Brisket Style Smoked Pork Belly

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Here’s how to cook a slab of pork belly, smoked brisket style! This low & slow pork belly is incredibly tender, super juicy & is full of flavour.

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smoked pork belly wrapped in butcher's paper

We’re cooking a slab of pork belly in the barbecue, the same way that you would a smoked brisket! This includes trimming the pork belly, rubbing it & smoking it, all brisket style…

Pork belly is such a good cut of meat to cook low & slow on a barbecue, mainly because of its’ high level of fat. It can also take quite a bit of seasoning so there’s plenty of chance to add extra flavour. I tend to hit it with plenty of sea salt & black pepper, plus some smoked paprika, cayenne pepper (for some extra kick) and some garlic & onion granules. You can flavour your’s however you like though, that’s the great thing about cooking barbecue!

I served my smoked pork belly with some of my homemade side dishes but it’s also good in sandwiches, on top of burgers, as tacos, inside bao buns & loads more…

For more smoked meat & grilling recipes, take a look at our barbecue recipe collection! Here you’ll find smoked pulled pork, grilled chicken, steaks, pulled lamb shawarma & lots more.

In This Post

What You’ll Need

Pork Belly – You’ll need a boneless & skinless pork belly for this recipe. You could take the bones & skin off yourself or get your butcher to do it for you. Try to find a pork belly that’s an even thickness all over!
Slather – A slather is used to help stick the rub to the meat. I like to use French’s mustard but veg oil will work as well.
Rub – I made my own rub when I smoked my pork belly, which I’ve included in the recipe card but feel free to use a ready made one if you’d prefer.
Spritz – Spraying the meat with a spritz as it smokes helps with bark formation. I used a 50/50 mix of apple cider vinegar & water but you could use apple juice, beer or cider instead.

A Note On Barbecues

I cooked my pork belly on my Weber smoky mountain smoker but this recipe can be cooked on any barbecue, as long as you can cook indirectly on it. If you’re using a charcoal smoker, it’s best to use a good quality charcoal then throw in a lump of wood just before adding in the pork. I like to use cherry or apple wood with pork.

Brisket Style Smoked Pork Belly – Step By Step

Here’s a step by step guide to cooking a brisket style smoked pork belly! From trimming & rubbing the belly, to smoking, wrapping & resting it…

1. Pork Belly Prep

The first step is to prep the pork belly, ready for smoking. Here we need to remove any bones from the meat then cut off the skin, leaving a good layer of fat on top of the belly. Next, we trim the fat cap down to a thickness of around 1 cm, making sure to make the pork belly as aerodynamic as possible as we do so (this helps with airflow in the smoker).

The final bit of pork belly prep, is to lightly score the fat in a criss cross pattern, using a sharp knife. This helps more rub & smoke penetrate the meat, adding extra flavour!

2. Slather & Rub

Next, we need to slather & rub our trimmed pork belly. To do this, we coat the outside of the belly with French’s mustard then coat in a generous amount of rub. I used a homemade rub, which I made with sea salt, black pepper, demerara sugar, paprika, cayenne, garlic & onion granules. Feel free to use a ready made rub if you’d prefer though!

Once rubbed, we need to let the pork belly sit out for an hour, whilst we preheat the smoker. Alternatively, the pork can be left in the fridge overnight then smoked the following day.

3. Lighting The Smoker

Next, light your barbecue with charcoal or wood (depending on the type of smoker you’re using), set up for indirect cooking then leave to preheat to 250°f/130°c. Make sure that you’re barbecue is fully up to temperature & producing clean smoke before adding in the pork.

Clean smoke will be a light blue colour & is vital for proper bark formation & the best smoked flavour. Dirty smoke is thick & white and will make your smoked meat taste bitter.

4. Smoking The Pork

Once the barbecue is up to temperature, we add in the pork belly, making sure that it’s facing fat side up. Then we close the smoker up then leave to cook for 3 hours, undisturbed. Making sure to maintain a consistent bbq temperature at all times!

