Smoked Pork Belly is a delicious cut of meat that has amazing flavor and uses minimal ingredients. The perfect recipe to throw on the smoker for guests!
Lightly season all surfaces of belly strips with barbecue rub.
Place the strips directly on the preheated smoker. Close the lid and smoke for approximately 45 minutes.
Flip all of the strips, close the lid, and smoke for an additional hour.
Meanwhile, combine barbecue sauce, mustard, brown sugar, and honey in a bowl to make a basting sauce.
Transfer the pork belly strips into aluminum pans (I used three, which filled the smoker). Coat strips evenly with basting sauce.
Place the pans in the smoker. Continue to cook, basting every 30 minutes until the belly reaches an internal temperature of 200℉ (about 1 ½ hours).
Remove pans from smoker. Slice the strips into smaller bite-sized pieces for serving immediately.
Notes
Cook time can vary greatly depending on the size of the pork belly, strips, and with each individual smoker. Maintaining a low temp around 225F-250F is your best bet to get tender meat.
You can add this smoked pork belly to so many other dishes to add amazing flavor! You can add it to stews or ramen or toss it in a honey garlic glaze to serve over rice. It adds a smoky, salty twist to your other main dishes! Just remove the fully cooked smoked pork belly from the smoker before adding the barbecue sauce.
This recipe uses a 10 lb belly, but I have also used a 3 lb belly with similar results.
While an internal temp of 200 degrees F is a sure-fire way of knowing the meat is tender, another method is to simply use a fork to test the meat. The fork will easily slide in and out of the meat when done.
Leftover or extra basting sauce can be made and used for dipping once the meat is done.
Pork belly is great as an appetizer! Serve it sliced in chunks and pop in some toothpicks. Serve with extra BBQ sauce for dipping.
I used a Traeger pellet smoker for this. A traditional smoker can also be used. Just follow the instructions according to your smoker type.
Homemade Pork Seasoning Rub: ½ cup brown sugar ¼ cup smoked paprika 1 tablespoon coarse ground black pepper 1 tablespoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon chili powder 1 tablespoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon onion powder 1 teaspoon cayenne