Homemade Smokin' Sweet Bacon

SMOKIN’ SWEET BACON

Who doesn't love bacon?  And if you've never had homemade bacon, you're really missing out.  I found that making your own bacon is not only fun and rewarding, but tastes a lot better than store bought bacon.  The best part of it, is you can control your ingredients.  

This is my own recipe that I came up with and it's delicious.  It's not hard to make, but you have to have a lot of patience because it is a 6-7 day process.  But the payoff is worth it.  

SMOKIN’ SWEET BACON

INGREDIENTS

 5 LB slab of pork belly

• ½ cup Kosher Salt
• ½ cup of Brown Sugar
• ½ cup of Sheepdog BBQ “Smokin’ Sweet Rub”
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1bsp red pepper flakes
• 1 ½ tsp pink curing salt (#1)
• ½ cup of honey or pure maple syrup

1. Score the fat side of the pork belly. 
2. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl and then liberally rub both sides of pork belly. 
3. Place the pork belly in a 2 gallon zip lock bag. 
4. Pour in the honey or syrup into the zip lock bag. 
5. Seal the zip lock bag and try to push all the air out. 
6. Place the pork belly on a tray and then place in the refrigerator for five days.  (Flip the pork belly every day to evenly distribute all the goodness)
7. After 5 days, remove pork belly from the zip lock bag and discard.
8. Rinse the pork under cold water and remove as much of the seasoning as possible. 
9. Place the pork on a wire rack and return to the refrigerator for 6-12 hours. This step will cause the pork belly to develop a film which will help the smoking process.
10. Prep your smoker to approx 180 degrees.  Place pork belly into your smoker for approximately 4 hours or until you reach an internal temperature of 155 degrees. 
11. After it’s been smoked, return to wire rack and let cool in the refrigerator.  
12. Slice, fry and enjoy! 

NOTE: Rinsing the excess seasonings after brining will reduce the saltiness after smoking.  Vacuum seal and freeze bacon up to 6 months!  Also, I have used both hickory and apple wood to smoke my bacon.  It all depends on your taste.  I found my pink curing salt on Amazon.