Pineapple Bourbon Pork Belly Burnt Ends are the perfect BBQ appetizer to serve up at your next gathering.
Juicy smoked pork belly, coated in a sweet, stick pineapple bourbon BBQ sauce makes for the perfect bite.
Be sure to give this recipe a try the next time you’re looking to upgrade the flavors in your BBQ game.
Ingredients you will need
Meat: Skinless pork belly
Seasoning: BBQ rub, yellow mustard (binder)
Spritz: Fresh pineapple juice
Sauce: Pineapple juice, crushed pineapple, ketchup, corn starch, honey, sesame oil, Worcestershire, ginger paste, garlic powder, bourbon
How to make Pineapple Bourbon Pork Belly Burnt Ends
Preparing the pork belly
Preheat your smoker to 225°F and use apple wood for a sweet smokey flavor.
Cube the slab of pork belly into 1.5 x 1.5 inch cubes with a sharp knife.
Coat each piece of pork belly with yellow mustard. This serves as a binder to help the seasoning stick to the meat.
Generously season them on all sides with your favorite BBQ rub. You can also add a coating of SPG (salt, black pepper and garlic powder) if you want some black pepper taste.
Place the pork belly fat side down on a wire rack/cooling rack to help prevent the pork belly from sticking to the wire rack. Placing them on a wire rack makes it easier when transporting them to and from the smoker during the cook.
Smoking the pork belly
Place the wire rack filled with pork belly directly on the grill grates then let them smoke at 225 degrees f for 2.5 hours. Spritz them every hour with fresh pineapple juice to help build up some nice bark.
Put the pork belly in a disposable aluminum foil pan with 3 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of light brown sugar. Cover the pan with aluminum foil then place the pan back on the smoker for an additional 45 minutes.
Homemade Pineapple Bourbon BBQ Sauce
Next, put together the homemade pineapple bourbon BBQ sauce. Combine the ingredients in a pot then mix and cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes until fully combined and thickened. If you want to save time, you can skip this step and use your favorite BBQ sauce.
Uncover the disposable aluminum pan then add in the bbq sauce and mix so all of the pork belly is coated. Let the pork belly cook for an additional 15 minutes to help thicken the sauce.
Remove the pan from the smoker once the pork belly is probe tender and it reach an internal temperature of 200° F.
Serve them warm and enjoy!
Looking for other pork belly recipes?
Be sure to check out some of my favorite recipes below!
Cherry Bourbon Pork Belly Burnt Ends: Smoked pork belly that coated in a sweet cherry bourbon sauce. The flavor profile on this goes great with pork!
Smoked Pork Belly Pig Shots: Bacon wrapped bacon. What more do I need to say?
Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends; Tender, juicy pork belly that’s been smoked to absolute perfection. AKA meat candy, it’s tossed in a sweet BBQ sauce for one of the most delicious bites out there.
Viral Crispy Pork Belly with Guacamole: Crispy, smoky pork belly that’s dipped in guacamole. This was a trend on social media for a good reason!
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Pineapple Bourbon Pork Belly Burnt Ends
Pineapple Bourbon Pork Belly Burnt Ends are the perfect appetizer! Smoked pork belly coated in sweet, sticky Pineapple BBQ sauce.
- Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 24 burnt ends 1x
Ingredients
- 3 pounds of pork belly
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard
- 3 tbsp BBQ rub
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce
Pineapple Bourbon BBQ Sauce
- 1 cup of pineapple juice
- 4 tbsp ketchup
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp honey,
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp Worcestershire
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp dried garlic powder
- 1/2 cup crushed pineapple
- 4 oz of bourbon
Instructions
- Preheat your smoker to 225°F and use apple wood for a sweet smokey flavor.
- Cube the pork belly into 1.5 x 1.5 inch cubes.
- Use yellow mustard as a binder to coat the pork belly cubes then season them with a BBQ rub.
- Place the pork belly on the smoker at 225°F for 2.5 hours. Spritz them every hour with 1 cup of pineapple juice.
- Put the pork belly in an aluminum foil pan with 3 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp of brown sugar. Cover the pan with aluminum foil then place them back on the smoker for an additional 45 minutes.
- Combine ingredients for homemade bbq sauce,
- Uncover the pan the last 15 minutes then add in bbq sauce.
- Remove from the smoker once they reach 200° F.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
