How To Make Candied Pork Belly: [Step By Step Guide]

A pork belly is a boneless slab of meat obtained from the underside of a pig. It is characterized by a high percentage of fat, which is significant in elevating its flavor, delicious aroma, and mouth-melting texture. So how do you make mouthwatering pork belly?

The best way to make excellent candied pork belly is to cook them at 275 degrees F with the chamber closed during the entire cooking period. Cook them until they attain an internal temperature of 195 degrees F, and you will have an incredibly smoky and flavorful candied pork belly with an incredible sear.

The wood for smoking the pork belly should complement the intrinsic flavor of the pork. Pecan or apple can be excellent. Generally, fruit woods are great. Read on for detailed tips on how to make mouthwatering candied pork belly.

How To Make Candied Pork Belly

There are several methods that you can embrace when making candied pork belly. Our approach is to smoke the candied pork belly at 275 degrees until it reaches an internal temperature of 195 degrees F. Here are step-by-step instructions to follow.

1. Prepping The Pork Belly

Preparing the pork belly is the starting point, as you must ensure that you get every step right for the best results. To make the preparation flawless and effective, you will need a sharp knife, a large cutting board, and a cold pork belly.

Put the pork belly in the freezer for 30 minutes before slicing. This step is important in ensuring that you get perfect pork belly strips. However, the stage is optional.

Slice the pork belly into 1.5-inch cubes, put them in a bowl, and add your favorite rub. You can use brown sugar, black pepper, sugar, chili powder, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder can work fine for your pork belly. Ensure that each cube is well coated with the dry rub.

2. Prepping The Smoker

Preheat your smoker to 275 degrees F. Any fruit wood will be fine as long as it will not overpower the natural flavor of the pork. However, apple, pecan, or hickory will be excellent.

3. Cooking The Pork Belly

Put the backing racks full of pork belly cubes onto the grill grates and close the chamber. Leave the chamber closed for 2 hours. This enables the formation of an excellent sear on the candied pork belly.

After two hours have elapsed, transfer the pork belly to a foil pan and coat it with your favorite sauce. Place the pork belly back into the smoker for 30 minutes to let the sauce penetrate.

4. Serve

At this point, your candied pork belly is ready to serve. However, let it rest for a few minutes before serving.

Candied Pork Belly Strips

Making candied pork belly strips is sometimes challenging. While it is okay to let your butcher slice the strips into the size you think will be the most appropriate for you, you can always do it comfortably at home. All you need is a sharp knife and a chopping board.

Pork Belly Burnt Ends

Pork belly burnt ends are juicy and mouthwatering meat rubbed in spices before being infused with smoky flavor and coated with delicious barbecue sauce. You can eat them as an appetizer or throw them into salad or tacos. It all depends on how you want to enjoy them.

To make the pork belly burnt ends, you will require;

• Olive oil
• Pork belly
• Your favorite dry rub – you can make the dry rub by mixing salt, brown sugar, paprika, black pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and onion pepper.
• BBQ sauce
• Honey
• Salted butter

How To Make Pork Belly Burnt Ends

Trim the skin without taking off much of the top layer of fat. If you do now want to do the trimming yourself, you can always ask your butcher to do it for you. However, you risk them taking off a lot of top-layer fat.

1. Cut The Pork Belly Into Cubes

After removing the skin, the next step is to cut the meat into cubes. Aim for 1.5-inch cubes of pork belly for the best results. While such cubes might seem large, they shrink during cooking. By the time they are cooked, they will be a perfect size.

If you feel that the pork belly is too slippery to slice, consider putting them in a freezer for 30 minutes to make them firm for easy slicing.

2. Rub The Cubes With Dry Rub

Put the cubes in a bowl and drizzle them with olive oil before sprinkling them with your favorite pork rub. Ensure that the dry rub covers each piece of the pork belly cube well. Arrange them well in a wire rack to make it easy to get them on and off the grill whenever necessary.

3. Smoke The Cubes

Set the temperatures of your smoker between 225 – 250 degrees F and smoke them for 2-3 hours until the dark red and nice bark forms on the cubes.

4. Sauce The Cubes

Transfer the pork cubes to an aluminum foil and add butter, BBQ sauce, and honey and stir evenly to ensure that each cube is evenly coated with the sauce. The sauce helps create a braising liquid that gives the cubes a stick sweetness with burnt ends.

Return the sauced cubs to the smoker and cook for 1-1 1.5 hours, until the cubes reach an internal temperature of 200 degrees F. Use a digital meat thermometer to get the accurate internal temperature of the cubes.

5. Remove The Foil

Remove the foil and cook for another 15 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken up. At this point, you can remove the pork belly burnt ends from the smoker and serve. If you have leftovers, store them well for the next day.

Candied Pork Belly In Oven

To prepare delicious candied pork belly in the oven, you need pork belly strips, salt, black pepper, and smoked paprika.

Instructions

The best way to cook candied pork belly in the oven is to set your oven to 400 degrees F and let them bake for about 50 minutes. Here are the detailed instructions that you should always follow.

1. Preheat the Oven – Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Arrange the Strips: Arrange the slices on the baking sheet in one layer before sprinkling them with your favorite seasonings.

3. Bake – Bake the seasoned candied pork belly slices in the oven until browned. This should take about 30 minutes.

Candied Pork Belly In The Air Fryer

To make a candied pork belly in the air fryer, cut the pork belly into 1-inch cubes. Use a sharp knife and a chopping board to slice the pork belly into the desired sizes. Another tip is to let the meat rest in the freezer for about 30 minutes to make it easy to slice.

After slicing the pork belly, follow these instructions;

• Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
• Combine brown sugar, pepper, salt, garlic powder, and oil in a large bowl
• Put the pork belly cubes in the bowl with the mixture and coat each piece with it.
• Place the coated cubs into the air fryer basket in a single layer.
• Cook the cubes for 20 minutes while shaking and flipping them as often as necessary. If you want them to be crispier, you can cook them longer. Again, if you are cooking a large volume of candied pork belly in the air fryer, you can cook them in batches.
• Remove the cubes from the fryer and serve them warm.

Final Thoughts

Whether you want to prepare your pork belly cubes on a fryer, in the oven, or on the smoker, getting delicious bites is easy and simple as long as you know the procedure. For the best result, go for a high-graded pork belly. Making candied pork belly on a smoker is more exciting and rewarding than you may imagine.