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  • Homemade Bacon : Part 2 The Smoke

Homemade Bacon : Part 2 The Smoke

Posted on Jun 16th, 2014
by Andrew Armstrong
Categories:
  • Charcuterie
  • Pork
  • Smoked
two slabs of bacon being smoked inside a Big Green Egg.

Pork_logoAt the end of Part 1 we made sure we had our salt levels where we want them and our belly had dried uncovered in the fridge over night.  Now it’s time to add one more layer of flavor. Infusing the belly with smoke is the pièce de résistance.   In my opinion bacon just isn’t bacon without a nice kiss of smoke.

Right before the belly is placed in the smoker I like to add an optional coating of black pepper. While the pepper in the cure helps get some flavor into the meat, I’ve found that a nice coat of black pepper right before it goes on really punches it up.  There really is no specific amount here. Use as much or as little as you like.Peppery surface of a slab of bacon

 

Playing with Pellets

If you do not have a dedicated smoker, a grill and smoking pellets work great. I use this Amazen Pellet Tube Smoker 12″ when I smoke bacon at home. It’s very inexpensive and works wonderfully. I typically get a 4-hour burn from a single load of hickory pellets, which gives me all of the smoke without the high temperatures.

Amazen Tube smoker full of smoking pellets being placed inside a Big Green Egg.Smoking Pellets inside an Amazen smoking tube.Amazen smoking tube emitting thin blue smoke inside a Big Green Egg.Empty Big Green Egg with an Amazen smoking tube puffing thin blue smoke.

 

Keep it cool

Your smoking chamber needs to be set to 165 degrees or less. Place the belly in the chamber for 4 hours. Keep an eye on the internal temperatures of the belly if you are having trouble keeping your smoking chamber below 165. If your belly is at an internal temperature of 150 degrees for 90 minutes go ahead and pull it off even if you haven’t gone the full 4 hours. You don’t want to run the risk of melting all the fat out of your bacon. Internal temps do not have to hit 150 degrees. Instead, think of 150 as the max.

Big Green Egg ceramic plate setterCured pork belly inside a smokey Big Green Egg

Seasons make a difference

Personally, I like to smoke the belly at the lowest temperature possible. In the wintertime my chamber maybe all the way down at 40 degrees. The bacon will never get close to 150 degrees internal temp. Smoking at these lower temperatures allows the meat to stay in the smoker the entire 4 hours without running the risk of melting the fat. If you have to remove your bacon before the 4 hours are up it simply means you won’t get quite as much smoke flavor. I would rather have less smoke than melt the fat. In the summertime this may be a bit more difficult, especially if you are using a smoking chamber that generates lots of heat, such as a propane grill with smoke chips. It’s one more reason I like smoking with pellets. They provide lots of smoke without heating up the chamber. For this session my temps hovered around 90 degrees.Chimney of a Big Green Egg wafting thin blue smoke.Big Green Egg with a BBQ guru attached smoking bacon.

 

Show some restraint!

After the bacon is done smoking, it will be highly tempting to devour the whole thing like a giant bacon candy bar. Resist these urges as best you can and let the bacon cool in the fridge overnight. Not only will flavors intensify, but slicing cold bacon is much easier than hot bacon. I like to wrap my slabs in butcher paper so the oils from the bacon don’t make a mess. If no butcher paper is handy aluminum foil will work fine.

thick slab of bacon laying on butcher paper.Thick slices of bacon laying on butcher paper.

 

After a night in the refrigerator, it’s time to enjoy the fruits—err, bacon­— of your labor. Congrats! You will never want to eat store-bought bacon again.

homemade bacon slab and slices
4.67 from 9 votes
Print

Homemade Bacon

After you've tried this curing technique for homemade bacon you will never want the store-bought stuff again. You've been warned.

