Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends

• servings: 12 servings
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 4 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

4-5 pounds pork belly

2-3 Tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons coarse Kosher salt (be sure to use the right kind of salt!)

1 Tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 to 1 cup BBQ sauce

4 Tablespoon salted butter

1/3 cup honey

Directions

Trim off the skin and top layer of pure fat of the pork belly. Cut the meat into 1 1/2-inch cubes.

Rub the meat with a drizzle of olive oil, then combine the rub ingredients and sprinkle generously over the meat, rubbing it in to cover each piece.

Arrange the pork belly cubes on a wire cooling and baking rack, then place on the smoker and smoke between 225°F and 250°F for 2 1/2 to 3 hours until dark red and a nice bark starts to form.

Transfer the pork belly cubes to a disposable aluminum pan and add BBQ sauce, butter, and honey, stirring to evenly coat the cubes of pork belly.

Cover with foil, then return the sauced pork belly to the smoker and cook for another 60 to 90 minutes, until the meat reaches 200°F to 205°F when a digital meat thermometer is inserted into the middle of one of the burnt ends or until a toothpick inserted into the burnt ends goes in and comes out easily.

Remove the foil and cook uncovered for another 15 minutes to let the sauce thicken up a bit, then remove the pork belly burnt ends from the smoker and serve.

Nutrition

• Calories: 908 kcal
• Total Fat: 86 g
• Saturated Fat: 32 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 49 g
• Trans Fat: 1 g
• Cholesterol: 119 mg
• Sodium: 1372 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 18 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1 g
• Total Sugars: 16 g
• Protein: 14 g