Steven Raichlen's Project Smoke

Perfect Hog

This show goes whole hog, with pork belly, chops, and pork loin. Up first, pastrami bacon-made by brine-curing pork belly, then rubbing it with a pepper-coriander pastrami rub and slow-smoking it over hardwood. An apple cider-based brine and a rum-spiked finishing glaze propel pork chops into the winner's circle. Hungry yet? Next, "pork and beans" like you've never seen them: butterflied pork loin stuffed with brown sugar, baked beans, and a shot of bourbon get draped with bacon and smoke-roasted. Finally, thick rings of sweet onions are doused with hot sauce, spiraled with bacon, and crisped over the fire for an addictive side dish. Pastrami bacon; Cider-brined pork chops; Yankee porchetta ("pork and beans"); Bacon-wrapped onion rings.