Prep Time 14 days
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 14 days 4 hours

Ingredients

  • 5 # Pork Belly skin removed
  • 1 gallon of water
  • 1 cup Kosher Salt
  • 1 cup White Sugar
  • 1 cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 TBS Insta-Cure #1

Instructions

  1. In a large food-safe container, combine 1 gallon of water, 1 cup of Kosher Salt, 1 cup of white sugar, 1 cup of brown sugar, and 1 TBS of Insta-Cure #1.
  2. Mix together until dissolved.
  3. Drop in the pork belly and make sure it stays submerged. I used a plastic container filled with water to weigh mine down.
  4. Refrigerate for 14 days.
  5. After 14 days remove and rinse cure and pat dry.
  6. Leave uncovered in the refrigerator overnight.
  7. Smoke for 4 hours at temperatures under 165 degrees F.
  8. Remove and cool in the refrigerator overnight.
  9. Slice and enjoy.
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72 Comments Hide Comments

Stacey says:
January 31, 2015 at 12:51 pm

So……which did you like better – the wet or the dry cure?

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
March 16, 2015 at 1:38 pm

Stacey, I like the dry cure if I’m trying to add in some different flavors like Sriracha, Maple, etc. If I just want a good classic bacon flavor with minimal fuss I like the wet cure.

Reply
Diane says:
November 26, 2020 at 8:38 pm

Where you buy the slab uncured bacon?

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
December 7, 2020 at 10:49 am

Ask your local butcher for some pork belly. If you’re in the US I’ve found it at some big box stores like Costco and Sam’s as well.

Reply
Casey McAuliff says:
May 1, 2021 at 3:17 pm

costco.

Reply
Stacey says:
March 18, 2015 at 11:54 pm

Looks awesome! Do you use any charcoal in your egg or only the tube and pellets?

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
March 19, 2015 at 9:12 am

Stacey, I do not bother to light any charcoal because I’m usually trying to keep the temp as low as possible. The pellets give off a good amount of smoke without giving off much heat. If you didn’t want to invest in a pellet smoker you could try and smoke just using charcoal and some wood but you would need to be extra careful and watch your temperature like a hawk. I would normally use natural lump charcoal when I cook on my egg but in this instance I would change over to briquettes because lump burns hotter. IMO the tube of pellets is a relatively small investment, produces a superior product, and creates a more hassle free smoking experience. I’m not paid to endorse A-Maze-n Pellet Smokers I’ve just had great experiences using their product.

Reply
Martin Hicks says:
March 31, 2015 at 8:07 am

Thank you for all this information. Trying the dry cure method right now. Can’t wait to start smoking. Definitely going tp try the wet cure to compare the two different methods. Can’t wait to try the final product.

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
March 31, 2015 at 8:25 am

Awesome Martin. Report back and let me know how it turns out!

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Martin Hicks says:
April 9, 2015 at 8:14 pm

Andrew, this is by far the best bacon I have ever had. I accidentally missed the dry after cure step, but it is fabulous. This is definitely going to be some Christmas presents this year. Again Thank you.

Reply
Dominic says:
April 12, 2015 at 7:14 am

Hi Andrew,
Trying the whole home bacon curing thing for the first time – reading your blogs/methods have been really useful. Just a question tho – you say you try and keep the temps as low as 90℉/32℃ – at these temperatures I’m guessing that this does not fully cook through the pork is that correct? To fully cook through the pork wouldn’t you have to be getting the internal temp to at least 155℉ to have a cooked bacon product or is this not necessary? My only question is food safety or does tbd nitrate take care of that in the curing process? Would love to know your thoughts! Thanks heaps your site is really interesting. Dom from Downunder

Reply
Kevin says:
May 7, 2015 at 11:38 am

You still fry the bacon after you slice it, so that’s the cooking stage. The smoke stage isn’t intended to cook the bacon, only to get the nice smokey flavor that’s needed.

Reply
will says:
June 13, 2017 at 7:01 pm

the lower temp dose not fully cook the meat

If I go low on temp I like to cold smoke and then frezzing right after then use my slicer

And I personaly do not use a cure on my bacon for I’m keeping it frozen and all natural

Reply
Morley says:
September 9, 2018 at 8:44 am

Without a cure, it’s just pork.

