Smoked Pork Belly Skewers with Homemade Smoky BBQ Dipping Sauce

There are some cooks that just feel right from the start, and smoked pork belly skewers are definitely one of them.

You’ve got rich pork belly, low and slow smoke, a good hit of BBQ rub, a sticky homemade sauce, and the best part — slicing the belly between the skewers and dunking the whole thing straight into a mason jar of sauce like an absolute menace.

This is backyard BBQ at its best. Nothing too fancy. Nothing overcomplicated. Just good meat, good smoke, and a sauce worth making properly.

For this cook, I used pork belly, took the skin off, scored the fat, hit it with The Smokin Beards Ox Dust BBQ Rub, then smoked it low and slow on the Z Grills pellet smoker at 120°C for around 5 hours.

The end result? Smoky, tender pork belly skewers with rendered fat, big flavour, and a homemade dipping sauce that brings the whole thing together.

Watch the Cook

Quick Cook Info

Ingredients

For the Pork Belly Skewers

• Pork belly
• The Smokin Beards Ox Dust BBQ Rub
• Apple cider vinegar, for spritzing
• Skewers

You can also use apple juice, bone broth, or a mix for spritzing if you want to change the flavour slightly.

Homemade Smoky BBQ Dipping Sauce

This sauce is simple, smoky, slightly sweet, a little tangy, and perfect for dipping pork belly into.

Sauce Ingredients

• 500ml passata
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 100g brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons smoky BBQ sauce
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika

Method

1. Prep the Pork Belly

Start by removing the skin from the pork belly.

You want the fat left on, because that’s where a lot of the magic happens, but the skin can stop the rub and smoke from getting where it needs to go. For this cook, we’re chasing smoky, tender, rendered pork belly — not crackle.

Once the skin is off, score the fat.

You don’t need to carve it like a Christmas ham. Just give it enough scoring so the rub can settle into those cuts and the fat has a bit more surface area to render down while it smokes.

2. Season It Properly

Cover the pork belly with The Smokin Beards Ox Dust BBQ Rub.

Don’t be shy with it. Pork belly can handle a solid hit of seasoning because it’s rich and fatty. You want that rub working with the smoke and the sauce later on.

Make sure you get the rub into the scored fat and all around the sides.

This is one of those moments where you want to look at it and think, “Yeah, that’s going to be good.”

3. Thread onto Skewers

Thread the pork belly onto skewers before it goes into the smoker.

The skewers make it easy to handle, easy to slice later, and let’s be honest — food on a stick just hits different.

Try to keep the thickness fairly even so everything cooks at a similar pace. If some pieces are way thicker than others, they’ll take longer to render and soften.

4. Fire Up the Smoker

Set the Z Grills pellet smoker to 120°C.

Once it’s settled at temp, place the pork belly skewers into the smoker and let them roll low and slow.

This isn’t a cook you want to rush. Pork belly needs time. If you try to push it too hard and too fast, the fat won’t render properly and you’ll miss out on that soft, rich texture you’re after.

Low and slow gives the smoke time to work and the fat time to break down.

5. Spritz Every Hour

Spritz the pork belly every hour with apple cider vinegar.

This helps keep the surface from drying out too much and adds a little bit of tang to balance out the richness of the pork.

You can also use:

• Apple juice
• Bone broth
• A mix of apple cider vinegar and apple juice
• A mix of vinegar and broth

Apple cider vinegar gives it a sharper BBQ bite. Apple juice will make it a little sweeter. Bone broth keeps it savoury.

Use what you like. BBQ doesn’t need to be precious.

6. Make the Sauce

While the pork is smoking, make your homemade BBQ dipping sauce.

Add the following to a saucepan:

• 500ml passata
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 100g brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons smoky BBQ sauce
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika

Bring it to the boil, then drop it down to a simmer for around 20 minutes.

You want it to thicken slightly and let all those flavours come together. The passata gives it body, the brown sugar brings sweetness, the vinegar cuts through the fat, and the mustard gives it a little kick in the background.

Once it’s done, let it cool and store it in a mason jar.

You can serve it cool, room temp, or warm it back up later if you want that hot dipping sauce moment.

And yes, dipping the whole skewer into the jar is absolutely encouraged.

7. Wrap at the 4 Hour Mark

At around the 4 hour mark, wrap the pork belly.

By this stage, it should have picked up a good amount of smoke and colour. Wrapping helps push it through the final part of the cook and keeps it from drying out while the fat keeps rendering.

You’re not trying to turn it into mush, but you do want it tender enough that it eats beautifully once sliced.

8. Cook to Internal Temp

Pull the pork belly off the smoker once it hits around 94°C internal temperature.

That’s the number I was aiming for on this cook, but don’t just cook by numbers alone. Use the temp as a guide, then check tenderness.

A probe or skewer should slide in without much fight. Pork belly is fatty, so you want that soft, rendered texture.

If it still feels tight, give it a bit longer.

9. Rest for One Hour

Once it’s off the smoker, rest it for around 1 hour.

This is the bit people want to skip, but don’t.

Resting gives the meat time to settle, the juices time to redistribute, and the fat time to relax a bit. You’ve waited five hours already. Give it the extra hour and finish the job properly.

10. Slice, Dip and Serve

After the rest, slice between the skewers.

You’ll end up with individual smoked pork belly skewers ready for dipping.

Grab your mason jar of homemade smoky BBQ sauce, dip the whole skewer in, and enjoy.

Messy? Probably.

Worth it? Absolutely.

Sarge’s Tips

Don’t stress if your cook time isn’t exactly 5 hours. BBQ is not a stopwatch game. The size of your pork belly, your smoker, the weather, and how often you open the lid can all change the timing.

The internal temp of around 94°C is a good target, but tenderness is king. If it probes soft and the fat has rendered nicely, you’re in the zone.

Also, don’t go too light on the spritz. Pork belly is forgiving, but that hourly spritz helps keep the outside from getting too dry while it takes on smoke.

And with the sauce, taste it as you go. Want it sweeter? Add a little more brown sugar. Want more tang? Add a touch more apple cider vinegar. Want it smokier? Add a bit more smoked paprika or BBQ sauce.

That’s the beauty of backyard cooking. You can make it your own.

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What I’d Serve It With

These smoked pork belly skewers would go unreal with:

• Potato salad
• Slaw
• Pickles
• Corn ribs
• Mac and cheese
• Fresh bread rolls
• Cold beer

Because pork belly is rich, anything with a bit of crunch, acid, or freshness will help balance it out.

Final Thoughts

This is one of those cooks that looks impressive but doesn’t need to be complicated.

Prep the pork belly, season it well, smoke it low and slow, spritz it, wrap it, rest it, then dip it into a proper homemade sauce.

That’s it.

Good BBQ doesn’t always need a hundred steps. Sometimes it just needs patience, smoke, a good rub, and a sauce you’d happily eat straight out of the jar.

Smoked pork belly skewers. Cowboy Crack rub. Homemade smoky BBQ dipping sauce.

Bloody hard to beat.

-Sarge

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