Pork with Basque Piment d'Espelette Crust

Name: Schwein mit Baskenland-Piment d'Espelette Kruste
Total time: 8 h
Ingredients: 1000 g Schweinekamm (Nacken); 18 g Meersalz, grob; 10 g Piment d'Espelette, gemahlen; 5 g Schwarzer Pfeffer, grob gebrochen; 4 g Knoblauchpulver; 5 g Geräuchertes Paprikapulver (Pimentón de la Vera); 8 g Brauner Rohrzucker

Pork with Basque Piment d'Espelette Crust

Pepper CrustPorkHot SmokingMedium8-10 hrs88-93 °C110-125 °COak + Cherry

Piment d'Espelette is a distinctive chili from the Basque Country with mild to medium heat and a fruity-smoky aroma. A pork collar is rubbed with an aromatic pepper crust of Piment d'Espelette and slowly hot smoked. The result is a juicy, aromatic meat with an unmistakable Basque flavor profile.

Ingredients(for 1 kg)

Pork collar (neck)1000 g

Coarse sea salt18 g

Piment d'Espelette, ground10 g

Black pepper, coarsely cracked5 g

Garlic powder4 g

Smoked paprika (Pimentón de la Vera)5 g

Brown raw sugar8 g

Instructions

Mixing and Applying the Rub

15 min + 12-24 hrs

Mix all rub ingredients together. Pat pork collar dry and generously rub on all sides. Wrap in cling film and rest in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.

Tempering the Meat

45 min

Remove meat from the refrigerator, unwrap from the foil, and allow to temper at room temperature for 45 minutes. Preheat the smoker to 110-125 °C.

Hot Smoking

7-8 hrs

Smoke pork collar in the smoker at 110-125 °C with oak and cherry. After 3 hours, wrap the meat in butcher paper (Texas Crutch) to keep it moist. Smoke until core temperature reaches 88-93 °C.

Resting and Slicing

30-45 min

Remove meat from smoker, wrapped in butcher paper, and allow to rest for 30-45 minutes so the juices redistribute. Then slice across the grain into approximately 1 cm thick slices and serve.

Pro Tip

For an especially crispy crust, brush the meat with a little honey in the last 30 minutes. This caramelizes the surface and intensifies the piment flavors.

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