Homemade Smoked Bacon
Homemade smoked bacon from scratch. Made from pork belly and prepared in an easy salt-sugar cure and slow-smoked over pecan wood, this DIY bacon is better than any store-bought slab you’ve ever had.
Servings: 8
Equipment
- gallon-size ziplock bag
- cast iron skillet (for frying bacon)
- Pecan smoking wood
Ingredients
- 3 lbs pork belly
Bacon Cure
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 3 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp Prague Powder #1
Instructions
- Prepare the pork belly by trimming any excess fat. Rinse under cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
- In a small bowl, combine the bacon cure ingredients. Use a fork to remove or crush any lumps that may form.
- Massage the cure into the pork belly, covering all sides and working into any crevices or folds on the meat surface.
- Place the seasoned pork belly and any leftover cure in a plastic ziplock bag and lay lengthwise in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Flip it over each day.
- Remove meat from refrigerator. It should be firm with no soft spots - this means it’s fully cured. Rinse and thoroughly pat dry.
- Set pork belly out for 1 hour to bring it to room temperature. This will allow a pellicle to form on the meat.
- While pork belly sits, fire up your smoker to 165°F (75°C). Add pecan smoking wood chips to coals or wood tray.
- When smoker and meat are ready, carefully place the pork belly on smoker grates fat side-up.
- Close lid and smoke until pork internal temperature hits 150°F (65°C), about 5 hours.
- Remove pork belly from smoker and rest until completely cooled. Once cooled, place pork belly in refrigerator and leave to chill.
- Remove pork belly from refrigerator and slice into bacon strips.
- Fry bacon strips in an oiled cast iron skillet over high heat