Pork Belly Burnt Ends is a great option for your tailgating menu. Pork belly makes an amazing gameday burnt ends recipe, after all is what bacon comes from!
They are easy to cook. Cube them, dust them with a BBQ rub, smoke them, and sauce them! Let’s talk about it.
What is Pork Belly
Pork belly, what is it? Pork belly is a boneless cut of meat from the pig’s belly. This is a delicious and flavorful piece of meat that is layered with fat for some amazing “bacon” flavor. The pork belly can be cooked by itself, cooked whole, cubed, or cured and made into bacon.
After cubing the pork belly they become for pork belly burnt ends! That’s why you are reading this blog post, right?
Pork Belly Burnt Ends – What is so Special About Them
Burnt ends are tender, juicy, and after properly cooked, they become candy pork belly! The term “burnt ends” often conjures images of a brisket burnt ends. After smoking a brisket, part of the point is cubed, tossed in BBQ sauce and BBQ rub. Put back on the pit for and the result is brisket burnt ends. I would argue that pork belly burnt ends might be a better candidate for burnt ends.
Burnt Ends – Picture This
Let me try to paint a picture. Think of burnt ends pork belly as being cubed, “marshmallowy” bacon chunks. These fluffy bacon chunks are smoked tossed with your favorite BBQ rub, I like to use Butcher BBQ Honey Rub. Then smoked with a fruit wood, like apple or cherry. Finally smothered in your favorite BBQ sauce for that sticky, tacky BBQ goodness we are looking for!
Are you getting hungry, because I am!
Pork Belly Burnt Ends – How to cook them?
Ok, let’s get to back to the pork belly burnt ends recipe for your next tailgate:
- Make sure your pork belly is cold.
- Cut your pork belly into 1 inch by 1-inch square chunks.
- Dust your cubes with your favorite rub.
- I like to use Butcher BBQ Premium Rub with my burnt ends.
- Toss your pork belly chunks so all sides are coated with rub.
- Place your pork belly cubes on a wire grate
- Let them rest in your refrigerator for about an hour.
- Get your pit up to 250-275°F and use your favorite wood or flavored pellets.
- Place your grate of pork belly cubes on the smoker.
- Let them smoke for a couple of hours and then check to see how they are doing.
- Your burnt ends pork belly should have formed a delicious brown colored bark.
- If you probe them with a thermometer, they should have very little resistance.
- Place them to a new half pan and I added the following ingredients.
- Sprinkle about a half cup of Sugar In The Raw all – or brown sugar.
- Squeeze about 2 ounces of Agave In The Raw over your chunks – or honey.
- Cut up a stick of butter and place them all around the pan.
- Cover your pan of pork belly up with aluminum foil.
- Put them back on the pit for another 30 minutes.
- Toss your burnt ends in that delicious au jus sauce!
- Move them from the first pan and into a second half pan.
- Drizzle your favorite BBQ sauce and put them uncovered back on the pit for 10-15 minutes.
- Internal temperature should be 190-200°F.
- Let the them rest for 15 minutes!
In conclusion
Burnt ends pork belly are truly BBQ candy and they melt in your mouth! Combine it with Butcher BBQ Premium Rub and Butcher BBQ Sweet BBQ Sauce and “it’s good”! Now let’s get that pit fired up at your next tailgate and smoke some pork belly candy for the win!
Oh, leave us a comment below how you did with your cook! We love to hear from our readers.