Reply
Gary says:
May 19, 2015 at 11:51 am

when using the A-maze-N Products smoker with pellets, do you light the pellets at the open end with a lighter and then set it in the smoker and let it smolder?

Reply
gary says:
June 13, 2015 at 3:44 pm

I bought a small butane torch from harbor freight,($9.00) lit the open end for 2 minutes and it smoked perfect and lasted over 4 hours. The bacon turned out great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply
Carl says:
May 26, 2015 at 3:50 pm

Just took my 3 batch of bacon off the smoker. Each batch looks better than the first. I use the dry cure and smoke using pellets (hickory and cherry) and the A-maze-N smoker tube in a 30 gal trash can fired by a single burner hot plate covered with a Weber Kettle. The setup looks hokey but it keeps the heat below 150 degrees and the smoker tube works as advertised.

I haven’t used the wet-cure yet, why fix it if its not broken? Maybe next time. Great bacon, thanks for making the method so clear and easy.

Reply
Carl says:
May 26, 2015 at 3:57 pm

Gary,
That’s what the instructions say. If you have to lay it down, I’d put a piece of foil, with some holes poked in it, over the open end so the pellets don’t fall out. Today I set the tube standing up on the hot plate and the plate caused the pellets to smolder. It worked really well that way too .

Reply
Brian T says:
May 31, 2015 at 3:56 pm

I just finished my first batch of bacon. It is absolutely the best tasting bacon my tounge has ever had the privilege of meeting! I used a cure and some brown sugar and let it sit in the bottom of my fridge for seven days, flipping it once daily. I finished it in my electric smoker with apple and peach wood chips. I now know that the store bought stuff is a far cry from what bacon was meant to be! Thank you for all the great tips! I have already purchased another pork belly to continue to make my tounge happy and a whole bunch of my family members are lurking around as well 🙂

Reply
Charles McMurrough says:
July 26, 2015 at 12:11 am

I have a Big Chief smoker, will this work? Plan to use the dry cure. Thanks for the good information.

Reply
John Herry says:
August 3, 2015 at 12:54 pm

I have both the tube and original A-Maze-N smokers. Best purchase ever for making sure you product gets a good smoke flavor!

Reply
Robert S says:
August 21, 2015 at 10:47 am

Andrew,
I made some bacon with the dry brine with the honey as you did. I made a cold smoker out of my old offset smoker, my Traeger and a 4″ aluminum dryer hose. I was able to keep the temp at 121 F or lower so I smoked the belly for 6 hours using a Lumberjack Maple-Hickory-Cherry blend pellet. The flavor of the bacon is amazing, but I have to cook it at very low temps otherwise the bacon burns and turns black very quickly. This is probably caused from the honey (I’m guessing). Am I missing something or perhaps didn’t rinse off the belly good enough after removing it from the brine? Has anyone else run into this problem? This is my first go at making bacon so I thought I would ask for advice. I have the other half of the belly in the wet brine right not but it won’t be ready to smoke for another 6 days.

Reply
Robin says:
September 18, 2020 at 10:18 am

I had the issue of my bacon burning also and contributed it to a cheap honey I had. I made two different batches and one burnt and the other one did not using a different honey.

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
September 18, 2020 at 10:23 am

Interesting. Did you fry it in a skillet or bake it off in the oven?

Reply
Susanna says:
August 27, 2015 at 4:41 am

very informative and easy to follow, thanks

Reply
Erika says:
October 26, 2015 at 12:24 pm

I absolutely enjoyed reading all your instructions, and definitely appreciate all the instances of prose. Thank you! I live in a loft in downtown L.A….I have access only to an oven and a BBQ grill on the rooftop of our building. Is there any way to adapt the smoking process to either the over or the grill? Please advise—I’d love to try this recipe out!

Reply
Lee says:
November 10, 2015 at 8:58 am

Andrew,
Great article! I have been researching this for some time and am a bit confused on the whole meat temp. My goal is the finished product to be raw like bacon from the butcher. Does taking the internal temp to 150 give you cooked or partially cooked bacon? My though hads always been cold smooking as you mentioned making the finished bacon raw. I use a smoke generator which puts very little heat in the chamber. Based on your instructions, it would seem I could run just the generator with no addiaitonal heat.

