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!
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Why you’ll love learning how to smoke pork belly…
- Burnt ends are one of the BEST ways to enjoy pellet grill smoked pork belly.
- HUGE smoky flavor.
- Easy seasoning tips.
- Feeds a crowd – perfect for a BBQ menu to serve when grilling chicken wings or smoking corn on the cob.
- Ready in about 5 hours (a half day smoker recipe).
- Smoked low and slow to get that melt in your mouth tenderness.
- See how to make smoked pork belly tacos with a simple recipe (near end of post).
- New to smoking food? See my step by step video for beginners (scroll to bottom of page).
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make this pork belly recipe on the smoker.
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.
Main smoked pork belly ingredients
- Pork belly cubes
- BBQ rub (or any dry rub)
- Olive oil
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
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…
Quick look at this smoked pork belly recipe
- Dice pork belly into large cubes and season liberally.
- Smoke pork belly for a couple of hours at 250 degrees F.
- Add partially smoked pork belly to a large aluminum pan with the special Sip Bite Go BBQ sauce burnt end mixture.
- Smoking pork belly until done, about 90 minutes more.
- Then smoke uncovered for ~15 minutes.
- Rest smoked pork belly burnt ends and enjoy over rice or in smoked pork belly tacos.
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.
How to make smoked pork belly tacos
One of my favorite leftover pork belly pellet smoker recipes is to use it in simple tacos the next day.
Here’s a quick look at what I like in my Traeger smoked pork belly tacos…
**coming soon**
Favorite smoker recipes with bacon
These are great dishes with smoked bacon IN them, or ON them…
- Smoked mac and cheese with bacon topping
- Onion rings wrapped in bacon on the smoker
- Smoked bacon wrapped meatloaf
- Smoked bacon wrapped pork tenderloin
- Jalapeno poppers smoked wrapped with bacon
- Smoked mashed potatoes
- Smoked baked potatoes
- Smoked burger
- “Juicy Lucy” smoked bacon wrapped burgers
- Smoked bacon
- Traeger smoked pork belly burnt ends
Once you’ve tried this burnt end recipe, come back to see new hot dog burnt ends and brisket burnt end dishes coming soon.
FAQs
In this Sip Bite Go recipe demonstration, we used Traeger Apple pellets because the add adds a sweet and mild flavor to the pork belly. For a more smokey flavor, Hickory pellets are a great choice.
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.
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.
Pork belly burnt ends should reach an internal temperature between 190 – 205 degrees F to be considered done.
Yes, you can! If you cook pork belly burnt ends for too long, then they will become tougher to eat. You want to stop cooking the pork belly when the internal temperature lands between 190 – 200 degrees F.
YES! They are very fatty, almost all fat, thus making them super moist, tender and ultimately delicious to most people!
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!
You can cook pork belly in a variety of ways beyond smoking them. Roast it in your oven, pressure cook it in the Instant Pot, slow cook it in the crock pot, or cook it sous vide style. Any cooking method will work just fine, but low and slow is the way to go.
Serve them with smoked mac and cheese, smoked baked beans, creamy smoked mashed potatoes, smoked corn on the cob, or your favorite rice, or a seasonal salad recipe. And for dessert, make these 30 minute smoked peaches.
More Tasty Grill + Smoker Recipes
- Smoked mac and cheese
- Smoked cream cheese
- Smoked brisket flat
- 321 ribs
- Beer can chicken on the smoker
- Smoked wings
- Smoked tomahawk steak
- Traeger tri tip
- Smoked turkey breast
- Smoked turkey legs
- Whole smoked turkey
- Smoked Traeger pizza
- Smoked onion rings
- Traeger smoked ham
- Smoked whole chicken
- Smoked jalapeno poppers
- Smoked corn on the cob
- Traeger beef ribs
- Smoked leg of lamb
- Smoked shrimp
- Grilled chicken wings
- Grilled skirt steak
- Flank steak marinade
- Grilled potato wedges
- Smoked pulled pork
- Want more? See my lineup of easy smoker recipes
See this Traeger Flatrock grill review.
See my favorite smoker tools and seasonings in my Amazon Storefront.
Meat thermometer recommendations
Every home chef needs a reliable meat thermometer to cook food perfectly.
On Sip Bite Go, you’ll often see me using:
- Meater thermometer – a fancy wireless thermometer that connects to a phone app – gifted to me from a Traeger partnership.
- ThermoPro digital thermometer – which has a wire that connects the thermometer to a display box outside the oven/grill.
It’s like being psychic! The great thing about either of the thermometers above is that I don’t have to take the food out of the oven to know the temperature.
How to use ‘em… What I do is stick the digital thermometer in steak, pork, chicken, whatever… Then put the food in the oven, on the smoker, or grill.
While the meat cooks, it reads the temperature so I know exactly what temp meat is as it’s cooking. Without having to take it out and check. It’s really difficult to overcook food when you know exactly what temp it is inside!
More pork recipes to try…
- See all my sous vide pork recipes
- Sous vide pulled pork
- Sous vide pork tacos
- Sous vide pork butt
- Sous vide pork loin
- Sous vide bone in pork chop
- Sous vide boneless pork chops (grill finish)
- Sous vide pork tenderloin
- Sous Vide Overnight Bacon
- Quesadillas with leftover pork
- Pulled pork pizza
- Smoked pork belly burnt ends
Meat thermometer recommendations
Every home chef needs a reliable meat thermometer to cook food perfectly.
On Sip Bite Go, you’ll often see me using:
- Meater thermometer – a fancy wireless thermometer that connects to a phone app – gifted to me from a Traeger partnership.
- ThermoPro digital thermometer – which has a wire that connects the thermometer to a display box outside the oven/grill.
It’s like being psychic! The great thing about either of the thermometers above is that I don’t have to take the food out of the oven to know the temperature.
How to use ‘em… What I do is stick the digital thermometer in steak, pork, chicken, whatever… Then put the food in the oven, on the smoker, or grill.
While the meat cooks, it reads the temperature so I know exactly what temp meat is as it’s cooking. Without having to take it out and check. It’s really difficult to overcook food when you know exactly what temp it is inside!
Are you a foodie, too?
Hey home chefs, hope that answers all your questions about making pork belly smoked on the Traeger. For your next cook, I suggest making smoked brisket flat or smoked wings.
Connect…
- Follow for new recipes on Instagram / TikTok
- Subscribe on YouTube to the Sip Bite Go channel.
- Browse the Sip Bite Go recipe collection.
Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends Recipe | Sip Bite Go
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
Instructions
- 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 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 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 it.)
- Remove smoked pork belly burnt ends from the smoker and let rest for 20 – 30 minutes before eating.
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