Fire up your smoker and bring it to a steady 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Use charcoal as your heat source and add two to three fist-sized chunks of cherry or applewood directly onto the coals. You want thin blue smoke rolling out of the exhaust vent, not thick white billowing smoke. Thick white smoke will make your meat taste bitter. Give the smoker 20 to 30 minutes to stabilize at temperature before you load anything onto the grates.

While the smoker comes up to temp, prepare your pork belly. Pat the slab completely dry with paper towels on all sides. Moisture is the enemy of good bark. Coat the entire surface with a thin, even layer of yellow mustard. This acts as a binder and you will not taste it at all in the final product, it just helps the rub adhere.

Combine the brown sugar, smoked paprika, kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, and chili powder in a small bowl and mix thoroughly. Apply a generous, even coating of this rub to all six sides of the pork belly slab, pressing it gently into the mustard so it adheres well. Do not be shy with the rub. A thick crust is what builds that legendary bark.

Place the seasoned pork belly slab fat side up on a wire rack set inside your smoker. Fat side up allows the rendering fat to baste the meat as it cooks. Close the lid and let the smoke do its work. Do not open the smoker for at least 90 minutes. Every time you lift the lid you are adding time to your cook. Trust the process.

Monitor your smoker temperature throughout the cook, keeping it between 245 and 260 degrees Fahrenheit. Add additional wood chunks as needed to maintain smoke production during the first two hours. After that point the meat will have absorbed most of the smoke it is going to take on and you can let the coals carry the heat. Check the color of the bark around the two and a half hour mark. You are looking for a deep reddish-brown mahogany crust that looks firm and set.

At the three hour mark, insert your instant read thermometer into the thickest part of the pork belly. You are targeting an internal temp of 190 to 195 degrees Fahrenheit for the initial smoke phase. The bark should be fully set, deep in color, and the surface should feel firm to a gentle press. If you are not there yet, keep the lid shut and check again every 20 minutes.

Once the pork belly hits 190 to 195 degrees Fahrenheit internally and the bark looks right, pull it off the smoker and let it rest on a cutting board for 15 minutes. This rest allows the juices to redistribute before you start cutting. Do not skip this step. After resting, slice the slab into 1.5-inch cubes using a sharp knife. Try to keep the pieces as uniform as possible so they cook evenly in the next phase.

Transfer all the cubed pork belly pieces into a heavy duty aluminum foil pan in a single layer. Add the cubed butter, honey, apple cider vinegar, and BBQ sauce directly over the top of the cubes. Use tongs to gently toss everything together until each cube is coated. The pan should look glossy and saucy but not swimming in liquid.

Return the uncovered foil pan to the smoker at 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook for another 60 to 90 minutes, tossing the cubes gently with tongs every 30 minutes. You are watching for the sauce to reduce and caramelize around each cube, creating that sticky, lacquered coating that defines the perfect burnt end. The cubes should look shiny, deeply colored, and slightly tacky to the touch.

For the final 15 minutes of the cook, you can crank the smoker up to 275 degrees Fahrenheit to help tighten up the glaze and add a little more caramelization. This is optional but highly recommended if you want that extra sticky exterior. Pull the pan when the sauce has reduced to a thick glaze and each cube looks lacquered and irresistible. Remove the pan from the smoker and let the burnt ends rest uncovered for 10 minutes before serving. This short rest lets the glaze set up even more. Serve immediately and get ready for the most requested dish at your next cookout.