Curing and smoking my own bacon has been on my to-do list for at least a year and a half.
It was always in the back of my mind, though things like making yet another flavor of ice cream or figuring out a cardoon recipe kept taking precedence.
But after testing recipes from the grilling, bbq, and smoking primer She-Smoke earlier this spring, I realized my gas grill just wouldn’t be able to produce the rich flavor that I love so much in Niman Ranch’s applewood smoked bacon.
Nevertheless, when I saw two luscious pounds of Niman Ranch pork belly, I snagged them from the butcher and promptly stashed ’em in the freezer until I could figure out which of my charcoal grill-owning friends I could hit up for some sweet smoker action.
Generous husband Dan, who’s quickly overfilling the basem*nt with Mike Piazza figurines, gave me that opportunity when he let me tag along on a lunch date with fellow sports and memorabilia enthusiast Paul Lukas of Uni Watch.
See, Paul owns a Big Green Egg, one of the best (maybe the best) smoking apparatus available and had semi-successfully smoked bacon before.
Plus, he was the only person I talked to about this who actually seemed enthusiastic about having me come over and play around with fire.
So over a plate of kolbassi at Clifton’s Rutt’s Hut, we made a vague plan for summer smoking.
The weather turned balmy; the date was set for a sunny Tuesday in July.
A week before the day of the big smoke, I applied the maple-smoked bacon cure from Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn’s meaty book Charcuterie, tucked in gently into a Ziploc bag, and let it firm up in its self-brine (full recipe below).
All that was left to do after a week in the cure was to throw the pork belly under the lid of the Big Green Egg for about an hour and a half to luxuriate in the fragrant smoke of hickory wood.
(Oh, and we also threw a brined pork loin, a few handfuls of almonds, pecans and dates, some cherry tomatoes, potatoes and peaches, and an ear of corn in the smoker for good measure. Nothing like loading it up for experimentation while the smoke is billowing.)
That was it. All my mental buildup about this big culinary exercise for a few hours of drinking beer in Paul’s backyard.
The smoked bacon was a wonder, well-lacquered like Valentino’s skin.
We sliced some off and ate it fresh; some ended up in yet another round of carbonara, and the rest in fried green tomato BLTs.
But now it’s gone, and the price of pork belly has skyrocketed since my last purchase. I can neither afford more pork belly nor a Big Green Egg of my own. Can we set up a fund?
Curing and smoking bacon at home is easy if you've got the right equipment. Here's a recipe for smoked bacon you can make on a smoker.
Ingredients
One 2 1/2 to 3-pound slab of pork belly
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon pink salt, AKA curing salt (see Notes section)
2 tablespoons maple sugar or packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Instructions
Open a gallon-size Ziploc bag and have it at the ready on the counter. Place the pork belly on a large baking sheet.
Whisk the two salts and the sugar together in a small bowl, then stir in the maple syrup until a wet paste forms.
Rub the paste evenly over the pork belly, then place the meat into the Ziploc bag and seal.
Refrigerate the bagged pork belly for 1 week.
The meat will start to self-brine as it releases liquid throughout the process; turn the bag over every other day to keep the brine evenly distributed.
You may need to squeeze additional air out of the bag to make sure the meat is in contact with the brine at all times.
Remove the pork belly from the bag, rinse, and dry.
Set a metal cooling rack on a sheet pan and place the meat on the rack.
Leave uncovered in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.
Prepare your smoker according to manufacturer instructions, and hot-smoke the pork belly at 200 degrees F until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees F. This can take anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours depending on the size of your slab, so monitor carefully.
Should you not devour your bacon immediately, it will keep in the fridge for about a week and in the freezer for about three months.
Notes
Pink salt, aka curing salt, Insta-Cure #1 can be purchased online from various retailers. It's sodium nitrite, which inhibits the growth of botulism-causing bacteria in a warm environment.
The amounts used in the recipe are small, so you shouldn't worry about cancer-causing compounds (unless you subsist entirely on a diet of processed foods, in which case, why are you reading this site?).
I urge you, if you're going to smoke your own bacon, don't skip this ingredient. Please stick to the recipe for proper food safety.
