Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends

By Todd Martin March 24, 2025 8 mins read 9 Views

Inspired by brisket burnt ends, this pork belly version starts with cubed meat right from the get-go, making it quicker to cook and easier to manage. The cubes are smoked to build a flavorful bark, then finished in a sweet, sticky sauce covered with foil until they’re melt-in-your-mouth tender.

Serve them as irresistible finger food, or pile them onto sliders and tacos for a crowd-pleasing meal.

Person holding a tray of smoked pork belly burnt ends, glistening with barbecue glaze and served on branded butcher paper outdoors.

What you need to make pork belly burnt ends

(Note: The full ingredient list with exact measurements is in the recipe card below—scroll down when you’re ready to prep!)

Pork belly – Look for skinless, evenly thick pork belly with good marbling. A 5lb slab will make enough for around 8 people.
BBQ rub – Our BBQ Pork Rub recipe has a perfect balance of sweet, smoky, and savory spices that help build a great bark and infuse flavor into the meat.
Yellow mustard – Acts as a binder to help the rub stick; it won’t affect the final flavor and helps build a better bark.
Apple Cider Vinegar – Used for spritzing to keep the pork moist and help develop bark during smoking.
Wrap ingredients – I use a mix of BBQ sauce, honey, and butter during the foil wrap stage, but you can experiment with different types of sauce and sweeteners. A splash of bourbon or hot sauce wouldn’t go amiss.

Aluminum tray containing a jar of honey, a bottle of sweet BBQ sauce, and a bowl of butter—ingredients for the pork belly burnt ends glaze. — You can experiment with different wrap ingredients so long as you have some kind of sauce, sweetness and a bit of butter.

In addition to those ingredients, you’ll also need aluminum foil pans with foil to wrap.

What are pork belly burnt ends?

If the name didn’t give it away, these burnt ends are made from pork belly, which is the same cut of meat most bacon is made from.

The high-fat content of pork belly acts similarly to the fat in brisket, which is where burnt ends traditionally come from.

Close-up of glazed pork belly burnt ends piled on butcher paper, showing crispy bark and a sticky, caramelized BBQ glaze in natural sunlight.

What makes burnt ends so special is the succulent fat content and how it renders throughout the meat during the low and slow cooking process. The crunch and texture of the outside pair well with the moist, buttery inside.

Tips for buying pork belly

For pork belly burnt ends, you want 4 to 5 lbs of pork belly with the skin off and a balanced meat-to-fat ratio. The center cut of pork belly has the best meat-to-fat ratio and makes excellent pork belly burnt ends.

You can also use pre-sliced pork belly, but I prefer to buy a whole slab so I can cut it to the exact size I want.

I picked up a 5lb pork belly from Costco for this recipe.

If you’re having trouble finding pork belly, you can find it through online craft butchers like Snake River Farms (get 15% off with code SMOKEDBBQ15).

You don’t even have to use pork belly, we have made amazing burnt ends with pork butt!

Tips & FAQs for Perfect Pork Belly Burnt Ends

Skin-on or skin-off pork belly? – Always go skin-off unless you’re making crispy pork belly burnt ends. The skin won’t render and will block the rub from penetrating. If you can’t buy it skinless, it’s easy enough to trim at home.
What’s the best smoking temp? – Stick between 225–250°F for the first few hours to build bark. Once you wrap, feel free to bump it up to 275–300°F to speed things up.
How long does the cook take? – Plan for about 5 hours total—3 hours unwrapped, then 2 hours wrapped and glazed. Always cook to temp, not time: 175°F before wrapping, 203–205°F to finish.
What wood should I use? – Fruit woods like apple, cherry, or pecan complement pork beautifully. For a bolder smoke, try oak or hickory—or blend woods to suit your taste.
Finishing uncovered – Remove the foil for the final 20–30 mins to caramelize the glaze.

How to make Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends

1. Fire up the Smoker

Preheat your smoker to 250°F.

I used my Traeger pellet grill with Pit Boss Cherry wood pellet blend for this cook. I’ve also made these on a charcoal smoker before, and they’ve turned out great.

2. Prep the pork

Cube your skinless pork belly into 1” – 2” cubes. A whole slab of pork belly can be tricky to cut into even slices, but our 12″ slicing knife made quick work of it.

Person slicing raw pork belly into cubes on a wooden cutting board, preparing the meat for smoked pork belly burnt ends.

Try and cut the cubes into uniform pieces so they cook evenly. You’ll always end up with some variation as the pork belly will run thicker in some parts than others. I cut these on the small size, you can definitely go larger.

Tray filled with evenly cubed raw pork belly, ready for seasoning and smoking, with a slicing knife resting on a wooden cutting board. — Cutting the meat into cubes allows for more surface area to apply rub and a crunchy bark to form on all sides of each piece.

I like to apply a few good squirts of yellow mustard and mix it well before adding the rub.

Person tossing cubed pork belly in a foil tray to evenly coat with yellow mustard, preparing it for seasoning and smoking.

I used our BBQ pork rub recipe. It’s a great balance of sweet, smokey, and a little heat, perfect for pork belly burnt ends. You can use whatever you have in your rub cupboard.

Give everything a good mix to ensure each cube is well coated. I like to hit them with a final rub dusting just before I put them on the smoker.

Person seasoning cubed pork belly in a foil tray using a spice shaker, preparing the meat for smoking after applying a mustard binder.

