Bone In Pork Belly/Ribs Cut - Need help, lunch tomorrow!!!

Hi everyone,

Thanks for taking the time to help me out with this dilemma. Lunch is due on the table tomorrow, today is Sunday, shops closing early, and bank holiday tomorrow so really need some cooking advice pretty quick if possible!! :decision:

You'll see from the photos that I have bought Ribs with the belly attached. The butcher at the farm I bought them from this morning persuaded me to keep it on, and since I was paying for pork belly weight, I thought I would find recipes/guidance when I got home. Been struggling to find some concrete advice/method though.

I have 4 of these cuts, and want to smoke them all at the same time on my Weber One Touch Premium, Smokenator attached, using apple wood chunks over approx 5hrs. They would be placed up on the Hovergrill - as long as they all fit on, otherwise on the standard grill level too. Have found that if I have meat on both Hovergrill and main grill, the cooking time is slower for the meat on the standard grill height, so would like to try to squeeze the up top if I can.

My standard procedure for the spare ribs would be to dry rub using BBQ Pit Boys regular pork rub, then smoke for several hours topping up water (I usually put a couple of wood chunks in with the unlit coals, as well as on top of the lit ones so I don't really need to worry about adding more as I go - they can sometimes be a pain to fit through the holes in the Smokenator!), and basting with home made BBQ sauce once an hour.

This was my first smoke a few years ago and just loved the way they turned out! http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115962

I managed to buy a Maverick ET-732 a month ago and found it to be a great device. So will use it to monitor the grill and meat temps throughout the cook.

So, what I need to know:

1) Can I prep it the same way as I do for ribs?
2) Longer cooking time?
3) What temp should I be going for internally?
4) Any other good advice? Can't really afford to replace and/or re-cook these if I screw it up!!

Cooking for quite a few neighbours, so the heat is on!!!

Unzippy:

They look nice. How long did that take to smoke? Same as regular ribs? I'm thinking 5 hrs at 250 F. I don't usually foil or juice. Just baste with sauce every hour and they're nice and juicy.

Ok,

Have taken on board the advice.

Been smoking for 6 hours now in between 250-275. A good portion of that was at 265.

Went for my usual dry rub, locked it in with clips for a solid 3 hour burn. Alarm went off since the temp spiked up due to the water pan running dry. Other than that just topped up the water twice more, couple chunks of apple wood and few coals. Been mopping when opening too. Probably opened only 3 times in total.

Internal temp is currently 175. Gonna let it run dry and let the temp rise for a final sizzle for 40mins - 1hr. Then pull, rest and serve.

Also smoking whole chicken legs and of course some home made burgers.

Will post back with pron when done!!

FINAL PHOTOS - Pron Alert!!

Ok, finally managed to grab a moment to upload the evidence of my work yesterday.

Had two Weber 22.5 Premiums on the go. One smoking the rib/pork belly joint for 7 hours, the other grilling the chicken and burgers indirect reverse sear style (since doing this, the burgers are way, way juicier). I did have four of the rib/belly cuts, but was a little apprehensive about cramming the bbq, so left them for the next cook.

Insatiable guests, they feasted and gorged on the lot. Just have a couple of chicken legs and burgers left, so I'm happy there are photos to look back on!

The rib/belly joint was (thanks to advice from the Brethren) scored, rubbed and barbecued higher than I would normally do the ribs, at approx 265 for 3 hours, with a full pan of water, a few lumps of Firespice Apple wood chunks and sealed tight with clips around lid to minimise temp spikes/fluctuation.

After 3 hours, internal meat temp was around 150. I did forget about the meat whilst preparing the other food, but thanks to my Maverick the alarm went off as the grill temp soared past 275 and I quickly replenished the water pan, added four unlit coals, two more wood chunks, basted with the BBQ sauce I made and sealed tight again (that little device has helped me relax so much more with the long smokes!).

After approx 5 hours, the meat temp was now 170. I wanted to hit 180, so kept going for another hour after a quick water top up and mop.

6 hours in, internal temp was 180, but thought I'd experiment a little. Mopped a final time but left the pan dry and allowed grill temp to slowly drift up to 290 - it was probably 275 for approx 40mins, final 20 at 290/300. The idea was to dry out the bark a little.

7 hours - Meat temp 183, removed, cut into standard rib strips, rested in oven at 200F for 20 mins whilst I finished the burgers.

Although the pictures may lead you to believe the bark had been sauced right before serving, it was in fact dry to the touch, just a little tacky. Smoke flavour had permeated the meat perfectly, would love to have seen a bit more of the pink ring effect, but it sure tasted good!! Most of the fat had melted through the cut nicely. Served it sliced and everyone loved the texture/flavour. Good enough for me.

I really don't think I would go back to the standard ribs again after trying this cut. Especially since the organic farm I get it from cuts it however I want. There was so much more meat. Same depth of flavour. And I doubt I would make bacon from the belly anyway. Low and slow is the way to go!