I just got back from a trip to Sam's and they had two kinds of Pork Belly. One was the normal large slab and the other looked to be about half a slab or so but they had sliced it into strips that were a little over 2/3 of an inch wide. That's what I would call extra thick bacon. I bought one and it has 10 strips with a total of 4.2 pounds. Now I've got to figure out what to do with it. Any ideas? I would like to use SconnieQ's dry cure but since these are cut into these extra thick slices I'm not sure if I need to adjust the cure in some way. Also, how does this change to smoking process? Would I spread them out or kinda push them all back together to make a slab again. Temperature probe is a bit of a problem if I spread them out because they are only 2/3 of an inch thick. Too many unknowns for this newbie. Maybe I should have left them at Sam's for someone else but I know you folks can help me.
Port Belly from Sam's
- Thread starter BBinMO
- Start date
SconnieQ
New member
I would only make bacon with a larger hunk (around 3-5 pound minimum). You can make delicious braised pork belly from what you have though. Braise in the oven with a little liquid for a few hours until VERY tender. Then chill, sear, and use on a sandwich. Check the internet for "braised pork belly" recipes, like Chinese red pork, or other asian inspired braises, like for pork belly buns (David Chang, etc.) Generally these recipes start with larger pieces of pork, but you can braise your slices and come out with a pretty good product.