After 3 hours have passed, we continue cooking the pork belly but spray it with our spritz every 30 minutes or so, until a decent bark has formed. This will roughly take another 2-4 hours.

5. Wrapping

Once the pork belly has taken on a good amount of colour, we give it another good spritz, wrap it in butcher’s paper then place it back onto the smoker, facing the same way up as before.

The internal temperature of the pork should be around 165°f/73°f but it’s more important that the pork has developed a decent bark at this point, so don’t worry if the temperature is a bit lower/higher.

6. Continue Cooking

Now that our pork belly is wrapped, we need to keep cooking it until it’s tender, which will roughly take another 2-3 hours. You’ll know when the pork is cooked when a food probe slides into the meat with little to no resistance. The pork belly’s internal temperature will be between 195°f-200°f (90°c-93°c) once cooked.

7. Resting

Now the pork belly needs to rest before being sliced & served. To do this, wrap the pork in foil (still in the butcher’s paper) then cover with a tea towel & leave at room temperature (or in a cooler) for an hour.

8. Slicing

The smoked pork belly can now be sliced & served! A sharp knife works best here & make sure to slice the meat against the grain…

Tips & Tricks

Buy your pork belly from your local butchers, for the best quality!
Trim the pork belly so that it has an even covering of fat all over. It’s best to make the meat as aerodynamic as possible, as this will improve how the air & smokes flow over the pork belly when it’s in the smoker.
Lightly score the fat before smoking, as this helps with bark formation & allows more rub & smoke to penetrate the meat.
Make sure to maintain a consistent smoker temperature throughout the entire cook, as this cooks the meat quicker & more evenly.
Wrap the pork belly in butcher’s paper once a decent bark has formed. This prevents the meat from drying out & becoming too dark. It also helps the meat retain moisture.
Cook your pork belly until a food probe slides into the meat with little to no resistance.
To ensure that the meat is as juicy & tender as possible, rest your smoked pork belly for an hour before slicing.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can you tell when brisket style smoked pork belly is cooked?

The best way to tell when smoked pork belly is cooked, is to give the meat a pork with a food probe. If the probe slides in with little to no resistance, the smoked pork belly is ready. Once cooked, the internal temperature of the pork belly will be between 195°f-200°f (90°c-93°c).

What type of charcoal & wood is best for smoking pork belly?

Fruit woods like apple or cherry (or charcoal made with them) work especially well with pork belly. When cooking barbecue, using a good quality charcoal or properly dried wood makes all the difference!

How long does brisket style smoked pork belly need to be rested for?

Smoked pork belly needs to rest for at least 30 minutes (but an hour is better!). This gives the meat plenty of time to relax, which redistributes the juices, making it tender & juicy.

Does smoked pork belly need to be wrapped?

Yes, smoked pork belly needs to be wrapped, preferably in butcher’s paper. Wrapping smoked meat helps retain moisture, preventing it from drying out and also stops the bark from becoming too dark.

What’s the best way to reheat smoked pork belly?

To reheat smoked pork belly, cut the meat into thick slices or chunks then place into a heatproof dish with a splash of water then cover with foil & bake in a 160°c/320°f until warmed through. Alternatively, slices of smoked pork belly can be fried in a pan until crisp & golden.

How long will leftover smoked pork belly keep for?

Leftover smoked pork belly will keep for up to 3 days & needs to be stored in the fridge. Any leftovers can be eaten hot or cold.

Equipment Used

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Here's how to cook a slab of pork belly, smoked brisket style! This low & slow pork belly is incredibly tender, super juicy & is full of flavour.

