A few days ago, we showed you the photo of this pork belly hanging in the refrigerator. What happened next?
Danny smoked it.
Smoking adds another layer to the flavor of the pork belly. You should have a good hint of smoke. When you first bite into the bacon, smoke should not be the first taste. And it shouldn’t be the last bite either. The smoke flavor should be the shy person in the corner of the room at the party. You decide to take a chance on the conversation and realize she’s the most interesting person there.
When you smoke something, you’re just adding flavor to it, enhancing the natural flavor of whatever it is you are eating. So smoke and pork go together like pancakes and maple syrup. You can eat pancakes without syrup, but they taste so much better with it.
How long you smoke the belly will depend on what kind of smoker you have. We have a basic Weber smoker, nothing fancy. But it works. We used charcoal briquets and a decent-size piece of applewood thrown in for the flavor. You want to cold smoke the belly, which means smoking at a low heat. If you smoke it on high heat, you’ll cook the belly. You don’t want that. This piece of belly, which weighed only a pound, took about 4 to 5 hours to smoke.
Take your time and don’t rush it.
And of course, the belly is still not cooked. Not even close. Once you are done smoking the belly, then you have raw bacon. Cook in your favorite fashion.
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YUM. Just look at that slab of lovely, lovely bacon. Totally with you on the smoke level in bacon. I have had some that taste like you are eating a camp fire. nasty.