Name: Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends Recipe | Sip Bite Go
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 300 min
Total time: 315 min
Ingredients: 5 lb pork belly; ½ cup BBQ rub (use any pork rub seasoning); 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 cup bbq sauce; ⅓ cup brown sugar; ½ stick butter (sliced in large chunks); 3 tbsp honey; ¼ cup beer

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Melt-in-your-mouth tasty!! See how to make smoked pork belly burnt ends in this easy Traeger recipe. You can feed a hungry crowd these BBQ smoked pork belly tacos – let’s smoke ‘em!

Traeger Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends Recipe

Table of Contents

HEY THERE — Are you on instagram? I post quick, easy smoker recipes there @sipbitego.

Tongs Holding Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends

What is pork belly?

Pork belly comes from the belly of the pig. This is also the underside of the pig.

Pork belly is basically uncured bacon that is boneless, so just fat and meat.

Pork belly typically comes in one whole piece which can be cooked as is or cut into smaller chunks for pork belly burnt ends.

How long does it take to smoke pork belly burnt ends?

If using a smoker like I did in this recipe, you can expect it to take 4 – 5 hours to cook pork belly burnt ends at a constant 225 degrees F smoker temperature.

How do you cut pork belly for pork belly burnt ends?

You should cut the pork belly into 1 ½ to 2 inch cube pieces. It’s important that each pork belly cube is the same size so that they cook evenly. When possible the fat to pork ratio should be roughly even for each pork belly cube too.

What temp should pork belly burnt ends be?

Pork belly burnt ends should reach an internal temperature between 190 – 205 degrees F to be considered done. Be careful not to overcook them. If you leave the pork belly in the smoker for too long, they will dry out.

How do you reheat pork belly burnt ends?

Either in a sauce pan, with some BBQ sauce and a little water. Or, reheat smoked pork belly burnt ends in the oven at 350 degrees F until heated through, about 10 – 15 minutes. It always tastes good tossed in more BBQ sauce as it cooks!

Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make this pork belly recipe on the smoker.

BBQ rub seasoning on cubed pork belly meat ready for the smoker

Main smoked pork belly ingredients

Pork belly cubes
BBQ rub (or any dry rub)
Olive oil

BBQ seasoning ingredients on Traeger Smoked Pork Belly cubes

For the BBQ burnt ends sauce

BBQ sauce
Brown sugar
Butter
Honey
Beer (substitute ginger beer or cola)

See these tasty taco night smoker recipes…

For the pork belly pellets

Food Blogger holding smoked pellets bag of Traeger Apple Pellets for Pork Belly Burnt Ends

For smoking pork belly burnt ends, try either sweet and light Traeger Apple pellets or for a more smokey flavor, Hickory pellets.

How to make smoked pork belly burnt ends

Now I’ll walk you through it…

Infographic with recipe steps for how to smoke Traeger pork belly burnt ends — Smoked pork belly burnt ends. At the end of cooking, they smoke without the aluminum foil cover to get a little BBQ glaze and burnt-end-style chew to them.

BBQ Traeger Smoked Pork Belly Taco Dinner Idea

Detailed recipe steps

Preheat Traeger Grills or Pitt Boss or whatever pellet grill you’re using to 250 degrees F.
Prep pork belly burnt ends for smoking. Cut pork belly into 1 ½ – 2 inch cubes. Toss with olive oil and BBQ dry rub seasoning until fully coated. You can be generous with your dry rub.
Place seasoned pork belly on a wire rack for smoking.
Smoke pork belly for 2 – 3 hours (close the lid) until the internal temperature reaches 160 – 170 degrees F. (Optional – spritz with beer or apple juice at the 1 hour mark to add some moisture.)
Remove pork belly from the smoker and place in a pan or cast iron skillet. Add the BBQ sauce, brown sugar, butter, honey and beer to the pan. Cover the pan with foil and place back in the smoker.
Continue smoking pork belly for another 1.5 hours until done and the internal temperature reaches 195 – 200 degrees F with an internal read thermometer.
Remove foil cover and continue smoking for another 15 minutes to let the sauce tack up. (Tip – If the burnt end BBQ sauce does not thicken up to your liking by the time the meat is done, you can pour the juices into a sauce pan and reduce until thicken. Then you can pour the reduced sauce back on top of the pork belly burnt ends and toss to coat)
Remove smoked pork belly burnt ends from the smoker and let rest for 20 – 30 minutes before eating.