Maple Glazed Smoked Pork Belly

 

Andrea and I love good food and also have a great interest in creating a healthy lifestyle for ourselves and our families – which probably contributed to my pursuit of food and nutrition studies in university. It is the perfect background to have when developing recipes for food cooked on the smoker.  At the top of our minds are always 2 goals - creating food that is both healthy and delicious. SO here goes with this recipe for smoked pork belly using the Broil King Keg. We combed over a lot of recipes for braised pork belly in the process,   including some that  called for the addition of large quantities of oil  to the pork belly while marinating, cooking and finishing*! DO you really need to add more fat when cooking pork belly??  We decided to try to moderate on this ingredient, and make sure that each ingredient that we used was essential for delicate, flavor packed, mouth-watering pork belly.

* Lang, Adam Perry, 2009. Serious Barbecue, Smoke, Char, Baste, & Brush Your Way to Great Outdoor Cooking, Hyperion.

Maple Glazed Smoked Pork Belly
 

 Important to know:  1) You will need to marinate the pork belly at least  12 hours  ahead of cooking and   2) Cooking Time is 7-8 hours

One 3-4 pound pork belly piece

Marinade:

¼  cup olive oil

¼ cup lemon juice

¼  cup apple cider vinegar

8 cloves garlic

2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves

2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

¾   tsp kosher salt

1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp crushed red chili peppers

1 cup water

Maple Glaze:

1/4  cup Jack Daniels

½  cup maple syrup

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

¼ cup Italian parsley, chopped

2 tbsp apple cider

½  tsp dried chili pepper flakes

Final seasoning:

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tbsp chopped green onions

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt

Marinate pork belly:

12-24 hours ahead of time, combine marinade ingredients in food processor and blend until garlic is finely chopped. Place pork belly in a large resealable plastic bag and pour over marinade. Refrigerate overnight.

Cooking the pork belly:

Set up the Broil King Keg with enough lump hardwood charcoal for 8 hours of cooking at 250⁰F.  Soak 1-2 cups of fruit wood chips for smoking.  This is also be cooked using the gas barbecue set on low (275⁰F). Be very vigilant of watching for flare-ups during the final stage of grilling, when applying the glaze.  Place the pork belly into a similar sized rectangular disposable aluminum tray and pour marinade and 1 cup water over top. Cover with heavy-duty aluminum foil and seal edges tightly so that steam does not escape.  Place in the smoker and cook at 250⁰F for 5 ½  hours.

Remove pan from smoker, and with foil still sealed tightly, allow pork belly to rest in the liquid in the pan for 2 hours.

Smoking and glazing:

Add soaked woodchips to smoker and open vents to bring oven temperature to 375⁰F.  Remove pork belly from pan and reserve cooking liquid. The pork belly will be quite delicate at this point and will require gentle handling during the final grilling process.  In order to facilitate this, organize to have a wire grilling basket on hand. The basket will help maintain the rectangular shape of the pork belly and prevent the skin from sliding around.  If not available, use a wire rack and a  very large spatula for carefully turning the pork belly on the grids.  Place pork belly skin side down on a wire grilling basket . Place on smoker and allow skin to crisp for 15 minutes. Monitor for flare ups. Meanwhile, prepare glaze by combining Jack Daniels, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, chopped parsley, cider vinegar and red pepper flakes in a glass dish.  Carefully remove pork belly from smoker and brush all over with glaze.  Return to smoker and cook for 5 minutes, carefully turn, apply remaining glaze and cook for another 5 minutes. The pork belly will be finished when the glaze caramelizes on the meat and is a beautiful glossy dark brown.

Finishing:

Scatter chopped parsley , green onions, salt and pepper on the cutting board and sprinkle with apple cider vinegar. Carefully remove the pork belly from the basket or wire rack and place on top of this mixture. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Turn and rub mixture on the other side. Gently cut into one and a half-inch square cubes, continuing to dredge in the finishing mixture.

Sauce:

The reserved cooking liquid can be used as a flavourful sauce, once the fat has been poured off.  Pour reserved liquid into a large glass measuring cup. Pour off the fat that has floated to the top. Skim or spoon off the final inch or so, using a tablespoon.   Add any remaining glaze to this mixture. Pour into a small saucepan and bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat and cook for another 10 minutes. This sauce is delicious poured onto the prepared pork belly and simply boiled new potatoes and wilted kale cooked with garlic and lemon juice. 

We enjoyed it again on Sunday for lunch, in a delicious Canadian sandwich featuring pork belly, Old Canadian cheddar cheese and thinly sliced apples. It was the perfect meal to get us ready for an energetic ski around the golf course!

Nora, Bev, Briar and Pepper

And now we're back to cooking in the snow!!!