Cured & Smoked Bacon

Homemade smoked bacon, a cornerstone of culinary tradition, commences with meticulously sourced pork belly, attentively seasoned with a blend of kosher salt, cracked black pepper, and brown sugar. Rooted in ancient preservation methods, this recipe traverses time, intertwining with diverse culinary legacies worldwide.

Crafted with ancestral techniques, the bacon undergoes a deliberate curing process, allowing flavors to meld before being gently enveloped in aromatic wood smoke. Passed down through generations, this ritual transforms humble ingredients into a revered delicacy, adding depth to a spectrum of gastronomic endeavors.

MeatPorkBacon

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 6 hours

Total Time: 6 hours 20 min

Yield: 8 servings

A board covered with slices of homemade smoked bacon.

Ingredients

  • 1 3-pound pork belly with the skin removed
  • 3 Tbsp. Kosher salt
  • ⅓ cup white sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. black pepper
  • 2 tsp, paprika
  • 1 tsp. Prague Powder #1 (curing salt with nitrates)

Instructions

Cure

  1. 1.
    Combine the salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, and curing salt in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
  2. 2.
    Place the pork belly on a foil-lined baking sheet.
  3. 3.
    Rub half of the curing blend onto the top and sides of the pork belly.
  4. 4.
    Gather up any of the curing blend that landed on the baking sheet and rub it in to the top of the pork belly.
  5. 5.
    Flip the pork belly and rub in the remaining curing blend. Use it all.
  6. 6.
    Seal the coated pork belly in a large locking bag or vacuum seal bag and remove all the air from the bag.
  7. 7.
    Place the bag containing the pork belly into the refrigerator for ten days. Once a day, flip the bagged pork belly and massage the outside.

Dry

  1. 8.
    After ten days, remove the cured pork belly from the bag and rinse off any excess curing blend from the outside.
  2. 9.
    Pat the outside of the cured pork belly dry with paper towels.
  3. 10.
    Place the pork belly on a rack above a baking sheet and place it in the refrigerator, uncovered, to dry for 24 hours.

Smoke

  1. 11.
    Preheat the smoker to 165-175°F.
  2. 12.
    Place the pork belly, leaner side down on the smoker rack. After two hours, flip the pork belly so the fattier side is down.
  3. 13.
    Smoke the pork belly for about 4 hours until the internal temperature reaches 150-155°F.

Slice

  1. 14.
    Transfer the smoked bacon onto a baking rack over a baking sheet and place in the refrigerator to cool.
  2. 15.
    When the bacon is cool and firm (just leaving it overnight works just fine), remove it from the refrigerator and slice.

Notes

  • Switch from white sugar to brown sugar to reduce pure sweetness.
  • Use some more spices (not salt or sugar).
  • Don't slice pork belly in half to check before smoking. Ten days is enough for a 1-2 inch thick pork belly.
  • Pay attention and manually keep the temperature low enough when smoking.