Lauren Nagel's Big Green Egg Smoked Pork Belly

"Throw down some delicious keto-friendly pork belly for the melt- in-your-mouth combination of bacon-like goodness mixed with that signature crispy, flavor-packed skin for the perfect bite. Pork belly is an inexpensive, fatty cut of meat from the underside of the pig near the loin. Spareribs also come from this area. Whole, the belly is one long piece with the skin on, weighing about 12 pounds. When the skin is removed, it’s salted, cured, and smoked to make bacon.

There is something truly empowering about lighting up the Big Green Egg and cooking anything from a gourmet platter full of smoked artichokes with whipped feta to smoking pork belly. The EGG allows you to immerse yourself in your cooking in a way an oven doesn’t, not to mention how incredible the food smells and tastes!"
~ Lauren Nagel, Founder, Bon Appeteach and Big Green Egger

Read all about Lauren in the current issue of Nourish and Flourish.
Ingredients
1 slab of pork belly
2-4 tablespoons of  Kosher salt
4 tablespoons all purpose Keto BBQ rub (or your rub of choice)
2 teaspoons olive oil

Method
Start by patting the pork belly dry. The dryer the better. Using a knife, score the fat cap and skin on an angle to create a grid ½ inch wide.
Salt the outside of the skin generously with the kosher salt, being sure to get it into the cracks and grooves. Place it on a baking sheet and leave it unwrapped and in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight to dry the skin out. 

Remove from the fridge and wipe off the excess salt. Lightly oil the entire piece of pork belly and coat on all sides with the all purpose BBQ rub (or your rub of choice). Place on a cooling rack over a baking sheet or foil pan to catch the fat drippings.

Fire up the Big Green Egg to 350°F set for indirect heat and smoke for 2 hours. Around that 2-hour mark, bump up the heat to around 425-450°F to finish off the skin. Let it cook for another 30-45 minutes and remove from the EGG.

Rest, tented in foil for 10-15 minutes and use the scored grooves to slice into pieces and serve!

Notes:
Crispy skin is the goal here and that is all achieved in the prep. Salting the skin is imperative to drawing out the moisture. Avoid rubs with lots of sugar because it will caramelize and burn at a higher cooking temp. Always smoke the pork belly fat cap side up.

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