Smoked Pork Belly with Cherry Wood

Instructions

1. Start off by scoring the skin of the pork. A sharp knife is recommended. Do not cut down to the meat, just the skin and very little into the fat. Make your cuts about ¼ to ½ inch wide.
2. Begin preheating grill. Make sure you use enough charcoal because this is about a 3 hour cook for this size of pork belly. We are indirectly smoking this, so make sure you have coals to one side, leaving room not over coals to smoke. We are shooting for a high temp of around 450-500°F for the initial roast. Once coals are to desired temp, the belly should be good with the brine process.
3. In a hotel pan (or any pan big enough to submerge the pork belly), place in 2 cloves of garlic and half the rosemary. Then to pork belly, along with one liter of the apple juice (or enough to cover the pork).
4. Place pan in refrigerator and brine for an 30 min. to an hour.
5. Remove pork belly from brine and pat dry. Liberally spread the some kosher salt on the skin, followed by enough oil to coat the skin as well. Message that salt and oil into the skin well, so that it reaches into our score marks. Then sprinkle a light layer of black pepper on the meat side.

   

6. Use the rest of the garlic and rosemary to place in the roasting pan. Place the pork belly on a pan with a roasting rack, skin side up, and place on the grill, not over the coals. Pour the rest of the apple juice in the pan below the pork to keep moist.
7. Cook on the high heat for an hour to help crisp up the skin. Then choke your heat down to 225°F for the rest of the cook. Which is about 2 hours. Rotate the pork at this time to ensure evenness of the cook.
8. Go ahead and probe your belly with an internal thermometer. Looking for a temp of around 180-200°F.
9. Once to that temp range, pull from grill and let rest for about 15 min.
10. Slice thin to medium size and enjoy!