I smoked the pork belly today (with Hickory pellets). It was A great day to smoke. When done, I rested on counter for an hour, so that it cooled, and then placed it into a zip lock back in the refrigerator. Here's what it looks like...
Observations...
Observations...
- Outside temp was 50-65˚F during smoking.
- Although set for 165˚F, the lowest setting, the Traeger was running hotter.
- Traeger temperature reported for the smoking chamber was showing ~188-199˚F throughout the process (23-34˚F higher).
- Probe I had placed inside (after the second hour), at grate level, near the front, was reporting 180-188˚F (~15-23˚F higher). After cooking, I moved it to the center and the reading seemed to be closer to 180-185˚F (though not for that long). So I suspect it may depend on location.
- I checked smoker temp once before, and don't recall it being too far off, but it was bouncing a lot due to the single digit outside temps back then. I'll have to check again, and with other temps than the unit's min temp. I have a feeling it can't hold that low of a temp.
- Given the temps, it took only 4.5 hours to go from IT 37/39˚F from the refrigerator to 145˚F.
- The weight went from 1.91 lbs to 1.45 lbs (24% loss). As you can see, there's not a ton of fat on it.
- I seems to look OK (I've never done it before, so hard for me to tell). Smells like it is well smoked.
