Grilling is an art, not a science. How do you put a time limit on art? When someone asks me – how long did that take to smoke? I always answer until it was done. It is not about time – it is about the art of getting the food to be where you want it. The art of achieving that delectable bite you have patiently waited for (or maybe impatiently).
Some of our meals have been extremly late – like the stubborn pork butt that stalled twice as long as usual. Other times, so quick we don’t have sides ready – like Thanksgiving turkey a few years back. But on that rare occasion, when luck and timing is on your side, everything aligns perfectly.
Since perfect alignment of time and luck is a rare occasion especially with low and slow meals, I always plan an appetizer or two to “hold us over” for the main event. Stuffed mushrooms, jalapeno poppers, armadillo eggs are all favorites to take the edge off our growling tummies. But recently the many requests for Pig Candy have taken over. Pig Candy now holds the number one spot at our house, unseating jalapeno popper’s long time reign as King of Appetizers. What?!?! You don’t know about Pig Candy? Well, let me show you…
The great thing about this is it cooks low and slow to render the fat, and it is kin to bacon! Who doesn’t love bacon chunks, seasoned and sauced in delicious little bites? Since it cooks low and slow and it is made with smaller bits of meat, it works well with the longer cooks.
Prep is super easy. Start with a pork belly – Costco sells belly by the slab or you can buy it already sliced into thick pieces. If you buy the slab belly, you will want to use a very sharp knife to slice into very thick pieces. Then you will slice each thick piece into chunks about an inch or inch and half wide. Just remember the wider you go the longer it will take to render and be ready. You could also go smaller – maybe a half inch wide to render (and eat!) faster.
I guess I have assumed you know about rendering fat, if you don’t essentially what you are doing is cooking the meat slowly to melt the white, fatty portion of the belly in to golden crispy bits. When you fry bacon in a skillet, you are rendering the fat by cooking it into the crispy strips.
Once you have selected and cut the size of your chunks, toss it liberally with your favorite rub. We like Kosmos Killer Bee Honey, Meat Church Holy Voodoo or Meat Church Honey Hog. Sometimes I will do a mix of the two Meat Church rubs. I like to let the combination meld together for a bit, then season liberally again before putting them on the grill. Once they have rendered and crisped, remove them from the grill, place in a clean bowl and sauce with your favorite sauce. I have to be honest, I rarely get to do any saucing. As soon as I am seen pulling them from the grill to sauce, they start disappearing.
If, by chance, you DO manage to sauce them, return the Pig Candy to the grill until you get the sticky glaze that you are looking for. I’m sure you have noticed by now, I haven’t given any times because….
Grilling is an art and true art does not have time limits.