Mondays are for Smoking

Years ago my husband Harry really started getting into grilling and smoking meat on a charcoal grill. Back then, our family always took Mondays off together to rest and recharge. In addition to homeschooling four kiddos, I was running a small music studio from our home and spending a lot of time serving at our church and running the kids around. So, to help me with the cooking, Harry started grilling in bulk for me. It made my meal prep so much easier when I could grab pre-cooked meat from the fridge for a quick dinner! He started saying, “Mondays are for smoking!” He kept it up for many years, and it was such a blessing. We are in a unique season at the moment, one in which this routine isn’t possible, but when Harry gets to grill we get to appreciate it all the more.

We have discovered that smoked pork belly is so delicious and yummy, not to mention an extremely low sodium version of bacon that really hits the spot! We have some history of hypertension in our family, so watching our sodium is a must. Don’t get me wrong, smoked pork belly is not a health food by any means! But it is a delicious treat that is much lower in sodium than traditional bacon. If you are looking for low sodium bacon alternatives, you’re in the right place!

Harry’s Method for Smoking Pork Belly

Ingredients:

• sea salt
• pepper
• smoked paprika
• chile powder
• soulard grill
• 2 heaping tablespoon brown sugar
  

Equipment:

• Charcoal grill or smoker
• Meat thermometer
• A large pan
• Foil

Step 1: Score the fat side (underside) of the pork belly with a knife.

Step 2: Evenly coat both sides of the pork belly with all seasonings.

Step 3: Allow to rest while preparing wood chips and building the fire. Let the fire build up and wait until the coals are white hot and glowing with very little flame. Then add the wood chips to the coals so that they begin to smoke. This is the time to put the meat on the grill or smoker.

Step 4: Smoke at 250 F degrees for 30 minutes/ per pound. Use a meat thermometer to ensure the internal temperature of the meat has reached 165 degrees F.

Step 5: Remove pork belly from grill/smoker and tent for one hour. Simply cover with aluminum foil and allow to sit at room temperature.

We hope you try smoking your own pork belly! If you want to use it as bacon, simply slice it thinly and crisp it on a griddle or in a pan. Because it is already mostly cooked, it only takes about 5-10 minutes to crisp up. We were gifted a meat slicer that we use to cut ours, but a slicing knife will work just fine. Let us know if you try out this recipe!

Notes:

Wood chips: Pork grasps the flavor of wood smoke really well, so lighter fragrance woods like apple, cherry, and hickory are popular choices. For this batch of smoked pork belly, Harry used a combination of cherry and hickory wood chips. He used to soak the wood chips, but more recently he has been adding them to the coals dry. He has found that soaking the wood chips can interfere with temperature regulation and can create too much smoke. Excessive smoke can impart a bitter flavor to the meat being smoked, and you definitely don’t want that! Using dry wood chips helps to keep a consistent temperature and produces a nice, clean smoke.

Charcoal: Store brand charcoal sometimes burns too quickly. Harry highly recommends Kingsford Professional Competition Briquets,