The Meatwave

Texas-style Smoked Pork Belly

Texas-style Smoked Pork Belly View Recipe

I'm starting to get ready for my annual pilgrimage to Texas. While holidays with the in-laws serves as the official reason for the trip, I use this time of year to also try out at least a couple new (to me) barbecue joints. Luckily the barbecue scene in Houston is starting to take off—what used to be slim pickin's has bloomed into numerous really excellent options for slow smoked meats. Killen's is regarded as one of the best-in-breed in Houston, and I totally concur after ordering all the meats on my first trip there, plus a side of chicken fried steak for good measure. While there wasn't one low point in that meal, it was oddly the pork belly that left an impression on me since this cut has rarely stood up against the beef ribs and briskets at other establishments. This particular piece of belly had luscious, soft, and flavorful fat paired with the ubiquitous Texas salt and pepper bark that combined to make some fine slices of barbecue. So in anticipation of a trip filled with such delectables, I decided it's an apt time to share my attempt at some Texas-style smoked pork belly.

Texas-style Pork Belly

Pork belly has been no stranger to my smoker, but previous attempts have been mediocre at best. My issue has consistently been not being able to get that super soft, melt-in-your-mouth fat that makes the best pork belly a delight. I've been learning the ways to achieve this though, so had high hopes that this time around, my two pieces of boneless belly would be a marked improvement over past takes.

Texas-style Pork Belly

I got my belly at the local Asian mart—I've always found ample belly at good prices at these speciality groceries—which came with the skin on. Since slow smoking doesn't make for great pork skin, and to increase the surface area for the rub, I removed the skin from each piece of belly.

Texas-style Pork Belly

I then mixed together a rub that was comprised of nothing more than salt and pepper. While the simplicity of the rub is great, there are a couple things to keep in mind to make it ideally Texan. First, the pepper should be coarsely ground, which helps create a sharp peppery bite and a bit of crunch in the final product. To achieve this, I always start with whole peppercorns that I grind in short pulses in my spice grinder, checking between each pulse to ensure a proper grind. Second is the balance between salt and pepper. I used to go half-and-half here, but have become more attracted to super peppery crusts, so have upped my pepper content accordingly to get the right bite.

Texas-style Pork Belly

Once I had the rub made, I coated the belly with it in a liberal fashion. I always worry I'm going to end up making my meat too salty when I do this, but I've yet to encounter that problem, so don't be shy with when applying the rub.

Texas-style Pork Belly

Then it was off the smoker, where I was hoping to correct past errors in my pork belly process. I had been cooking my belly to 165°F or just above, but in reality that's just the temperature the meat is official "done," but not when the fat has rendered and softened to its ideal consistency. I've been cooking my brisket and beef ribs to 203°F, at which point they're jiggly and have that wonderful soft, oozing fat that makes barbecue so great.

Texas-style Pork Belly

So I employed my trusty BBQ Guru and set the target meat temp to 203°F on the belly and let it smoke at 225°F until it got there. This clocked in around the 7-8 hour mark, which was many hours longer than I had cooked belly in the past.

Texas-style Pork Belly

When I removed the belly from the smoker, it has the tell tale jiggle that made me giddy thinking I had achieved the ideal belly I was after. It wasn't quite time to find out though, since I've also learned a rest for a couple hours is also pretty essential for getting the perfect consistency. So I wrapped each piece of belly in plastic wrap—you can used butcher paper or foil as well—and placed them in the Cambro until guests arrived and it was time to serve.

Texas-style Pork Belly

That period of time ended up being longer than the couple hours rest I was shooting for, and when I finally did unwrap the belly to serve, it had cooled more than I had wished. Still, the meat and fat were soft and delicious, and bark was intensely peppery with a light crunch that mimicked the Texas barbecue I love. I feel like if I had sliced into the meat sooner, it would have been closer to ideal, which is a huge accomplishment for me. Being close wasn't so bad though as it just whet my appetite for the true stuff down in Texas, which I'll be eating up in just a weeks time to end this year on a high note.

