10/6/2020 – Smoked in the MES a fresh 4.25 lb. pork belly bought at Alabama Speciality Meats. Trimmed off the skin and the loose ends of fat. There was a thin end that was removed to not have it overcook. It will become tasso. This smoke turned out ok but not really different from a smoked shoulder.

At 2:30 PM the day, we before dry brined it lightly with no-iodine table salt–as 6POGS has some salt–and rubbed it heavily with 6POGS.

Dried the mesquite pellets in the microwave as usual but after 3.5 minutes they began to smolder. Made a bad smell and Mary was not pleased. That meant when they went into the tray there was a large area smoking and they burned out a lot faster than they should have.

7:00 AM – Put it into the preheated MES running at 250° based on the ChefWorks temp probe.

10:30 – The mesquite pellets burned out and the IT ranges around 150. Pulled them, wrapped in foil, and finished in the oven at 300° with the ovens probe set for 195°.

12:00 – The alarm sounded. Pulled the wrap back and it is not tender. Put it back in with the probe in a new spot but near the first. It read 187° which was odd that it should have been close to 195°. Set the alarm to the max; i.e. 200°.

~1:00 PM – The alarm sounded with the IT probe reaching 200. It was still not tender as I thought it should be. Put it back in with oven set at 275 and the timer at 20 minutes.

The thin small piece that had been heavily seasoned with 6POGS–before and after pulling from the MES– was tender and VERY spicy. Let it cool some and chopped it for the jambalaya Mary is making for me to have while she is in Houston for Rose’s 80th birthday. She leaves tomorrow.

1:20 PM – The meat barely passes the twisting-fork test. Wrapped it tight to sit for a while.