OK, so cold smoking it is--12 hrs @ 80, bump to 175 until Auber hits IT of 145-150. When I pulled the bellies to brine them I discovered they still had the skin on so I will remove later as you suggest and smoke them fat side up. Does the curing actually penetrate through that thick skin layer? I know it must, but boy, does it look like it would be difficult. I plan on using the cold plate rack and ice during the smoke and will be using Traeger pellets in the SI smoke box. Hope the pellets stay smouldering. So far they have worked fine in my other smokes, though none of them have been cold smokes.
Thanks again, you guys are amazing.