Smoked pork belly sandwich with homemade aïoli

• Remove the rind from the pork belly by making sure to leave as much fat as possible on the meat. You can also ask your butcher to do it for you but by doing it yourself, you have control! Make criss-cross incisions on the fat side, about 0.5cm deep. ( I am the kind of guy to freeze the rind and to use it in my next asian soup! What an awesome base this fatty pork is! )
• Place the pork in a big and solid ziploc bag. Add the spices along with the maple syrup and beer then season with lots of salt and pepper. Close bag and shake well ( so that spices go everywhere ) then throw in fridge for 12 hours! Flip from times to times.
• Prepare the aïoli. Mix all the ingredients in a big bowl then put in fridge until eating time. It gets better when chilled for a couple of hours so don’t be afraid to do it in advance!
• It is now time to cook the meat! Open a big cold beer and make sure you have plenty of others in the fridge. Lit up your smoker with your favorite chimney. Personnally, I use the Weber Rapidfire himney because it is huge and very sturdy. I started by lighting about 20 charcoals. ( I’ll add some more later if needed ). Fully open vents and let heat crank up until 250°F.
• Remove pork from bag and shake off liquid. Put the belly in the middle of your smoker ( or on indirect heat ) fat side up. Close lid and let cook for 3 to 5 hours! Very important to keep the temperature between 225 and 250°F at all time. Of course, cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the meat. Dinner will be ready when internal temperature will reach 150°F ( check it at various spots ).
• During the cooking, do not forget to smoke your meat by adding a handful of wood chips every hour. Simply throw the chips on the hot charcoals and close the door. It’s so pretty when it’s smoking!
• When cooking is over, remove the pork belly from the smoker and wrap it in aluminiun foil. Let rest for 15 minutes.
• Cut the pork in 1 cm slices and remove fat as much as possible. Cut in cubes and set aside!
• It is now time to assemble your sandwich! Spread about 2 tablespoons of aïoli sauce in a pita then add a handful of pork cubes. Add some tomatoes, salad, cucumbers then some slices of red oignons then VOILÀ! You now have a crazy meal right in front of you!

***Note : After reading many articles and doing plenty of tests, I do not soak my wood chips in water. The wood barely absorbs any liquid and doesn’t add any positive effects. It only starts smoking once all the water evaporated! On the other side, this can be useful if you plan on smoking your meat for a long time. Mix some dry and soaked wood chips and the wet wood should start smoking once the dry one is burned out!