FTC Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Good. Food. Stories. receives a minuscule commission on all purchases made through Amazon links in our posts.
Smoke the pork belly at 225°F with the fat-side up.
Smoking is more about temperature than time, but this should take about 2 hours. Once the pork belly reaches 150°F internally, remove it from the smoker and let it rest on a cutting board for 30 minutes.
Applewood smoked bacon is a pleasingly sweet, yet milder smoked bacon. This cut is smoked over apple wood chips infusing the bacon with a hint of sweetness after being dry-cured. This bacon is recommended for a customer who is not used to the stronger Hickory Smoke or does not like the stronger hickory smoked flavor.
Cook the cured belly. In a smoker or oven preheated to 200°F (93°C), insert the probe from your thermometer into the thickest part of the cured belly and set the high alarm on your DOT to 150°F (66°C) and cook the belly until it reaches the pull temperature, about 3-4 hours.
Preheat your smoker to 160-170 degrees F using your favorite hardwood. Apple, maple, and hickory are all popular for smoked bacon. Place the pork belly directly on the grill grates, close the lid, and smoke for approximately 6 hours, or until the internal temperature of the pork belly reads 155 degrees F.
Smoke the now cured belly using the apple or cherry wood for three hours at 200f, or until internal temperature reaches 150f. Store bacon in an airtight plastic bag or container in refrigerator for up to a week, cutting and cooking as required (if you don't eat it all at once!).
Bacon is done when golden brown and has rendered its fat. The shrinkage at this point is about 40%. It may or may not be crispy. Crumbly bacon is overcooked and that may be fine for how you are using the bacon.
No, it's not safe to eat raw bacon. Even though bacon has been preserved through the curing process, it has not been cooked. Like other foods you should never eat raw, consuming raw or undercooked meat puts you at risk of foodborne illness from viruses, bacteria or parasites.
And it's true that smoking, or cooking meat slowly over indirect heat so it's imparted with the flavor of the wood, can leave you with bacon that's safe to eat without frying it. This is especially true if the pork has reached a minimum internal temperature of 145°F during the smoking process.
Restaurant bacon is the thinnest option you can find, and it's usually cut into 1/32" slices. Because it's thin, this type of bacon crisps up quickly, and it's commonly found in diners, restaurants, and hotels.
In general, smoked bacon is not considered healthier than fresh bacon. This is because the smoking process often involves adding salt and other preservatives to the bacon, which can increase its sodium content and potentially contribute to health problems such as high blood pressure.
Hickory. Hickory is the granddaddy of smoked meats; its intense flavor and strong, slightly sweet aroma make it a classic choice for transforming ordinary bacon into a smoky marvel. Brimming with Southern soul, hickory's robust influence works wonders on bacon, giving it a powerful, smoked punch that's unforgettable.
Once the bacon is fully cured, discard the solids, rinse the meat well, and pat it completely dry. The next step to giving bacon that familiar flavor is the addition of smoke.
There are many different types of bacon available in any grocery store, and you can just use your favorite bacon for this technique. Thick cut bacon is a good bacon to use for this technique, but I like the finished texture of regular cut bacon to make it the best bacon for smoking.
Bacon can come from a pig's belly, back or sides — essentially anywhere that has an exceptionally high fat content. In the United Kingdom, back bacon is most common, but Americans are more familiar with “streaky” bacon, also known as side bacon, which is cut from pork belly.
Turn your Traeger or other pellet grill on to 225 degrees F. After it comes to temperature, place the bacon directly on the grill grates, making sure they don't touch. Cook the bacon until it reaches your desired crispiness. This takes me about 2 hours.
The temperature in the offset is between 175 and 200 degrees. The internal temperature of the pork belly is 145 to 150 degrees. I have smoked over 100lbs of bacon over the past few years so more than one or two times. At those temperatures the fat out and greasy texture is not good.
Smoke bacon at medium heat between 325-350 degrees F. This is a lower temperature than I would often cook bacon when using the oven (usually between 400-425 F.). This slower smoking process over indirect heat allows for the fat to render slowly and will create both slightly chewy yet crispy bacon as an end result.
Introduction: My name is Duane Harber, I am a modern, clever, handsome, fair, agreeable, inexpensive, beautiful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