Thanks

Reply
Bill Guest says:
November 30, 2015 at 4:37 pm

What is that thing sticking out of your intake on your egg ? Long like bacon.

Reply
Bill Robotham says:
January 19, 2016 at 3:50 pm

Thats a stoker fan. i.e. Computerized temp control.

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
March 7, 2016 at 11:21 am

Close, it’s a BBQ Guru. Basically accomplishes the same thing. I did have a stoker unit a few years ago but switched over.

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
March 7, 2016 at 11:19 am

It’s a BBQ guru. It’s a temperature sensor and a fan that stokes the fire. I can use it to regulate the temps in the egg a bit easier. The egg is generally pretty easy to use the Guru just makes it idiot proof. I can use all the help I can get 🙂

Reply
Toni Nixon says:
December 8, 2015 at 7:32 am

Good Morning Andrew
I’m an American living in Northern Ireland for past 15 years. I have only been able to get american style bacon when I go home once and year. I have just moved out to the country and have decided to end my isolation in a bacon free country (irish bacon not even considered to be real bacon). Yours was my first hit for how to make bacon. After reading your directions I now am looking forward to being liberated from bacon boredom. I need to purchase a smoker. Can you recommend one that would be available over hear?
Thanks Toni

Reply
Patrick Menehune says:
December 31, 2015 at 11:08 am

Andrew,
just a quick note saying that your guidance in making bacon,
Could not be simpler,
For a person who raises there own pork and wants to make use
of the side pork without a big hassle , you have layed it out perfectly.
I use your method and have yet to hear a negetive responce…
Thank you for the knowledge. …

Reply
Richard Wolske says:
January 3, 2016 at 12:28 pm

Hi I’ve been making beacon for years this is a very good article ! Thing I’ve seen that I don’t like myself are soaking chips ! I have a old time smoke house and can smoke 200lbs at a time . My buddy uses a smaller smoker and soaking his chips leave a musty taste in the meat . I taste this instantanly, not a good flavor . I told him about this and he stopped soaking the chips and his produced come out great .
One thing I liked about this article is that washing your beacon off and frying a piece before smoking is the only way to make sure your not to salty !! Job well done . Don’t be afraid to scub your sides with a bristle brush and let sock for a hour or so to remove the saltiness . The sausage maker . Com is a great book to help you get good food recipes and instructions. This will keep you and friends healthy

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
March 7, 2016 at 11:29 am

Thanks for the compliment Richard!

Reply
John L Hart says:
April 29, 2021 at 2:08 pm

5 stars
Was really informative. I use a masterbuilt electric smoker. I think it will work great for this. It has a temperature range from 30 degrees Fahrenheit to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Someone mentioned musty taste when they soaked chips I use chips dry and gets plenty of smoke. Any way looking forward to trying this recipe out.

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
September 17, 2021 at 5:28 pm

Let me know how it turns out! I love hearing about peoples experiences with the recipe.

Reply
Erick Garcia says:
January 14, 2016 at 1:29 am

I just finished getting the dry rub on. I can’t wait to smoke it and taste this bacon. This is a great tutorial. Thanks

Reply
Barry says:
March 16, 2016 at 1:23 am

mmmmm Bacon. Doing research is tricky when it comes to bacon. Everyone has their own way. Great piece of literature this! I loved reading through it. Your explanation; Excellent. Next step Youtube? You do not use heat and others do. You are the first person not using heat that I saw.

1 – To heat or not to heat? What will the difference be?
2 – No heat all year round or best just in winter?
3 – What about using one of these home made smoke generators and simply pumping out smoke (there does not seem to be any heat)?

Great job thanks Andrew. We appreciate people that share and to ask questions off of.

Reply
Joseph Thompson says:
April 1, 2016 at 12:39 pm

In your opinion how long is to long for pork belly to be in a wet or dry cure?

