Smoked Pork Belly with J.D. Dipping Sauce

[Habanero Smoker]

 

Smoked Pork Belly

This can be used as an entree, but for me its too rich. It is excellent as an appetizer, or a side dish for fish, and poultry; or chopped up and used in a Caesar's Salad.

Click photo to enlarge.

Ingredients:

Marinade: (Marinade by Rob Rainford; Canadian Food Network)
1/4 cup Jack Daniels
3 sprigs fresh rosemary coarsely chopped
4 medium cloves garlic minced
1 Tbsp grainy mustard
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp cracked black pepper
2 pounds fresh pork belly
Serves 6 -8

Directions:
1- Strip rosemary leaves from the stems, and coarsely chop. In a bowl, mix all ingredients (except pork) together until well combined.

2- Cut pork into 2x6 inch pieces, and place the pork in a one gallon sealable plastic bag. Pour the marinade over top of pork. Expel as much air as possible, seal bag and toss to coat evenly. Place bag in the refrigerator to marinade overnight.

• If you have a Reveo, marinade for 20 minutes.

Take pork out of the refrigerator, remove from bag and place on to a baking sheet. Discard of marinade and pat the pork dry with a clean paper towels (just pat dry, do not remove the seasonings that are clinging to the pork). Let pork sit at room temperature for about 2 hours before putting it in the smoker.

• Using a fan to circulate air over the pork will help form a pellicle.

3- Preheated smoker to 220 degrees F (make sure the bisquettes burner has also been preheated). Arrange pork on racks, and place in smoker. Apply two hours of smoke and continue to cook for approximately 2-3 more hours.

• I prefer pecan, but apple and maple also works well. If you want a stronger smoke flavor use hickory.

4- When pork reaches 155 - 160 degrees F, remove from smoker, loosely tent with foil, and let rest for 15 minutes.

5- If you smoked the belly with the skin on, remove before serving. Slice thin, or cut into bite size pieces. Serve plain or with dipping sauce on the side or drizzled over pieces (see below recipe), or use your own favorite sauce.

Click photo to enlarge.

J.D. Dipping Sauce:
8 ounces tomato sauce
6 Tbsp brown sugar or honey or maple syrup
1.5 ounces Jack Daniels (one shot)
2 Tbsp Malt vinegar
1 Tbsp grainy mustard
2-4 tsp Chipotle Tabasco Sauce (or 1 chipotle pepper in sauce, minced)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Makes about 1 cup

Directions:
1- Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Simmer until slightly thickened. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Allow to cool to serving temperature

2- Serve sauce on the side or drizzle over meat.

Enjoy!!!

[Smoking Duck]

That sounds absolutely delicious, Habs!  Hopefully, that will be put of the recipe site?

[Mr Walleye]

Sounds Great Habs!

Ya got me droolin' at work again!  ::)

Mike

[Habanero Smoker]

That sounds absolutely delicious, Habs!  Hopefully, that will be put of the recipe site?

Yes! This is one that will be added to the recipe site. You need to try this recipe. The difference in taste between bacon and fresh belly is like the difference of night to day.

PS
I do have a couple of pictures. As soon as I finish downloading XP SP3 (which may be by some time tomorrow :)); I'll post the pictures. By the way, I'm not installing SP3 yet, I'm just downloading the file. I want to make sure there are no bugs.

[Wildcat]

I installed it a couple of days ago.  No problems so far.

[tturaider]

Habs that sounds great im gona have to try it.  One question when you say pork belly do you mean cured as in bacon or do you mean whole not cured?  ???  ???

[Habanero Smoker]

Wildcat;
That is encouraging news.

tturaider;
This recipe calls for fresh; uncured belly. You cut the belly into 2x6 or 3x6 pieces.

I would have never tried this recipe if I didn't see Rob Rainford (Licensed to Grill), take some smoked pork belly off his grill. So if everyone is as skeptical as I was I included a couple of pictures.

[EnglishGuy]

Am seriously tempted to buy a pork belly at the weekend.

But seems like a waste of JD  8)

[3rensho]

Dang, I just had lunch but want to tie into that pig belly.  Looks delicious!!!!  I think I'd use the JD to marinate my insides after I ate the belly.

Tom

[HCT]

Habs, I've been looking for that recipe for months. Thanks for finding it. It seems that the canadian food network offers a lot more than the U.S. one. Rainford does offer some good ideas. I just added some instant expresso to one of my brisket rubs and made the brisket yesterday. Came out great. Only thing is his show can be a little bit trying. ::)

[OldHoss]

That sauce looks awesome....I am gonna have to come back to this.

[Habanero Smoker]

It's pretty good. Some like the sauce a little sweeter. After it has thicken, give it a taste test to see if you need to sweeten it up. Once it has thicken, the best sweetener to add should be a liquid; such as agave, honey, maple syrup or simple syrup.

You can make simple syrup by combining by volume of 2 parts white sugar and 1 part water. Bring to a boil until all sugar is dissolved. Don't boil too long or it will thicken like molasses.

[ACW3]

Habs,
That looks (and sounds) great.  I just happen to have several pieces of pork belly in my freezer that I can try this with.  It would make a good snack food plate around Turkey Day time.

Art

[GusRobin]

Habs,
Not that there will be any leftovers, but what is the better way to re-heat? Also, does this freeze well?

[Habanero Smoker]

Habs,
That looks (and sounds) great.  I just happen to have several pieces of pork belly in my freezer that I can try this with.  It would make a good snack food plate around Turkey Day time.

Art

It should go very well on a snack plate.

Habs,
Not that there will be any leftovers, but what is the better way to re-heat? Also, does this freeze well?

I've had it last several weeks in the refrigerator. I've never tried to freeze it. When I want to reheat it I place the amount I want in a microwave proof bowl, and microwave at high for about 15 seconds, stir and microwave again. I continue until I get it to the temperature I want. As it gets warmer I will cut down on the length of time I microwave.