Prep Time20

Cook Time8

Resting Time1

Total Time9 20

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: 6 People

Author: Ben Racey

Equipment

Barbecue/Smoker
Digital Food Probe
Chimney Charcoal Starter
Mixing Bowl
Spray Bottle
Butcher's Paper
Foil

Ingredients

2½ kg Boneless Pork Belly

Rub

30 g Fine Sea Salt
30 g Demerara Sugar
20 g Coarse Black Pepper
1½ tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp Onion Granules
1 tsp Garlic Granules
½ tsp Cayenne Pepper

To Cook

French's Mustard (To Slather)
100 ml Apple Cider Vinegar
100 ml Cold Water

Instructions

Pork Belly Prep

Using a sharp knife, carefully remove the skin from the pork belly, making sure to leave a good layer of fat attached to the meat.
You can use the skin for pork scratchings!
Next, trim any excess fat from the pork belly. There should be an even covering of fat & it should be around 1 cm thick. If there's any thin bits of meat around the edge of the belly, trim/round these off as well as they'll colour too much in the smoker.
We're trimming the pork belly like you would a brisket. This means that there should be an even layer of fat & the meat should be trimmed to round the edges off. This makes it more aerodynamic & improves airflow in the smoker.
Once you've trimmed your pork belly, lightly score the fat with a sharp knife, in a criss cross pattern.

Rub & Slather

To make the rub, add all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl then stir to combine.
Next, coat the pork belly all over with a thin layer of French's mustard then cover completely with the rub. Let the pork sit out at room temperature whilst you light your smoker.
Alternatively, the pork belly can be left in the fridge overnight before being smoked.

Smoking

Light your smoker/barbecue & leave to preheat to 250°f/120°c. Make sure that your barbecue is set up for indirect cooking.
A good quality charcoal/wood makes all the difference here! I used a cherry wood charcoal & I added in a chunk of apple wood just before adding in the pork.
Once at temperature, place the pork belly fat side up into the barbecue & leave to cook undisturbed for 3 hours.
In the meantime, add the apple cider vinegar & water into a spray bottle then set aside. We'll be using this to spritz the pork.
After 3 hours have passed, spray the pork with the vinegar/water every 30 minutes until a deep bark has formed. At this point the internal temperature will be around 165°f/73°f.
This will roughly take another 2-3 hours.
Next, give the pork a good spray with the vinegar then wrap in butcher’s paper. Place back in the smoker (the same way up) & continue cooking until the pork probes soft like butter. Once cooked, the internal temperature of the pork will be between 195°f-200°f (90°c-93°c).
This will take another 2-4 hours of cooking (roughly).
Once cooked, wrap the pork belly in foil (still in the butcher's paper) then cover with a tea towel then leave to rest for at least an hour.
To serve, use a sharp knife to slice the pork belly against the grain. I like to slice mine into 1 cm thick slices.

Notes

1. Pork Belly – I used a 2.5kg boneless pork belly but this method of cooking will work with a bigger or smaller piece of belly. We’re removing the skin from the pork before smoking but you could ask your butcher to do this for you.

2. Smoker – Any type of charcoal or wood smoker/barbecue will work for this recipe as long as you can cook on it indirectly.

3. Charcoal – Using a good quality charcoal & wood makes all the difference when cooking barbecue. I used a cherry wood charcoal & a chunk of apple wood.

4. Rub – I made my own rub for this smoked pork belly but feel free to use a ready made rub if you’d prefer.

5. Spritz – Spraying the meat helps with bark formation but you don’t have to use apple cider vinegar. Apple juice or beer would be some other good options.

6. Internal Temperature – The best way to check if your pork belly is cooked, is by feel. If a food probe slides into the meat with little to no resistance, it’s ready. The internal temperature of the pork will be between 195°f-200°f (90°c-93°c) once it is cooked.

7. Resting – Make sure to rest the pork belly for at least 30 minutes before serving, although an hour long rest is best.

8. Storage – Any leftover pork belly needs to be stored in the fridge & is best eaten within a couple of days. The pork can also be stored in the freezer for several months.