Smoked Pork Belly

I said it once and I will say it again. I am a sucker for pork belly. If I see it on the menu, there is a 99% chance I will order it. Amber was doing the Whole30 diet the month of June. I wanted to support her and chose to participate as well. The diet only lets you eat meat, fruits, and vegetables. Basically we could not eat anything processed, sugar, dairy, bread, legumes, nor drink alcohol. Lame. Not being able to eat bacon for breakfast was going to be an issue. You can buy uncured bacon, but it is hard to find ones without sugar. If you do find it, you pay a premium for it. I recently saw that Costco sold slabs of pork belly. I took this opportunity to smoke my own pork belly.

The slab from Costco weighed over nine pounds, and there was no skin. I did not have to remove the skin, but then I could not make cracklings. Catch-22. I did not have time to cure the belly plus it adds a lot of salt. I rubbed the meat down with coarse black pepper and Hawaiian sea salt for added color. The next time I am smoking a pork belly, I will be more liberal with the seasoning. Probably apply the rub until I see nothing but black. I asked and looked around to see what the finishing internal temperature should be. It ranged from 160 degrees to over 200. I did not want to risk having pulled pork if I went too high. My goal was to hit 175. The meat was in an oak smoke bath for eight hours.

I let the belly rest for about 30 minutes before I cut into it. Once I started cutting, I could not stop eating. It was so tasty. The meat was rich and smoky. I finally stopped eating long enough to section the slab into 3 pieces. One was for breakfast. Another for the next part of this post. The other? No idea? Any suggestions? I sliced the section for breakfast thin. They were easy to crisp up in a frying pan and was great every morning I ate them. I thought this smoking adventure was a success.

I love me some bacon burnt ends from Heim Barbecue. I also saw that Pappa Charlies was doing char sui pork belly as specials. I decided to combine both ideas into one. I grew up eating a lot of Chinese BBQ and well you know my affinity for Texas BBQ. The perfect combo. You can find char sui sauce at your local Asian market. The one I bought was from Lee Kum Kee and came in an eight ounce jar. I cubed up about three pounds of the cold smoked pork belly and covered it with the sauce. I gave it about two hours worth of smoke to get the internal temperature to 195 degrees.

Damn. The pieces were fantastic. They were sweet, sticky, and smoky. There was a ton of flavor. I ate them with a bowl of rice and was happy as a clam. I would make those again for sure. I might play with different flavors first, the next time I do bacon burnt ends.

Until next time, happy smoking...

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Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar-B-Q (First Impression)

At last, I have come to the final stop of the day on my East Texas barbecue tour. I started at Bodacious and continued to Joseph's Riverport. I actually stopped at Country Tavern in Kilgore but only got the baby back ribs. They were saucy and were not bad at all. I was by myself and was extremely full after that. I checked into my hotel in Tyler and hung out for a little bit. I headed to Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar-B-Q around 6:30 for dinner. There was a short wait.

When I arrived at the front of the line, I ordered the Four Meat Sampler Plate. I got moist brisket, baby back pork ribs, pulled pork, and turkey. The turkey was one of the better ones I have eaten. It had a nice flavor and was very juicy. I could not resist the sweet and saucy baby back pork ribs. With every bite, I wanted more. The tender, moist rib meat came away nicely from the bone. I probably should have ordered a half rack of them and called it a day. The pulled pork was fine. It was a little dry and lackluster in flavor though. I received lean brisket instead of moist. I could not eat it. It was dry as a desert. I went back to the counter and asked for moist. It was a little bit better. I am chalking up the quality to me being there later in the day. Before the Red Dirt BBQ & Music Festival the next day, I came back to get the Mother Clucker. It is a spiked and smoked chicken thigh filet with spicy BBQ mayo, cheddar cheese, topped with an over easy fried egg and served on toasted jalapeno cheese sourdough. I upgraded mine with house-made guacamole and candied bacon and made it a Cadillac Clucker. Holy hell! It was delicious. I ate all of it at the expense of my Red Dirt experience. The depth of flavors, the textures... Man o man.

Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar-B-Q is on the Texas Monthly Top 50 list. They must be doing something right. I guess I just went at the wrong time for brisket. I need to come back during lunch time. It is hard because I want to go back to Bodacious and Joseph's Riverport as well. The ribs, turkey, and the Mother Clucker were outstanding. They have quite a few good things going. Until next year. Grade: N/A

Until next time, happy smoking...

Address: 525 S Beckham Ave, Tyler, TX 75702
Phone: 903.593.0311
Website: http://stanleysfamous.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stanleysfamous
Twitter: https://twitter.com/stanleysfamous

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Evie Mae's Pit Barbecue (Revisit)

My wife's family lives in Lubbock, and I dread that trip every time we go. There is no good barbecue in the area until recently. I think I am more excited to go to Lubbock than my wife now. Evie Mae's Pit Barbecue moved into a brick and mortar location a few months ago. They were having their grand opening celebration over the July 4th weekend which we were invited to. We were due for a trip to see Amber's family, and the timing could not be more perfect. Here are some pictures of the new location and from the event:

Congratulations to one of the nicest couple you will ever meet. They are also planning to expand into the space next door for more seating and opening a bakery. About 300 people showed up to the grand opening event. It was a good time, and there was a lot of tasty barbecue to eat. They smoked four whole pigs for it. Thanks to Arnis and Mallory Robbins for having Amber and me. I wish them good luck. I will be sure to stop in every time we are in town.

Until next time, happy smoking...

Address: 217 Highway 62, Wolfforth, TX 79382
Phone: (806) 782-2281
Website: http://www.eviemaesbbq.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvieMaesBarbecue
Twitter: https://twitter.com/eviemaesbbq

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