Well, our little bitty HEB here in Rockport has finally started stocking Pork Belly, yum! Tell me what do I need to know about:

1. Cure of Pork Belly, that is to cure or not cure, that is the question, also if the answer is to cure, how is best?

2. How does one smoke a Pork Belly and not cook it? Have a BGE for smoking but it is old with cracked fire box that makes controlling the temps at or below 250 problematic if not impossible.

3. Can a Pork Belly be cut in half and one half frozen?

What say the OB Pork Belly Gurus?

Yeah welcome to my Life about three months ago. I nearly always have bacon curing now.

You can definitely cook it without curing .. pork belly burnt ends are basically pork candy. However, homemade bacon is just absolutely amazing. We hardly ever buy bacon from the store anymore

I salt mine heavily with kosher salt and throw in fridge for about 5 days.

Smoke to 155-160, let it cool, stick it in the fridge and voila! You got damn good bacon

same here. I just ran out and im semi pissed that my wife bought heb bacon instead of another pork belly.

I wonder if I could biltong it....

Woods Ag:

1. Smoke: what wood?

2. Smoke: How long at 160?

3. Salt only, pepper?

Thanks!

BenderRodriguez said:

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I wonder if I could biltong it....

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Probably too fatty

Mark Fairchild said:

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Woods Ag:

1. Smoke: what wood?

2. Smoke: How long at 160?

3. Salt only, pepper?

Thanks!

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If you are only going to use salt, be careful. Curing salt uses nitrites to prevent bacterial growth.

I salt originally and into the fridge for a few days. Then when it comes back out I resalt and pepper.

I use the oak lump charcoal from HEB on my BGE most of the time. Have used pecan too. Smoke at 225-250ish until it hits 155-160

That's why I don't use curing salts. Haven't had a problem yet. We eat about 3lbs of bacon a week between my wife and I, so it doesn't last more than 2 weeks after cooked.

Woods Ag said:

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That's why I don't use curing salts. Haven't had a problem yet. We eat about 3lbs of bacon a week between my wife and I, so it doesn't last more than 2 weeks after cooked.

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Not following

I try to avoid nitrates, so I just use kosher salt instead of curing salt.

TheEyeGuy said:

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Mark Fairchild said:

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Woods Ag:

1. Smoke: what wood?

2. Smoke: How long at 160?

3. Salt only, pepper?

Thanks!

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If you are only going to use salt, be careful. Curing salt uses nitrites to prevent bacterial growth.

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Lots of misconceptions about nitrates and nitrites, they are not the boogeymen that you are led to believe, a lot of that stuff has been debunked in the scientific community, but even if you assume they are bad, during the curing process they bind to iron creating nitric oxide (giving the meat it's pink color), after the curing process there is virtually no nitrates/nitrites left. You get ten times more nitrates/nitrites from vegetables than you do from cured meats

Woods:

1. Fat side up?

2. Score fat?

3. Liberal salt?

Thanks!

DeWrecking Crew said:

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TheEyeGuy said:

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Mark Fairchild said:

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Woods Ag:

1. Smoke: what wood?

2. Smoke: How long at 160?

3. Salt only, pepper?

Thanks!

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If you are only going to use salt, be careful. Curing salt uses nitrites to prevent bacterial growth.

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Lots of misconceptions about nitrates and nitrites, they are not the boogeymen that you are led to believe, a lot of that stuff has been debunked in the scientific community, but even if you assume they are bad, during the curing process they bind to iron creating nitric oxide (giving the meat it's pink color), after the curing process there is virtually no nitrates/nitrites left. You get ten times more nitrates/nitrites from vegetables than you do from cured meats

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Agreed. That's why I use pink salt. Not using them scares me a bit. Would rather just be safe

For bacon I normally use a half cup each of kosher salt and brown sugar, mix in a teaspoon of Prague powder no 1. I put the belly in a vacuum bag and cover liberally on all sides, just keep the leftover curing mix. Seal it up and put in the fridge for an entire week, flip it every day. After a week take it out and rinse it off really well, get all the cure off. Let it air dry in the fridge for a day.

I smoke it for two hours at 200, chill in the fridge for a day before slicing, way easier.

I've had the best results with cherry and peach wood, they are my go to for pork.

You can mix it up, I've used maple syrup, honey, I like peppered bacon but my wife isn't a fan.

You need curing salt for color and texture. I've made it without, and it's not the same. If your fridge is cold enough and you use enough salt I wouldn't be concerned about botulism, but having had both, I always use curing salt.

We are on our second pork belly for bacon this year. I just follow the makin bacon thread on the food board and we are good to go. We changed some seasoning up this time but the basic salt/cure salt/ sugar ratio stays the same

Good info. I'm not all scientific, just heard they were bad and so I avoided them.

