q joints serve it, but I haven't had one.

Snow's (considered one of top 4 Q joints in Texas by Texas Monthly) in Lexington has a smoked pork "steak" which is widely regarded (by me as well, delicious) which is simply a sliced (that is sawn) section of pork shoulder, which is fairly fatty as well.

I'm not saying the smoked pork belly wouldn't be good, it probably would be, but you're going to be raising the cholesterol level of your guests, I think.

Are you going to smoke it as part of the cooking process , or in addition to cooking it? If you want the smoked flavour then give it an hour or two in your smoker , then roast it to completion in your oven.

If it were my project I would smoke/cook it the day before the soiree , then serve it cold , thinly sliced

My level of interest is declining and I've only read two responses.

I think I will stay with a beef brisket and pork butt next go round. (I can raise the cholesterol level high enough with beef burnt ends.)

You know, growing old can take the fun out of a lot of this.

I definitely wouldn't smoke the pork belly. In my opinion pork belly is an excellent appetizer or meal although as noted somewhat fatty (It's not an everyday dish).

I've copied a recipe that I use that has been well received by friends and acquaintances, some of whom are nominal vegetarians.

I'd recommend getting the belly with skin on for the crackling if you can but the skinless works just fine also.

The recipe follows:

JASON’S PORK BELLY RECIPE

Following is the recipe for the pork belly that some requested. The recipe is modified from a recipe in Gordon Ramsay’s Sunday Lunch cookbook. If you have any questions give me a call.

Ingredients:
Pork Belly (Buy enough for however many people you plan on feeding, figure 3/4lb per person for a dinner, less if you’re doing appetizers. If you can get pork belly with the skin on I’d recommend it but in the U.S. often times it comes without skin. In Reno you can order skin-on pork belly from Butcher Boy or Sierra Meats. Whole Foods sells skinless pork belly for about $5 per pound).
Sea salt, freshly ground pepper, ground fennel (I generally use whole fennel seeds and grind myself with a mortar and pestle but you could use ground fennel as well).
Whole bulbs of unpeeled garlic (you will be resting the pork belly on halved bulbs of garlic while cooking so buy the appropriate amount of garlic depending on how much pork belly you’re cooking).
Herbs and Veggies (Use whatever you want that goes with pork – I like lots of sage and onion and some thyme but there are plenty of other options, this is a hard one to screw up).
Splash of white wine.
Bottle of red wine (Pick a good bottle, I generally go with a Bandol or a Cote de Rhone).
Olive oil
Apple sauce
Prepared horseradish

Cooking Instructions:
Pour a glass of red wine for yourself, you’re going to be cooking for a while and a well lubricated chef is a good chef.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 (If you have a fancy oven with convection settings, fans, and other stuff that you really don’t know how to use, just go with “Bake”).
Score the skin or top side of the pork belly diagonally (If you have a skin on pork belly a box cutter along with a steel straight edge works well for the scoring, skinless you can just use a regular chef’s knife).
Rub the olive oil, salt, pepper and ground fennel all over the pork belly.
You’ve been working hard, time for another glass of wine.
Halve the bulbs of garlic and place in a roasting tray along with the sage, onion or whatever other herbs and veggies you are using.
Lay the pork belly on top of the garlic, veggies and herbs, skin side up.
Add a splash of white wine, cover the tray with foil and bake for 90 minutes.
Time for some more wine as you congratulate yourself on your culinary skills.
After 90 minutes remove the foil, baste the pork with the pan juices and bake for another 45 to 60 minutes, basting the pork occasionally as you finish off the bottle of red wine.
Transfer the pork to a clean sheet pan and let cool for an hour or so (I recommend lining the pan with foil). After the pork has cooled, place another sheet pan on top and weigh down to flatten the pork (Most cookbooks recommend using tins to weigh down food. I’ve found that bags of lead shot which are available in the reloading departments of hunting/sporting goods stores work a lot better, just enclose the shot bags in plastic to avoid any lead contamination).
Place the pork in the refrigerator overnight or for several hours to set the shape.
You can use the garlic and whatever else you braised the pork belly in to make a gravy if so desired (Mix with some chicken stock and strain). The garlic is also great if you remove the cloves from the skin, use it in salads or spread on some bread.
Heat the oven to 450 if skinless or a bit higher if you have skin on pork belly.
Remove any congealed fat from the pork belly, pat dry with paper towels and season with olive oil and a little sea salt.
Cut the pork belly into whatever serving sizes you desire and place skin side up in a foil lined tray on a rack (a baking rack works better than a roasting rack as often the pork belly will be in relatively small pieces).
Place pork belly in the oven for about 15 minutes. If you have skin on pork belly check occasionally to make sure the skin is becoming crackling, raise the heat if needed.
While waiting for the pork belly to finish and enjoying a pre-dinner cocktail of some description, mix the applesauce and horseradish together (Use whatever proportions fit your taste buds, better to start with more applesauce and less horseradish as you can always add more horseradish if the sauce is not hot enough).
Finish your cocktail, take the pork belly from the oven and serve.
Enjoy!

Great BBQ place in Houston just added this as a meat choice. One of my partners ordered it. It would have looked great to my old self, but since I've been eating rabbit food to lose weight, it really looked pretty nauseating. (I had a quarter pound of brisket, no sides)

quote:

Great BBQ place in Houston just added this as a meat choice.

Which one?????


.

It's the one on South Voss. Used to be the Pig place.. It was a franchise and the franchisee went solo. Much better now. Can't remember the name. Next to the car wash. Brisket is peppered and great. Boudin is great. Not trying smoked pork belly.

Thanks Jaglav, I'll give that idea some thought.

Personally, I would prefer Taz give it a go and tell me how it worked. I need a guinea pig, but I'm a little nervous about being one. Those two Arby's pork belly sandwiches just about did me in.

Kensco:

Give the recipe a shot, it has been a hit with everyone who has tried it. The fresh pork belly vs the smoked has some different flavours.

Jaglav, that is a very interesting process. Copying and pasting.
Have a favorite cocktail for just before eating your pork?

Typically a martini, shaken (like my children), not stirred.

We like a shaken, not stirred Bombay Sapphire dirty martini at our house, too.

Seems that's what our ex-mayor, Oscar Goodman, prefers.