^^^ So you put on just the skin? Or pork belly with the skin attached?

Here is a shot at the beginning of the cook. The pork belly chicharron are the 5 "fingers" of meat. There is no skin, the raw meat looks like unsliced bacon.



Just off the smoker


One of the belly pieces sliced open.


Over all, I liked the belly. A lot of the fat rendered, but a fair bit remained. The flavor was excellent, not surprisingly a cross between bacon and rib meat. I do not like excessive fat, so for me, I would probably cut my pieces thinner before smoking to get more fat rendered out. For those that like the fat, the post on pg. 28 of this thread from Tuckerrnr1 for pork burnt ends could easily be made with these. Maybe that is how he did it, I don't know.

quote:

Originally posted by DrDan:
Here is a shot at the beginning of the cook. The pork belly chicharron are the 5 "fingers" of meat. There is no skin, the raw meat looks like unsliced bacon.



Over all, I liked the belly. A lot of the fat rendered, but a fair bit remained. The flavor was excellent, not surprisingly a cross between bacon and rib meat. I do not like excessive fat, so for me, I would probably cut my pieces thinner before smoking to get more fat rendered out. For those that like the fat, the post on pg. 28 of this thread from Tuckerrnr1 for pork burnt ends could easily be made with these. Maybe that is how he did it, I don't know.

When I hear "chicharron", I think of skins primarily.

I only buy skinless pork belly and cure/smoke belly for bacon.

When I smoke belly (non-cured) it is better on the fatty side and much like pulled pork (butt) for sammiches.

^^ and yes, cutting it in cubes, smoking longer to make make crunchy burnt ends is a way to get less fat > delicious, btw.

OK and my contribution for the thread, yesterdays BEEF rib:

Good lord that beef rib looks tasty!

I started curing 43lbs of pork belly a week ago.


Ribs tonight, ham tomorrow, and bacon Friday/Saturday.

Party ribs, I did 3 racks and used Heath Riles garlic Jalapeno on half of them. Smoked with cherry and used my brothers top secret BBQ sauce when they went into the oven. They were excellent.











I smoked a Ham with apricot glaze and used maple wood chips in my PBC for Thanksgiving. This was our contribution to the meal. This was very good and will be definitely making this again.







I cured my bacon for 8 days using coarse salt, coarse pepper, and turbinado sugar. I used 2 large chunks of oak to start the fire, and then added hickory splits throughout the cook, and a few small chunks of apple. It was about 15 degrees here yesterday but it was a great day for smoking. My brother is coming today to help slice and package everything for the freezer.













This really turned out great. Hopefully the whole batch is as good as the sample we cooked.


Got er done, took about 4 hours!


This made 32 ~1 pound packages. I also got about 6 1/2 pound bags of cubed up ends/scraps to add into beans or other dishes.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: xantom,

Got a little fiesta planned for Thursday. Pulled pork and baked potatoes. Just getting started on the egg.





Pulled at 201°, gonna be a good one.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MRBTX,

In case there's a question: when mixing your spices for a rub, if you accidentally pour out 4x as much cayenne pepper as normal, don't just say it will be fine. My wife got a good laugh out of me actually sweating from the heat.

Also an FYI: Publix has brisket on sale for $3.99/lb.

quote:

when mixing your spices for a rub, if you accidentally pour out 4x as much cayenne pepper as normal

Our daughter did this once upon a time with a slaw recipe, but misread t as T so only 3X what was intended. She didn't catch it, but goodness everyone eating it did!!!

Pulled the Wagyu Piranha out of the freezer for the {cough} B-I-G game Sunday.

Expensive as hell but the flavor is like no other steak I have ever had.

Channeling GUGA, he is so right >>>>Amazing.

^That beef looks fantastic! Would that cut be considered a NY Strip?

I agree with xd45man - that steak looks awesome.

Now I'm really craving steak for dinner, but it's currently -4F and I haven't shoveled the snow off the deck...

quote:

Originally posted by xd45man:
^That beef looks fantastic! Would that cut be considered a NY Strip?

Picanha or Top Sirloin Cap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfUxQYlk1XE

Wood chopped, briskets seasoned, planning to get them on by 5am tomorrow morning. Got about 5 inches of snow here today.











~7 hours in, just put in a covered foil pan in the oven to finish.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: xantom,

^^^Looks good!

I’m waiting for a pork butt. Got my Weber Smokey Mountain going this morning, put the pork butt on at 8am, and had the WSM holding steady at 250 for two hours. Unfortunately, it dropped while we were at church and couldn’t do anything about it, so it didn’t hit 160 until 3:30pm.

My plan was to wrap it at 160 which I figured would happen right after we got home from church. Now here I am, yet again, hours behind schedule.

I have to get that fan thing for the WSM that maintains a set temp.

Beef short ribs, "Pit" beans, and horseradish slaw. I used kosher salt, coarse pepper, a bit of onion power, and a bit of garlic powder on the ribs. Smoked with hickory. The night before I sauteed a green pepper and an onion with pork belly trimmings, and a pound of hamburger. After it cooled I added a large can of Bush beans. I set the beans under the beef ribs to catch the drippings. My buddy whipped up a batch of his horseradish slaw too. The crust was amazing but I think I over cooked them a touch. Still unbelievably good.

^^^ Killer Beef Ribs.

Where I live when you say BBQ they mean a gathering/party where meat in grilled outdoors. My introduction to southern BBQ began with my wife's family out to Tennessee. When her grandmother would visit she'd buy a couple of pounds of pulled pork and sauce from a place in Jackson, Tennessee. She'd pack it in her carry on, and we'd warm it up here. Still the best pulled pork I've ever had. Sauce wasn't traditional. It was thin and runny but oh so good.

So, I've tried to recreate this here in Pueblo. Some success. Some failure. My wife makes a sauce that is a Kansas City/Memphis hybrid that's really good. My oldest inherited a Traeger smoker, and now kicks my ass on a regular basis. Little shit.

Amazingribs.com. Meathead knows his stuff.

I'm not sure if this counts but I made some double cheeseburgers topped with pastrami, a Carolina dog with homemade slaw, and nice salad to top it off.