British BBQ Society Forums

Morning Everyone,

Well, the sun is shining, its 9am, and I have no work today. However, I do have a really big full pork belly sitting in my fridge..

Question is, what do you all think would be the best method..

I was thinking -

1. Prep joint (boiling water on skin etc.. )
2. Dry rub (My favorite is a sweet spicy coffee mix)
3. Make a sweet spicy baste up (Belly pork I think lends itself well to a bit of heat to cut through the fat)
4. Light up the pit using the minion method (I have some bags of restaurant Charcoal)
5. Now, for wood, I have some hickory lumps, some Whiskey Oak, and enough apple wood chunks. Thinking the hickory might be best!
6. Low n' Slow 150 - 170c for about 4 hours, then finish with some direct luvvin'

Thoughts opinion welcomed!

P.S I have one of those Brinkmann Heavy duty grills, so I have temp problems, rust problems Etc.., but I can usually keep the heat going at around 170 due to a few modifications.

Man I'm hungry now.

I like the sound of your coffee rub. I've read about coffee rubs but not got round to trying one yet.

I agree with you on the heat for belly, it cuts through the fat really well. I have to admit I tend to do belly slices with a teryaki glaze when I do belly, I go on the hot end of low and slow (300F) then finish on the grill.

For wood, I'd probably go with hickory too or a mix of apple and oak from what you've got. I use a lot of cherry personally, that's my favourite wood for pork.

I noted from you introduction that you were once a chef, great to have that kind of knowledge on the forum. I don't know how experimental you are but I've got an idea for belly pork. I reckon if you made up a chilli & lime infusion and then injected it into the fat using a fine needle (veterinary or even hypodermic for use on humans) you could get an amazing effect on the fat. What do you reckon?

Steve,

Thats an interesting idea, as you'd essentially be cooking the fat like a ceviche...

You could get a few bits of rind, inject, and do some time tests ... 2hr /4hr/8hr/16hr/24hr and see what effect the method would have..

I have noticed the belly cut is not really that popular in the US, so I guess its up to us Brits to do some experimenting.

I do love belly pork. Wifey and I had our wedding reception at Marco Pierre White's pub in Hampshire last year and I had his slow cooked pork belly then. I don't know how they cooked it but the fat was rendered in the most amazing way, the texture was sublime.

I'd love to be able to replicate that texture but produce a sweet, spicy, smokey BBQ flavour to boot. I really should play with belly some more instead of doing my teryaki method or mincing it for fatties.

I thought I'd take some pictures, which evil-wife-lady thinks is highly sad!

1. The Belly waiting for a "hot bath"


2. My "Java" Rub, which has taken a while to perfect, but adds a real savory depth

3. After a rub and a wait, I packed the joint in Brown sugar, which eventually turned back into molasses.


4. I used a mixture of Hickory and Oak, dry chunks on a chimney full of coals.



5. Here we are after around 1 hour @ 300f - Already starting to get a nice red hue to the skin.


6. As I use a pit style Q without a smoker box, heat control is difficult, but this is the best I can do.


7. Resting for a while before carving.


8. Carved up. There is a nice colour due to the uptake of smoke..



There we go, my first belly joint, in fact my first large anything in a smoker/grill.

That looks stunning! How did it taste?

It tasted good, however, personally I would have liked to cooked lower and slower. The pit I have is not really great for smoking, but what I was pleased with was the crackling, nice and crunchy.

That looks superb.
I just came on here looking to see if there were any 'belly threads' because that is what I have been doing today. It was rubbed last night with one of the 33 rubs I bought whilst on holiday in the Keys last week, Konriko Jalapeno all purpose seasoning. Then I injected a few squirts of mopping marinade and on to the q it went. I started mopping every hour after 3 hours and took it off at 195 F. It was absolutely great, it pulled apart just as easily as a shoulder and with a bit of my newly aquired 'Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory and Brown Sugar' sauce it was a heavenly experience.