Print Recipe

Texas-style Smoked Pork Belly

  • Yield 8 to 12 servings
  • Prep 5 Minutes
  • Inactive 1 Hour
  • Cook 6 Hours
  • Total 7 Hours 5 Minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup coarsely ground black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons Kosher salt
  • 1 4-5lb piece boneless pork belly, skin removed
  • 3 chunks of a medium smoking wood, such as oak or hickory

Procedure

  1. In a small bowl combine pepper and salt to make the rub. Season pork belly all over liberally with the rub.
  2. Fire up smoker or grill to 225°F, adding chunks of smoking wood chunks when at temperature. When the wood is ignited and producing smoke, place the pork belly in the smoker or grill and smoke until an instant read thermometer registers between 195-203°F when inserted into the thickest section of meat, about 6 to 8 hours.
  3. Wrap pork belly tightly in butcher paper or foil, place in a cooler or oven, and let rest for 1 to 2 hours. Slice pork belly and serve.

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Comments

  1. Chris I've only been doing cured pork bellies, I need to try one like this as well.

  2. note I'm going to the Houston area for the holidays as well, and will do everything within my power to make it to Corkscrew BBQ in Spring.

  3. Josh @note Corkscrew churns out some mighty fine meats, you're going to love it!

  4. Nick Hi Josh!
    Been too long. Miss eating your lovely grub. I'm planning to smoke two pork bellies this weekend for a crowd. I'm hoping to make momofuku style steam pork buns. I have two questions: A. would you cut the bellies into smaller sections so that I can fit them both on the same top level of the smoker? B. I saw in a previous post that you marinated your belly, do you think dry rub or marinade works better with this cut?
    Vermont is only a few hundred miles away...
    Cheers,
    Nick

  5. LaVern Schrock I'm in the process of making a pork belly with your recipe.it's not totally done yet but I have already sampled it three times and it's phenomenal thanks for the recipe I'm cooking it on at BGE

  6. Mark Hi Josh,

    You mention resting the belly in a Cambro as a helpful step, and I see you do this on a number of your blog posts. For those of us without access to that bit of restaurant equipment, what you you recommend as a next best alternative?
    Thanks so much,
    Mark

  7. Josh @Mark A cooler or warm oven works as well.

  8. Chris Paquette I've made this twice on my sissy electric Bluetooth smoker and it's amazing.

  9. Bridgette Florea Josh,

    Oh my God, this was AMAZING! I brined it for 24 hours in a mixture of mostly bourbon and water, with a dash of molasses and vanilla. I drained it, let it dry age in the fridge for 12 hours, then I coated it in kosher salt and coarse pepper the next morning. Into the smoker for 6 hours, used a mix of apple and hickory chips. How on earth I kept it under 250 is beyond me, perhaps it was meant to be! Thank you doesn't seem enough, I can't wait to try more!

  10. liz Thank you for a simple and wonderful recipe. Our pork belly was already sliced, so our smoking time was a little less. But holy wow!!!! the fat was like a roasted marshmallow. We will absolutely do this again. Wonderful!!!

  11. C.C I've never smoke pork belly but I'm going to try it. My family always leave the skin on and broil it in the oven the last 10 mins so we get the crispy.

  12. Matt Thank you for setting me in the correct direction with my first belly.

  13. LeChef Used this as a template and it came out great. Thanks.

  14. Christopher Barnes Dead on! Melt in your mouth perfection! Took a home grown pork belly in my suitcase from Oregon to Texas to visit my brother and family and we cooked as described and it was pork candy!

  15. joann vermette Bought 3 pieces of pork belly. Really want to smoke it then freeze it to serve at a later date. My plan is to then sear it an serve with some kind of sauce such as cherry balsamic reduction. Do you think they would still be ok after being frozen?

  16. Tim B Josh,

    We're of the same bent towards Texas style smoked meats, so I gave your approach a try on my Humphrey Battlebox. Simple kosher salt/16 mesh pepper rub, a bit heavy on the pepper and applied generously. Hickory chunks on lump charcoal. Smoked at 250 to internal temp of 203. Gave a light brushing of maple syrup about 30 minutes before done, just to give a hint of sweetness to complement the salt/pepper/smoke. Just as you describe, it was jiggly and had perfectly rendered fat. Took about 5 hours. Rested an hour. Outstanding results, and this will be my go-to method for pork belly. Thanks for the inspiration.

  17. Laila I love smoke pork belly. I have Northern Europe recepy.salt black pepper rosemary garlick marinate for 24 h and before smoking in fresh apple wood brush meet with apricot or fig gem . Delis

  18. J. Smith It was really awesome even though we had some doubts. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!

  19. Scott trying this on Saturday.

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