Traeger Smoked Pork Belly
Master the art of smoking pork belly with this foolproof Traeger method that delivers restaurant-quality results every time. This low-and-slow technique transforms tough pork belly into melt-in-your-mouth perfection, with succulent meat that falls apart at the touch of a fork beneath a golden, crackling skin that shatters with each bite.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 2.2 lbs piece of pork belly skin on
- 1 tbsp Oil or another high smoke point oil
- 1 tbsp Kosher salt
- 2 tbsp mustard
- 1/4 cup apple juice
- 1/2 cup BBQ Rub
Instructions
- Score the fat with a very sharp knife but don't penetrate into the meat. Sprinkle with coarse salt and leave over night to draw out moisture if you have time, otherwise leave for at least 2 hours)
- Wipe the moisture and excess salt away with a paper towel.
- Brush over the oil, apply yellow mustard to the meat side (so that the spices will adhere to the meat). Now pat your BBQ rub onto the mustard. (Do not apply any mustard or spices to the fat side, leave this side dry as we want to form a crunchy, salty crackling).
- Load the pellets, prime, set the grill temperature to 250°F, and wait until up to temp.
- Then wrap the entire thing tightly in foil (including the crackling) with a small amount of apple juice, about 1/4 cup, enough to cover the bottom of the meat.
- Then place into smoker and insert a probe and allow to cook until it reaches 195°F. Then pull it from the smoker and turn on the broiler on to high.
- (We won't get any crispy crackling using a vertical smoker as the temperature doesn't get hot enough, so we need to finish it off under a broiler)To get crispy crackling, you need to take it out of your smoker and throw it under a broiler. Turn it up to max heat. The skin should begin to puff up and turn into crackling. Careful not to burn the cracking. Turn the tray, or lower the rack to avoid burning.
- Remove the pork belly from under the broiler once you are happy with the crackling. Check the internal temperature you want it to be 203°F
- -Cover with foil and rest for at least 20 minutes.