Pork belly burnt ends straight off the MAK

Morsels of meat candy... or should I call them meat crack... lol.

Really an easy cook... Bought an 11 lb pork belly at Costco. Removed 80% of the fat cap. Probably won’t do that next time as I absolutely love the bits of rendered fat. Cubed it into 1” squares. Applied rub and placed on the MAK at 245°. Started spritzing at the 90 min mark and every 40-45 mins thereafter. Kept the exterior moist during the cooking process. Cooked them for about 7 hours at that temp until I had the color I wanted. At that point they were all sitting around 160° which kind of surprised me. I was expecting them closer to 180°. Needing to hurry things along, I decided to apply the glaze and place in the pan... I then kicked the MAK to 300° for about 60-75 mins. That took them to about 200° and they were probing like butter. The glaze consisted of Kinder’s organic BBQ sauce/raw organic honey/apple juice. I like to dilute the glaze down to a runny syrup like consistency. I tossed the meat in the glaze which was in a large bowl and then placed each piece in the aluminum pan you see pictured. You don’t want them sitting in a puddle of glaze when you start the “burnt ends” process. Glaze them and finish them... not braise them [emoji846]

SweetHeatBBQnSC said:

those look excellent...what type of rub?

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Thanks bud. Used my fave low n slow rub... Texas BBQ Grand Champion. Love that and their Original rub. The original is a bit more peppery, but both are sooooo good on low n slow cooked meats.

Crispy Bacon said:

Those look awesome. I love that grill. Do you ever wish that it was just a little bit wider? Just wondered.

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Great question... and I have had that thought go through my mind a million times. Would I like a wider grill surface? For smoking, the MAK has plenty of room with it multi grate setup. I can cook for an army. For grilling, there are times when I “think” I’d like a wider grilling surface, but then I step back and scratch my head for a second only to be reminded that...
-I cook for no less than 9 when I grill, and I have maxed out the cooker many times, I have never really needed more room.
-With one center heat source, it only makes sense that one of the reasons I love grilling on the MAK so much is that the Funnel Flame Zone intensifies the heat AND the smaller cooking chamber allows for incredibly intense heat as it more contained. It’s also a super even heat. I fear that much of that would be lost with added cooking real estate.

Bottom line, I have come to really appreciate the size of the MAK lineup... and although I have hit the limit when grilling I have never found myself to be needing more when grilling for 10-12 people. Worse case, I cook 2 rounds of something, but that almost never happens.

When cooking hot n fast for the masses, I have my 6 burner Camp Chef griddle... now that thing can whip up a mess of food like nobodies business... lol.