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Smoked Pork Belly Slices – smoky , sweet and flavorful. Uncured thick bacon slices (from Costco) rubbed with homemade smoking dry rub, smoked at low temperature on an electric pellet smoker. Smother in bbq sauce or use in sandwiches, beans, soups and tacos.
Smoked pork belly is one of the easiest things to make using your electric smoker and also very forgiving.
You can smoke a whole big piece or pork belly, or sliced pork belly.
I did purchase mine at Costco and since they offer pre-sliced option, I decided to go with it for this bbq smoked pork belly.
Since the slices are a lot thinner than a big piece of meat, they take less time to smoke, which is always a good thing.
I love experimenting with my smoker, but it takes time to check on the meat (even though mine connects with WiFi to my phone), plus the smoker smell could be overwhelming at times !
What is pork belly? Is Pork Belly the same as bacon?
Pork Belly is just uncured, unsmoked and unsliced bacon (of course you can get sliced pork belly at the store). Bacon can be sold uncured and unsmoked as well. Curing is just the process of preservation of meat and fish with salt, seasoning and curing agents. It is meant to draw out moisture and preserve the eats. There are different techniques of curing that usually end up with the same end result.
How to smoke pork belly slices:
- First purchase your pork belly. You can either buy one big piece and cut it or get pre cut pork belly from your butcher or the store.
- Make sure the skin of the pork belly is removed. This skin is pretty thick and even when cooked can be chewy and tough, unlike the thin and crispy skin of chicken.
- Cut into 1/2 inch sliced lengthwise.
- Preheat your smoker to 225 F.
- Season the pork belly with dry rub of your choice, mine is in the recipe card below. I used a combination of salt, pepper, paprika, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and brown sugar. If you follow a low carb diet, you can use a low-carb brown sugar substitute.
- Place pork belly sliced on the smoker and smoke until the internal temperature reaches 165 F.
- Spray with apple juice or apple cider vinegar 2-3 times (optional).
- Once the pork belly slices reach a temperature of 165 F, wrap in foil and smoke to 30-60 more minutes, until the temperature reaches 200 F. You can also brush with bbq sauce before you wrap in the foil (I like to add the sauce later).
- Remove from the smoker, cut into pieces and enjoy.
If you own a charcoal smoker (like Big Green Egg) you can use it instead of a pellet grill, aiming for the same final temperatures of the cooked meat.
How long to smoke pork belly and at what temperature?
Time will depend on the type of smoker and outside temperature. I live in Chicago and in the cold months smoking meats takes forever.
Smoke these thick pork belly slices at 225 F, until the internal temperature reaches 165 F. Then wrap in aluminum foil and smoke at 225-250 F until the internal temperature reaches 200 F (30-60 more minutes).
The use of a probe thermometer, either the one that comes with your grill or a different one is recommended.
Can you freeze smoked pork belly?
While I don’t see a reason for freezing, since pork belly that is smoked can last in the fridge for up to 10 days, the answer is yes- you can freeze smoked pork belly for up to 2 months in a zip lock freezer bag.
Smoked Pork Belly Mop Spray
With pork belly, even if you don’t use a mop spray, it will still turn out good, because of the amount of fat in this cut of meat.
I like to take the extra step and spray the meat every 40-60 minutes with either apple juice or apple cider vinegar (great for low-carb).
What are Smoked pork belly burnt ends?
You may have heard of burnt ends. They could be made out of brisket or pork belly. These are 1×1 inch cubes, that are smoked. Burnt ends originated from the fat ends that were cut off briskets into uneven pieces and smoked on the side of the big piece meat.
Now people are intentionally make in burnt ends from pork belly or brisket. These 1×1 inch cubes cook faster, turn perfectly crispy and taste amazing served with bbq sauce.
Smoking Pork Belly For Bacon
The process of smoking pork belly for bacon will be a little different from this Smoked Pork Belly Slices Recipe.
For bacon, I recommend that you get a whole piece of pork belly and remove the skin.
Cure the pork belly with salt, curing salt and spices. The process may take up to 7 days, depending on what recipe you choose to use. Rinse and dry.
Smoke on an electric or charcoal smoker until the meat reaches temperature of 150F. Slice and use as bacon.
More pork belly recipes:
- Pork Belly Candy
- Crispy Golden Pork Belly
- These Pork Belly Tacos from The Endless Meal come together easily and taste super delicious.
- Oven Roasted Crispy Pork Belly
Electric Smoker Recipes
Smoked Pork Belly Slices
Ingredients
- 3 lb pork belly
- For the rub:
- 3 tbsp brown sugar or low-carb brown sweetener
- 2 tsp salt, I use Himalayan
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- pinch of cayenne pepper, optional
- pinch of cinnamon, optional
- Apple cider vinegar or apple juice for spraying
- bbq sauce for serving, optional
Instructions
- Source your pork belly. You can either buy one big piece and cut it or get pre- cut pork belly from your butcher or the store.
- Make sure the skin of the pork belly is removed.
- Cut into 1/2 inch thick slices.
- Preheat your smoker to 225 F.
- Season the pork belly with dry rub of your choice, mine is in the recipe card below. I used a combination of salt, pepper, paprika, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and brown sugar. If you follow a low carb diet, you can use a low-carb brown sugar substitute.
- Place pork belly sliced on the smoker and smoke until the internal temperature reaches 165 F.
- Spray with apple juice or apple cider vinegar 2-3 times (optional).
- Once the pork belly slices reach a temperature of 165 F, wrap in foil and smoke to 30-60 more minutes, until the temperature reaches 200 F. You can also brush with bbq sauce before you wrap in the foil (I like to add the sauce later).
- Remove from the smoker, cut into pieces and enjoy.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Mira, this looks amazing! We must finally buy that smoker! 🙂
These taste so good! Quick to make !