Hey y’all, Grilla Girl here again! Today and we’re going to do something that is very simple but very delicious: smoked pork belly.
Hey y’all, Grilla Girl here again! Today and we’re going to do something that is very simple but very delicious: smoked pork belly.
We have about a two and a half pound piece of pork belly here, very popular on menus today. You’ll see it even served as steaks, you’ll see it served as pork belly burnt ends or you’ll just see it served in thick strips.
So I’m going to cut mine in some thinner strips to manage them and season them up and let them sit for about an hour. And then I’m gonna cook them up in the Grilla.
Pork belly may come with the rind on, as you see here, which is the skin, or you may have it where it’s already off. What I purchased had it on so I’m basically just gonna use a boning knife and lift while I peel it away to remove it. You can save this for cracklins if you want and fry it up, or you can actually cook your pork belly with this rind on here. It just kind of is it has a little more chewy texture and you have to cook it a little bit higher heat.
I basically am just gonna take it off. I might keep it and fry it up but we’re gonna season up this pork belly and put it on the Grilla, and at about 4 hours we’ll be enjoying something delicious. All right I’ve removed the skin I’ve cut the pork belly in about 1-inch slices and then again across in the other direction so I’d end up with some nice cubes. This should be manageable on your grate and not fall through.
You can leave them much longer and leave them in strips or you can cook them as a steak — whatever you want to do. I’m gonna save this rind and fry these up and make me some pork rinds but we don’t need those right now.
So this is what you do: take your favorite rub –which is probably Grilla AP– and you’re just gonna put a heavy coat on it, then put it in the refrigerator for about an hour or until your Grilla comes up to temperature to 250. If you leave the rind on it you’re probably going to cook them at 275, with the skin down to get that to get crispy. So I have taken my AP rub and coated with a very, very nice thick coat on my pork belly pieces. I’m just gonna let these sit for about an hour. They’ll probably sweat a little. Recoat them if they need it and then we’re gonna set them on the Grilla at 250.
Some people argue over meet up meet down I put my fat down and I cook them and check them in about an hour and then I just flip them about every hour. Flip them and once they get a nice kind of crisp outside I’ll glaze them with a little bit of Grilla sauce. Now my favorite is the Kongo Kick. It gives a nice shine I just put a thin thin coat and leave them on the gorillas about another 10 minutes and wait until you see how they look all right I’ve got the pork belly chunks on 250 with pecan pellets
Okay the pork belly’s in his third hour getting soft. I can brush them with a little bit of thinned out Kongo Kick, you can thin it with juice or water. I think Root Beer and Dr. Pepper work pretty well too. I’m gonna close it up and I’m gonna check them in 30 minutes.
All right our pork belly’s done let’s go have some dinner!
Even if you’ve never gone into your grocer and asked for a pork belly by name, you’ve probably eaten it in another form — bacon. That’s right. Bacon comes straight from pork belly. However, our grilled pork belly isn’t cured or prepared like bacon, which means it has a totally different flavor and finish.
Pork belly has arisen as a popular ingredient because it’s boneless and simple to use. It does have some fattiness to it, but that only makes it more delicious. The fats naturally provide lots of succulence and juice, elevating the final outcome of your dish.
As you can see from our grilled pork belly recipe, we lean toward cooking a big slab of pork belly low and slow. That’s by design, not accident. Cooking pork belly at a lower temperature for a longer period of time causes two majorly wonderful things to happen.
First, the pork belly softens up and becomes far more mouthwatering. As the fats in the belly break down, they leave the meat tender and moist.
Secondly, when you make pork belly in a Grilla pellet grill, you’re imbuing it with a smoky essence that takes time to build. You’ll taste that smoke later on when you’re enjoying the fruits of your pork belly labor!
Your pork belly will cook on the grill for several hours. During that time, you might as well put yourself to good use and make some side dishes to go along with the BBQ.
With pork belly as your main protein, you may want to focus on vegetables and starches to round out your meal. Stir-fries, salads and grilled veggies make awesome pairings with chunks or slices of smoked pork belly. So do smoked potatoes, fluffy brown rice and even Asian noodles.
Of course, you could always go the sandwich route and serve your smoked pork belly sliced or shaved on a crusty French roll. Be sure to top it with your favorite sauce and maybe even a bit of homemade slaw. Now that’s truly a taste of hog heaven.
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