Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends
How to Make Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends – This tender, flavorful, meaty, and utterly mouthwatering BBQ pork burnt ends recipe is an absolute dream. This easy dish can be made in a smoker or oven!
What are Burnt Ends?
The term “burnt ends” refers to the dense and tough ends of a piece of meat that has been slow smoked. They are typically a bit chewy and on the drier side after cooking… Which makes them absolutely perfect to drench with tangy barbecue sauce, and cook a second time to tenderize!
If you love classic beef brisket burnt ends you are going to go crazy over decadent Pork Burnt Ends. Similar to beef, these pieces of smoked meat are thick and meaty, but with a slightly softer and melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Why We Love This Pork Belly Burnt Ends Recipe
These little morsels of porky perfection are smoked and kissed with barbecue sauce. The recipe starts with a slab of pork belly, cut into generous “bite-size” cubes. We coat them with our classic pork rub seasoning blend that is made with brown sugar and a few key spices, and then slowly smoke.
The smoked pork is tossed with barbecue sauce and apple cider vinegar, and then finished in a 250-degree F oven for another hour. Once they are done, each piece of these crispy pork burnt ends is fork-tender and bursting with delightfully intense sweet and smoky flavors.
Pro Tip: Smoked pork belly burnt ends recipes are best made on a smoker, but if you don’t have one, you can replicate this process entirely in the oven with a little bit of liquid smoke.
Ingredients You Need
- Pork belly slab – the boneless and fatty underside of the pig
- Light brown sugar – packed
- Spices – salt, ground black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder
- Texas-style BBQ sauce – your favorite brand
- Apple cider – tenderizes the smoked pork (or apple juice)
How to Smoke Pork Belly in a Smoker
- First, preheat the smoker to 250°F. In a small bowl mix together the spice rub ingredients: brown sugar, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Cut the pork belly into 1 1/2-inch cubes with a sharp knife. Toss the pork belly cubes with the dry rub.
- Set out two large rimmed baking sheets and place baking racks on top. Spread the seasoned cubed pork belly over the wire rack.
- Set the baking sheets on the smoker. Close the lid and smoke for 2 1/2 hours.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Set out a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Mix the barbecue sauce and apple cider in the baking dish.
- Once the burnt ends recipe comes off the smoker, place the cubes in the baking dish. Toss to coat the pork belly cubes in barbecue sauce.
- Then cover the baking dish tightly with foil in place in the oven for one hour. Or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F with a meat thermometer.
- Once done, remove them from the oven and let them rest for a few minutes. Uncover and serve the pork belly burnt ends warm.
Get the Complete (Printable) Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends Recipe Below. Enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
Serve your BBQ pork belly as a main dish piled on top of white bread and southern sides. We love to pair luscious, meaty smoked pork belly with collard greens, mac and cheese, or macaroni salad, and creamy potato salad.
Or serve as an appetizer with sharp cheddar cheese cubes, spicy mustard, pickles, and Ritz crackers or saltines.
Pro Tips
- Look for pork belly with a good balance of meat and fat for rich flavor. Trim off any skin but keep a little fat for moisture.
- Use a balanced BBQ rub (salt, sugar, paprika, garlic, and onion powders). Sweet notes from brown sugar or honey pair perfectly with pork belly. Apply the rub generously on all sides and let it sit for 15-30 minutes to let the flavors set.
- Use wood like apple, cherry, or hickory, which complement pork well.
Frequently Asked Questions
To “smoke” the pork belly burnt ends in the oven, preheat the oven to 250 F. Toss the pork belly cubes with 1 tablespoon of liquid smoke, before you toss them with the dry rub. Then place them in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. Follow the remaining instructions as directed!
If you are making this BBQ pork belly in the oven, liquid smoke helps to infuse the meat with a smoky flavor. However, you can technically omit it if you don’t have it on hand. The flavor will be different, but you can still have some delicious chunks of meat! I recommend adding a little smoked paprika to the spices for a little bit of a smoky flavor!
Pork belly is basically uncured, unsliced bacon! Bacon comes from pork belly, but you can do so much more with pork belly than just bacon! If you can’t find pork belly at the grocery store, definitely ask the butcher to see if they have any on hand in the back. If not, try a local butcher instead of the grocery store.
No burnt ends are not supposed to be tough! They should be chewy with crispy bits and pretty tender overall. Pork belly needs to be cooked low and slow, and it is possible to overcook pork belly burnt ends. Once they are overcooked, they can become tough!
Smoked pork will keep well for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. Let the burnt ends cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge.
Looking For More BBQ Recipes? Be Sure To Also Try:
- Grilled Pork Chops + Carolina BBQ Sauce
- Crock Pot Brisket Sandwich Recipe
- Coffee Brushed Barbecue Ribs
- Smoked Pork Loin (+ Tenderloin)
- Chipotle BBQ Chicken Skewers
- Honey Sriracha Chicken Skewers
Get the Complete (Printable) Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends Recipe Below. Enjoy!
Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends
Video
Ingredients
- 4-5 pounds pork belly slab
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 ½ cups Texas-style BBQ sauce
- ¾ cup apple cider
Instructions
- Preheat the smoker to 250°F. In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Cut the pork belly into 1 1/2 inch cubes. Toss the pork belly cubes with the dry rub.
- Set out two large rimmed baking sheets and place baking racks on top. Spread The seasoned pork belly cubes over the baking racks.
- Set the baking sheets on the smoker. Close the lid and smoke for 2 1/2 hours.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Set out a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Mix the barbecue sauce and apple cider in the baking dish.
- Once the pork belly comes off the smoker, placed the cubes in the baking dish. Toss to coat the pork belly cubes in barbecue sauce. Then cover the baking dish tightly with foil in place in the oven for one hour.
It turned out so tender and wow, so full of flavor! We just found our new go-to recipe for pork belly.
This recipe is a true winner! I’ve always wanted to make pork belly burnt ends and when I saw this recipe pop up, I just had to give it a go! DELICIOUS!
this dish has become one of my most favorite things to make! thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe
The burnt ends are the best part! We love this recipe so much, thank you!
Very Good Recepie i will try it as soon as possible.