Experience the unique flavors of Al Pastor Pork Belly Burnt Ends brought to life by Chef Tom on the Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill!
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Choosing between cubing before or after the smoke: Offering two methods — cube-then-smoke or smoke-then-cube — lets you pick based on whether you want more marinade surface area on individual pieces or a simpler single slab to manage on the smoker.
- Reserving extra marinade for other uses: Making more Al Pastor marinade than the recipe needs means leftovers are ready for a future taco night on chicken, fish, or vegetables, instead of the marinade being a single-use component.
- Building the BBQ sauce from the same marinade: Blending a portion of the Al Pastor marinade into the barbecue sauce ties the glaze's flavor directly back to what seasoned the pork, so the two components taste like one dish instead of two separate flavors stacked together.
- Returning to the grill after saucing: Tossing the tender pork in sauce and smoking it another 30 minutes tacks the glaze onto the surface, building a sticky, caramelized exterior that saucing at the very end and serving immediately wouldn't achieve.
Al Pastor Pork Belly Burnt Ends
Tom Jackson
Rated 4.2 stars by 5 users
Category
Entree
Cuisine
American
Servings
30
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
5 hours 3 minutes
Calories
607
Chef Tom fires up the Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill for a delicious fusion of barbecue flavors with this recipe for Al Pastor Pork Belly Burnt Ends!
Ingredients
- 6 lb skin-off pork belly
-
Cattleman’s Grill 8 Second Ride Carne Asada Seasoning
-
Killer Hogs TX Brisket Rub
- 1 (3.5 oz) packages Achiote paste
- 6 tbsp (3.5 oz) chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (chiles and sauce)
- 3 tbsp orange juice
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
-
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
-
1 cup Firebug Mild Grillin’ Sauce
- 1 cup diced pineapple
- 1/3 cup Al Pastor Marinade
For the Al Pastor Marinade: Yield = 1 1/4 cups
For the Al Pastor BBQ Sauce: Yield = 2 cups
Directions
- Preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill to 250ºF, set up for smoking.
- To prepare the Al Pastor Marinade, combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth.
Method #1: Cube then Smoke
- Slice the pork belly into 2” cubes. Toss in Al Pastor marinade to coat generously. You won’t need all of the marinade for this recipe. You’ll use more in the Al Pastor BBQ Sauce, but save the rest for your next taco night. The marinade can be used on chicken, pork, fish and veggies before grilling.
- Season the cubed pork with Cattleman’s Grill 8 Second Ride Carne Asada Seasoning and Killer Hogs TX Brisket Rub on all sides.
- To make transferring the pork in/out of the smoker easier, load the cubed pork onto a wire jerky rack, spaced evenly. Transfer to the second shelf of the smoker.
- Smoke the pork until very tender, about 200ºF internal temperature, about 5 hours.
- Meanwhile, prepare the Al Pastor BBQ Sauce. Combine all ingredients in the Vitamix Blender and blend until smooth.
- Remove the rack of cubed pork belly from the grill. Place pork in a foil pan and toss with just enough Al Pastor BBQ Sauce to coat the surfaces. Spread the cubes out evenly and return to the grill. Cook another 30 minutes to tack up the sauce. Remove from the grill and serve with additional Al Pastor BBQ Sauce on the side.
Method #2: Smoke then Cube
- Generously coat the entire slab (or slabs) of pork belly in the Al Pastor marinade. You won’t need all of the marinade for this recipe. You’ll use more in the Al Pastor BBQ Sauce, but save the rest for your next taco night. The marinade can be used on chicken, pork, fish and veggies before grilling.
- Season the slab(s) of pork with Cattleman’s Grill 8 Second Ride Carne Asada Seasoning and Killer Hogs TX Brisket Rub on all sides.
- Transfer to the second shelf of the smoker.
- Smoke the pork until very tender, about 200ºF internal temperature, about 5 hours.
- Meanwhile, prepare the Al Pastor BBQ Sauce. Combine all ingredients in the Vitamix Blender and blend until smooth.
- Remove the pork belly from the grill. Slice into bite sized cubes. Place cubed pork in a foil pan and toss with just enough Al Pastor BBQ Sauce to coat the surfaces. Spread the cubes out evenly and return to the grill. Cook another 30 minutes to tack up the sauce. Remove from the grill and serve with additional Al Pastor BBQ Sauce on the side.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Which method should I use — cube-then-smoke, or smoke-then-cube?
Cubing first exposes more surface area to the marinade and seasoning on every piece, while smoking the whole slab first is simpler to manage on the grill and still lets you cube the tender pork afterward. Both reach the same result — pick whichever fits how you want to handle the pork belly.
Why make more Al Pastor marinade than the recipe actually needs?
The extra marinade isn't wasted — it's reserved for a future taco night on chicken, fish, or vegetables, so making a bigger batch upfront saves you from blending a fresh one later.
Why blend reserved marinade into the barbecue sauce instead of using a plain BBQ sauce?
Mixing in a portion of the same Al Pastor marinade ties the sauce's flavor directly back to what seasoned the pork, so the glaze and the meat read as one cohesive dish instead of two separate flavors layered together.
Why toss the pork in sauce and put it back on the grill instead of saucing it right before serving?
Returning the sauced pork to the smoker for another 30 minutes tacks the glaze onto the surface, building a sticky, caramelized exterior that simply saucing and serving immediately wouldn't produce.
What internal temperature should the pork belly actually reach?
This recipe smokes it to about 200°F, well above the USDA minimum of 145°F for whole-muscle pork. That higher target is what breaks down the pork belly into a tender, burnt-ends texture — not a food safety requirement, since it clears the safety bar much earlier in the cook.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
1 out of 5 — this is a multi-hour smoke built around a pellet grill's low, steady heat and wood smoke. An oven can render the pork belly tender, but you'll lose the bark and smoke flavor that define this dish.
Recipe Highlights
Two prep methods: Cube-then-smoke or smoke-then-cube, depending on preference.
Reserved marinade: Extra batch doubles as a ready-to-use marinade for future meals.
Marinade-blended sauce: Ties the glaze's flavor back to the pork itself.
Second smoke after saucing: Tacks the glaze into a sticky, caramelized exterior.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 3.45 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 607
- Carbs
- 1 grams
- Protein
- 10 grams
- Fat
- 61 grams
- Sodium
- 258 milligrams
