We have been known for our Pork Belly Burnt Ends since 2014. This is an updated 2022 recipe where we leverage some learnings from our buddy Travis Heim, owner of Heim Barbecue in Fort Worth, where he uses a pan to cook the pork belly confit style to make his famous Bacon Burnt Ends. We also mixed up some flavors from our other pork belly recipe on meatchurch.com as there are so many great pork options in the Meat Church arsenal of seasonings.
Video for this recipe: https://youtu.be/iHP1RNdHmQs
Ingredients- 1/2 skinless pork belly
- Meat Church Honey Hog
- Your fav sweet BBQ sauce
- Peachy Peach Texas Pepper Jelly Rib Candy (sub your fav flavor)
- 1 sheet pan
- 1 disposable aluminum steam pan
Optional Cowboy Candied Jalapeños recipe: http://bit.ly/candyjalapenos
Prepare your Smoker
Prepare your smoker at a temperature of 250 degrees. I recommend oak, hickory, pecan or a fruit wood. We used a Traeger Timberline XL in this video.
Trim the Pork Belly
Cube the pork belly into 1” x 1” cubes.
Season the Pork Belly
Seasoning the pork belly cubes liberally on all sides with Honey Hog.
Allow the rub to adhere on all sides for 15 - 30 minutes. You can even do this the day prior and allow them to rest in the fridge.
Smoke the Pork Belly
Place the pork belly fat-side down on the sheet pan.
Place that tray in the smoker.
Depending on what type of smoker you are using you may want to spritz with apple cider vinegar a couple times during the cook if they are drying out. I did not spritz in this video.
Cook the pork belly until they feel tender with your Instant Read Thermometer. That is typically around 195 internal which took 3 1/2 hours in this cook.
Finish the Burnt Ends
Place the pork belly in the 1/2 aluminum pan.
Toss with a 2:1 mixture of your favorite BBQ sauce and Texas Pepper Rib Candy. We used Peachy Peach this time. You can substitute a couple tablespoons of pepper jelly or jam from the grocery store to help you obtain a sweet\heat flavor profile.
Toss the pork belly in the BBQ sauce and rib candy thoroughly.
Return the pan (uncovered) to the smoker and until the pork belly is caramelized to your liking.
That took 45 minutes in this video. Allow to cool for 15 minutes and enjoy!