Thanks!

I do fat side down on the BGE because the heat is directly underneath.

Liberal Salt? - I've never complained of something being too salty. I eat salt by itself, so I use A LOT of salt. haha

I don't know what score fat is..

4 words. Pork Belly Burnt Ends

I am afraid we are to much alike, I am also a salt aholic, not good but ya gotta die of something.

Pork belly made into bacon without curing salt will taste like spare ribs. It's good, just different. I'd you want it to taste like bacon, use a curing salt.

If you can get one with the skin on, here's one that I do. Score the skin in a crosshatch pattern, but don't penetrate into the meat. Coat it liberally with a 50/50 mixture of salt and sugar. Let it sit in the fridge overnight. The next day, rinse off the extra salt and sugar, and pat dry. Roast slowly in a 225 degree oven until the middle of the belly hits 185. Slice off the top fat layer and chicharron, and cut into pieces. Slice the meat across the grain, and serve it however you like with the fat and chicharron. Makes an excellent taco.

mathguy86 said:

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4 words. Pork Belly Burnt Ends

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+1 on the burnt ends

Started making homemade bacon about a year ago...never knew how easy it is to make outstanding bacon at home! Tried various suggested seasonings, and have used Morton's TenderQuick as the cure. Typically do 5-6 days in frig, maybe another day or so if the chunk is thick.
Settled on using McCormick's "Smokehouse Maple" as the seasoning, along with some added black pepper.
Have always done the cure rinse, but have not done the extra drying, pre-smoke.
Hickory is my go-to wood for smoke, and I target 140 deg internal, which usually takes about 2 hrs, if the smoker is running at about 180-190 deg.

As HEB routinely sells the pork shoulders at $1/lb or less, I have done the "buckboard bacon" several times...so good, and could easily pass as regular "bacon".

Shoulder cut bacon---

mathguy86 said:

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4 words. Pork Belly Burnt Ends

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I didn't like these FWIW...

TXAGFAN said:

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mathguy86 said:

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4 words. Pork Belly Burnt Ends

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I didn't like these FWIW...

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Staff... please ban this user... he no longer holds the same opinions and morals as the rest of the board. Thanks!

I just wanted to point out not everyone loves this lol. I thought I was the only one and think it's important to speak out.

TXAGFAN said:

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mathguy86 said:

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4 words. Pork Belly Burnt Ends

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I didn't like these FWIW...

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Huh. Tanya has a sock for the OB. Who knew?

Seriously though, what was wrong about them?

Home cured bacon is the shiznit. I love playing with different recipes to see what I like and don't. Unfortunately on my last batch I didn't write down what I did - and it's my favorite batch so far. Dammit.

Pink curing salt, your seasoning mix - put in a vacuum sealed bag after coating liberally. Set in fridge for a week, flip daily. After week, rinse off the excess salt and seasoning, pat dry and re-season with your mix sans the salt. Smoke at 225-ish until internal is 165, pull and re-seal in vacuum sealed bag and set in fridge overnight. Cut/slice the next morning. Fry like you normally would and live the dream. I'm a huge fan of smoking with good Texas pecan and oak when I smoke mine. Apple is OK, mesquite is tricky with pork IMO - too much mesquite and you have a bitter taste on pork, so I tend to shy away from it on swine.

Pork belly burnt ends are absolutely awesome as well. Like meat candy - smoky, sweet, you can gorge on them and make yourself happy and miserable at the same time. I've done it more than once.

TXAGFAN said:

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mathguy86 said:

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4 words. Pork Belly Burnt Ends

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I didn't like these FWIW...

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Thanks All, cannot wait to give it a try!

Question...if you're smoking the belly, do you still need to fry it when you're ready to eat it? I may give this a shot as the local Costco has pork belly.

recipe for pork belly burnt ends

I use a simplified version of this and don't add any butter like a lot of people do as I feel like the pork belly is rich enough on it own without adding a ton of more fat.

- mixture of salt, brown sugar, syrup in a ziplock and let the pork belly sit for a day or so in the fridge
- remove from fridge and coat with your favorite pork rub (I like buc-ees)
- smoke at 250-275 for about 2 hours
- remove and cut into one inch sized cubes
- put in a foil pan and re-apply the rub again
- smoke for another hour or two
- eat and enjoy

You can poke holes in the foil pan if you want less fat/grease and more of dry cubes, or leave the pan intact for a more candied exterior that has more juice. Either way they taste awesome and they are pretty easy to do.

And please let staff ban the guy who said he doesnt like them. Only a communist wouldnt like bacon burnt ends.