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
April 1, 2016 at 1:08 pm

Joseph I wouldn’t go too many more days past what I call for in the recipes. The pork could end up being too salty. Be sure and slice a piece off and fry it before you put it in the smoke. If it’s already too salty try soaking it in water over night and then try and then refry a piece the following day to see if it’s improved for your tastes.

Reply
Scotty says:
June 25, 2016 at 2:14 pm

I tried the dry cure. After the first fry test it way too salty. I soaked it in cold water for an hour and tried another test fry. It seemed OK, so I went ahead and dried it overnight as recommended. Next day I smoked with Apple wood for four hours on the lowest heat I could get on my vertical smoker (about 198). I then cooled it and put it in a zip bag overnight. I fried some up today for BLTs. It was great with an heirloom tomato and no additional salt. Is there any way after the cure and smoke to reduce the saltiness?

Reply
Barry593 says:
July 11, 2016 at 8:32 pm

Thank You so much Andrew for this easy to do recipe. Step by step with pictures. Trying this with Berkshire pork belly. You have inspired us backyard smokers and that is great! Followed the recipe and results were…WOW! I am just guessing here, but I bet you have a deli slicer. I need one now!

Reply
Ray W Potter says:
August 30, 2016 at 9:45 pm

Great Stuff here Andrew. Im shopping for pork belly this week.

Reply
Melody Pospisil says:
January 9, 2017 at 10:57 am

After paying mega bucks to have our self raised pork cured?? with little to no taste we are now about to take the lunge ….. I have 5 pigs to deal with I’ll be back and let you know how it goes we will be using my father inlaw’s old smoker “really a converted steel refrigerator at least the inside is all ready cured” and we plan to use hickory chips for smoke, Dad’s favorite!

Reply
Berry says:
January 13, 2017 at 1:42 pm

I took my bacon out of the smoker last night and had some for breakfast this morning. Delicious!!
Thank you for the easy to follow step by step instructions it couldn’t have been easier.
Again the end product is AWSOME THANK YOU!!!!! for sharing your knowledge.
How long will the bacon keep in the refrigerator

Reply
Danielle says:
January 31, 2017 at 2:54 pm

I loved the curing recipe, I have a question. ….
Do you HAVE to smoke it? I understand about the flavor it adds, but after curing, can I slice and eat it?

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
January 31, 2017 at 5:08 pm

Yep, totally safe to eat as long as you cook/fry it.

Reply
Christina T Cleary says:
February 12, 2017 at 3:30 pm

Just tried my first go at bacon. Know what I love about it?? I love that you can actually taste the pork and the smoke..and not just the salt. It is so good because it is NOT super salty!! I added some maple syrup into the brine, so it has a very nice sweet maple undertone. I made about 20 lbs, so Im really really glad it came out well. Froze it so I can slice it easier. Bought a slicer just for the bacon..lol.

Reply
Gene Stacy says:
March 13, 2017 at 8:31 pm

This looks great. Looking forward to giving it a go. One question I have is how long will the bacon keep unsliced refrigerated? Is it ok to freeze?

Reply
Dion says:
June 16, 2017 at 6:28 pm

I am glad I found your website. I was following a different recipe from a popular BBQer and it said to get the bacon up to 155-160. It got up to 130 and did not look right. A lot of the fat had rendered. So I did another search and found you. Thank you. I took mine off right away.

Reply
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Reply
T. Fargo says:
October 7, 2017 at 9:48 am

Thanks for the article and helpful links. Garnering knowledge of charcuterie is a hobby of mine. I have made pops recipe several times, as well as recipes from Len Poli’s site. Canadian bacon rolled in cracked black pepper on an egg sandwich is one of our favorites. I hand cut my bacon with a Kullenschliff knife and usually cook the slices on parchment lined cookie sheet that is set on Dough-Joe stones (look that up on Amazon) on my Weber Spirit. Sunday mornings couldn’t be better with bacon, a cup of coffee and the cool New England air in autumn. This bacon recipe is also great for all things Rumaki or Rumaki style. Ever have bacon wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese?

