Smoking a pork belly on a Primo needs to be on your bucket list! You need to try this once – and then will want to repeat often. Instead of curing the pork belly to make bacon, you treat it similar to the spare ribs it was attached to. For those familiar with smoking ribs and using a Primo, here is a simple quick method:
- Quarter a pork belly with the skin removed. Quartering is a preference – you can leave it whole. You can even chose to cut the belly into 2″ x 6″ wide pieces- a generous serving size that will increase the amount of rub and sauce on each piece. This will also shorten the cooking time.
- Brine the belly overnight like you would a pork shoulder or ribs.
- Rub the belly well with your favorite rub.
- Smoke at 225 to 250 with Apple wood and Hickory until internal temp hits 180-185. Use a Thermapen!
- Glaze with your favorite sweet sauce. Increase heat on grill to 350 and cook until internal temp is around 200.
Start by cutting the belly into pieces if you choose. The smaller the piece the quicker it will cook and the more rub and sauce it will take.
Brine the belly overnight (1/2 cup of salt to gallon of water). Prepare the Primo for smoking. Rub the belly well. Smoke the pork belly as described above.
When cooked properly the belly will jiggle like jelly- the fat will have melted beautifully. You can see it bubbling in the middle.
This is as good as it gets. Think smoky, sweet, salty, buttery goodness.
Use the Flame Boss controller to put your grill on cruise control when smoking pork belly
Here are a series of photos from a more recent BBQ Pork Belly Smoke- this time we cut the belly into smaller pieces.
Smoked Pork Belly hanging out on a Primo Grill and Smoker
We have glazed the Smoked Pork Belly with Sucklebusters BBQ Sauce and it is approaching the finish line.
Let it rest for 5 minutes or so but don’t wait too long- the Smoked Belly is best when hot.
Smoked BBQ Pork Belly
A view of the inside after slicing. You can see how the fat has melted.
We think 1/4″ slices are perfect for serving.
Enjoy!
Another option is to cube the belly and make a grill full of Pork Belly Burnt Ends.
We used your guide to cooks our first pork belly today on our Primo XL. I looked at lots of recipes but we liked your suggestion to cook to 185 then crank it up and finish it off at 350. We did a simple glaze of maple syrup–easy and delicious-and a house made rub. The end was result was perfect! I think next time we might try your suggestion. of cutting into smaller pieces. Thank you!!!!
Sounds awesome Mindy! Maple Syrup sounds like a great match!