Outlaw Smoked Pork Belly
(AKA - Bacon)
Ingredients:
Fresh pork belly. Any size or
number you desire.
Sea salt
Course black pepper
Red pepper (optional)
Garlic powder
Brown sugar
Honey
Apple Juice
Recommended wood:
Apple
Preparation:
Rinse the pork belly and pat dry
with paper towels.
On the skin side, cut shallow diagonal lines across the entire skin. Do not
cut deep into the meat, try to cut the skin only. Turn the belly a
quarter turn and repeat. The cuts will now have the typical diamond or grill mark pattern.
Coat belly all over with honey.
Apply salt, pepper, red pepper, garlic powder and brown sugar liberally
over entire belly.
Make sure to work the spice and honey well down into the cuts on the skin.
Wrap the pork belly with foil or plastic wrap and place in the
refrigerator for at least 3 hours but preferably overnight.
Smoking:
Take the pork belly out of the
wrap and let it warm up to room temperature or as close as possible.
Preheat the smoker to 225 degrees.
Place the pork belly directly on the smoker
rack, skin side down, or place the belly on a rack inside a deep pan to
save on cleanup.
Smoke the pork belly for 3 to 4 hours,
spritzing with apple juice hourly, until you reach an internal temperature of
165 degrees. Don’t over smoke. Pork belly takes on smoke very easily.
Remove the belly from the smoker and place
it
on double foil skin side down.
If desired you can apply more of the
sugar and honey on top of the belly before wrapping.
Wrap the pork belly tightly with the
foil and place it back in the smoker.
Continue to cook at 225 degrees
until the belly reaches an internal done temperature of 197 to 200 degrees.
This could take up to an additional
3 to 4 hours.
Remove the belly from the
smoker and let it rest in the foil for about 30 minutes.
Optional:
If you prefer to have a crispier skin, the
belly can be finished off on a hot grill, skin side down, or under an oven
broiler, skin side up.
