Cooking it the right way is the secret to mouth drooling pork belly burnt ends. Everyone loves it, and with this recipe (what I considered the best version of pork belly burnt end), you get to make delicious burnt ends cubes that melt right in your mouth and have you craving for more.
Pork is eaten almost everywhere, except for some religions like Islam and Judaism. Pork Belly Burnt End is one of the best ways to enjoy pork. Yes, pork is delicious, but what is more delicious is a rightly prepared pork belly burnt end, and that is what this recipe gives.
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Table of Contents
Health Benefits
While doctors do not often recommend pork, 3.5 ounces of pork contains 297 calories, 25.7g protein, and 20.8g fat. Hence, a way to meet up calories requirements and balance your diet, especially when you need to increase your caloric intake. Also, eating pork meat can supply the body with the required protein.
Though pork has certain health demerits, it increases your intake of saturated fats, which is generally unhealthy; pork comes with certain health benefits: it is a source of Niacin, iron, selenium, iron, and vitamins B12 and B6. All of which are essential to the body system. However, it is recommended that you regulate your intake of this mouth drooling meat to avoid preventable health complications.
Recipe:
- Large size pork belly about 8lb (this is to ensure you and your friend have enough bite)
- 1 cup Barbeque rub of your choice
- ½ cup Barbeque sauce
- ½ cup Brown sugar
- ¼ cup Honey
What you will need
- BBQ dry rub
- Electric grill or charcoal smoker ( with cherry wood and a rack)
- Thermometer (optional)
- Aluminum pan
- Hand gloves
Pork Belly Burnt Ends Glaze:
- Your favorite BBQ sauce
- ½ cup Apple Juice/ orange juice (you can increase or decrease the quantity to suit your preference)
- ¼ cup Apple Jelly
- 1 Tablespoon Frank’s Hot Sauce (optional)
Ready to prepare your pork belly burnt end
For this recipe, I will be using an 8lb pork belly. This is to ensure I have enough to go round. I recommend you do the same because whoever tastes this will definitely be coming back for more. And important, you will need more than you want.
If your pork belly is with skin, remove the skin first before cutting.
- Now cut the pork belly into sizable cubes. I recommend 1 ½ square. Remember, the cubes will shrink one on the smoker, so don’t bother with the current size even if you find it too big.
- After cutting, season both sides of each cube with a BBQ dry rub (be generous with this) of your choice, place the pork belly on the grill you set aside earlier and then place on your charcoal smoker.
The main task in preparing a pork belly is to ensure that it cooks slowly enough for the fat to melt in the cubes and leave a tender bite of meat loaded with flavor and moisture. For this to be possible, you will need to cook your pork belly low smoker.
- For an electric grill, preheat the grill to 120 degrees, and for a charcoal smoker, add cherry wood for smoke. Leave on the smoke for 2 ½ or 3 hours. Cook until the temperature reaches 250 degrees. You will notice the cubes developing bark; once it has reached your preferred level, taste a couple to check tenderness. Remember that tender burnt ends are the most delicious, so you want to make sure it has a bite feel and yet very soft.
- Once that is achieved, it is time to remove the grill from the charcoal smoker. Do this carefully to prevent burning your hand. Preferably, do this with gloves.
- Place each burnt end in an already prepared aluminum pan, cover the cubes burnt ends with the brown sugar and add honey for extra taste. Add butter around the pan. While butter is unnecessary, I am adding a small quantity to prevent any stickiness to the pan.
- Now cover the aluminum with foil and put it back on the smoker.
This is where we do the magic. The fat will be melting into the burnt ends, the sugar will be caramelizing, and the honey will be sinking right in the cubes. Leave it on the smoker for 1 or 1 ½ hours to further tenderize the cubes and allow the ingredient to melt well.
- Taste the cubes again to check the tender level. It should be extremely soft now.
- The final step is to add the tender burnt ends into your favorite BBQ sauce for additional flavor. Prepare your favorite BBQ sauce, then add in apple or orange juice, apple jelly, and 1 Tablespoon Frank’s Hot Sauce. Put the improved sauce in a small pan and simmer until it is smooth.
- Now put the burnt ends inside the glaze and toss to coat both sides of each cube. Place it back on the cooker and cook for about 10 minutes or just long enough to ensure that the glaze has melted in.
- Serve your pork belly burnt ends with your favorite drinks, and get ready to enjoy every bite.
Pork Belly Burnt Ends | Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends on UDS Smoker
Conclusion
It starts with a bit, and burnt ends keep you reaching for more. Indeed nothing beats the taste of pork belly burnt ends for lunch or as a late evening meal. However, I recommend you balance this with healthy meals for breakfast and dinner.
Never eat on a day you have had enough junk. Drinks like fruit smoothies or broccoli salad will go well along with this meat as well. This is to make sure that you do not stick too much fat and increase your waistline.
More importantly, this meal should not be consumed by people with a serious heart problem. Worried about whether the meat is actually burnt, they are not, rather pork belly burnt end is a delicacy that is charred and caramelized with bud satisfying flavor.
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