Pro tip: Use a wire rack to transfer your burnt ends easily on and off the smoker. A rack also makes it easy to rotate if your smoker runs hot in certain areas.

Person holding a wire rack loaded with seasoned pork belly cubes, ready to be placed in the smoker for burnt ends.

3. The Cook

Place the pork cubes on the smoker, leaving space around each piece for smoke and airflow. Don’t worry too much if it’s a little crowded, as the meat will shrink during the cook.

Seasoned pork belly cubes arranged on wire racks inside a smoker, beginning the first phase of cooking to develop bark for burnt ends. — If any pieces are looking under seasoned, now is a great time for one final rub application.

I like to spritz the pork belly burnt ends every hour or so with a mix of apple cider vinegar and water. You can also use apple juice or just water. It’s optional but I find it helps build a better bark.

You can grab our spritz bottle from our shop.

Pork belly burnt ends being spritzed with liquid inside a smoker, helping to keep them moist and develop bark during the smoking process. — Spritz anytime the pork looks dried out.

Smoke the pork belly pieces for three hours or until a dark mahogany bark has formed on the outside of each piece.

If your smoker runs hot anywhere, it would be a good idea to rotate the trays or re-arrange the cubes during the cook. I had to run to the store, so a couple of edge pieces got a little crispy.

Smoked pork belly burnt ends on wire racks inside a smoker, showing well-developed bark after several hours of cooking.

4. Time to sauce

After around three hours on the smoker the pork belly should have formed a dark, even bark on the surface, and the fat should be starting to render. They should be pliable, but feel firm if gently squeezed.

Transfer the pork belly to an aluminum foil pan (or two, depending on the size of your trays). Place pats of unsalted butter, honey (or brown sugar), and bbq sauce in the tray and lightly toss to mix through.

Honey being drizzled over smoked pork belly burnt ends in a foil tray, along with BBQ sauce, before covering and returning to the smoker to braise.

You can also apply a little extra rub if you have any left.

Two foil trays of pork belly burnt ends in a smoker, topped with BBQ sauce, honey, and pats of butter, ready to be covered and braised.

Cover the pan with foil and place back onto your smoker.

Two foil trays covered with aluminum foil inside a smoker, beginning the braising phase for pork belly burnt ends.

Smoke for another hour or until the pork belly reaches an internal temperature of around 205°F. During that hour, I like to give the tray a gentle shake to ensure that each piece is evenly coated in the sauce.

Two foil trays of pork belly burnt ends uncovered in the smoker, with a thick, caramelized glaze after the braising stage.

Remove the foil pan from the smoker and rest for 15 minutes before serving.

How to serve pork belly burnt ends

That’s it! If you followed this recipe, your pork belly should have transformed into glorious chunks of caramelized meat candy.

Overhead view of a foil tray filled with finished pork belly burnt ends, coated in a glossy barbecue glaze and served on branded butcher paper.

To serve you can leave them in the trays, or get a little fancy and plate them on a platter on some butcher paper and serve with toothpicks.

My favorite way to serve them is with slider buns, fresh slaw, and BBQ sauce, and have everyone make their own sliders.

Person assembling pork belly burnt end sliders at an outdoor table, with a tray of glazed burnt ends, brioche rolls, coleslaw, and BBQ sauce in view.

What to serve with pork belly burnt ends

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Quick Pickled Red Onions

Try these other burnt ends recipes

These pork belly burnt ends are guaranteed to steal the show at your next barbecue. If you gave this recipe a try, be sure to leave a rating and let us know how it turned out—we’d love to hear from you!

Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends

Tender cubes of pork belly, seasoned with BBQ rub and smoked low and slow until they’re sticky, caramelized, and irresistibly sweet and savory—true barbecue meat candy.

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 5

Total Time 5 10

Servings people

Calories 1618kcal

Author Joe Clements

Ingredients

5 lb whole pork belly skin/rind off
2 tbsp yellow mustard you can also use olive oil as a binder to help the rub stick.
6 tbsp Sweet pork bbq rub use any store-bought pork rub, or make a batch of our pork rub which is sweet with a hint of heat.
4 tbsp unsalted butter
⅓ cup Sweet BBQ Sauce use our homemade bbq sauce or your favorite store-bought sauce.
⅓ cup honey

Instructions

Preheat your smoker to 250°F. Use fruitwood like apple or cherry for a sweet, mellow smoke that pairs well with pork.
Cube the pork belly into 1–2 inch pieces. Try to keep them uniform for even cooking and caramelization.
Apply a binder (optional but recommended), such as yellow mustard olive oil, to lightly coat the pork belly cubes. This helps the rub stick better and builds a flavorful bark.
Season generously with your BBQ rub. Place the cubes in a large bowl and toss until each piece is evenly coated on all sides.
Smoke for 3 hours, spritzing every 60 minutes. This helps keep the surface moist and encourages bark development.
Transfer to a foil pan once the internal temp hits about 175°F. Add a few pats of butter, a sprinkle of brown sugar, a drizzle of honey, and your favorite BBQ sauce. Cover the pan tightly with foil.
Return to the smoker and continue cooking for one hour or until the internal temperature reaches 203–205°F and the pork cubes are tender, caramelized, and sticky.
Uncover the pan, stir the burnt ends to evenly coat in the sauce, and smoke uncovered for 15–30 minutes to allow the sauce to reduce and glaze the pork for that sticky, glossy finish.
Remove from the smoker and let rest for 10–15 minutes before serving as-is, in sandwiches, or alongside your favorite BBQ sides.