Reply
dougal brown says:
February 12, 2018 at 5:22 am

I’m guessing maybe you’re American. These days the world uses the centigrade temperature scale, so I’m wondering, does “150 degrees” mean 150 deg. centigrade, or are you folks still using Fahrenheit?

Reply
Anna-Liisa McAdams says:
February 12, 2018 at 5:09 pm

I used your wet cure for my maiden voyage. We actually bought two pork bellies at costco. Cut them in half and wet cured them both for 14 days. I read a lot of other recipes and curing salt #1 was optional in several, so I did leave that out. We rinsed and dried all the belly parts in the fridge overnight. But when it came to smoking, I only smoked one half yesterday with apple wood chunks. I was able to maintain a 175 degree temp for 3 hours and removed it at 150 degrees. Let is cool to room temperature and wrapped it well in plastic wrap. And chilled it. We were planning on slicing it tonight to make BLT’s. But then I read all the trash about the pink salt and how HAVE to have it in there. Should I re-cure the other 3 pieces?

Reply
Joe Weinhardt says:
October 3, 2019 at 7:44 pm

Pink salt (Prague Powder #1) is absolutely not required! After 10 days in the brine, the meat is cured. You already have bacon, but without smoke and the drying in the fridge, it does not taste good.

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
April 7, 2020 at 6:40 pm

If you like botulism feel free to leave it out. I won’t be responsible for telling my readers to do something that can kill them.

Reply
The Zen Master says:
February 26, 2018 at 11:15 pm

Excellent article. I just made 5-lbs and it is incredibly good.

Reply
Stephen ( Skip ) Moore says:
June 26, 2018 at 9:28 am

This is not my 1st time smoking pork belly, but this time i’m using just smoke chamber filled with pellets, no heat other than what the smok puts out.

Reply
Mark says:
June 29, 2018 at 8:48 am

Just an absolutely fabulous article. Well written without a lot of the fluff of other articles I’ve seen. Just the straight out info on “how to”. Also very clear, concise, and easily read. I usually have to skip about 2 pages of fluff about how fabulous the dish is, how my “hubby” loved it, and the 2 days of useless of diary information that proceeds the only thing I am looking for, which is the “how to”. Well done my friend. Consider me a follower!

Reply
Sean Garcia says:
December 12, 2018 at 8:25 pm

Quick question. Can I use the pellet smoker in drum smoker and just light the pellets without using charcoal ? Thanks !

Reply
Tim says:
January 31, 2021 at 12:34 pm

I’m 4 days into my first homemade bacon adventure. I cut an 8 lb slab in half. One half is a more traditional maple and brown sugar and the other is a mango habanero experiment. I’m letting them cure for 10 days flipping every other day and my mouth is watering at the prospect of this amazing meat candy. Thank you for your recipe and tips. I’ll give an official rating once the smoking is done.

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
March 25, 2021 at 11:00 am

Awesome Tim! Take some pictures and tag me on social media @ilovemeatdotcom. I’d love to see how it turns out!

Reply
Mark Peterson says:
May 20, 2021 at 12:23 pm

Doing my 2nd belly. First one went really fast. Since my daughter and son-in-law took it home. I just had the pieces and stems is what I like to call the small and end pieces. They were great. Did the wet cure I have an extra fridge so it’s possible. Ther is nothing better than tasting the fruits of ur labor. This time I cured with more brown sugar and am going to do the pepper dusting on a couple of slabs. What an excellent hobby for a retired man. Sit and keep an eye on smoker and have a couple of beers

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
September 17, 2021 at 5:26 pm

Awesome Mark! Glad the recipe worked out for you.

Reply
William Loucks says:
October 14, 2021 at 1:49 pm

Is letting it rest overnight after curing necessary?

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
November 15, 2021 at 7:09 am

William, resting uncovered lets the outside of the bacon develop what’s called the pellicle. It allows the bacon to absorb the smoke more easily. It’s not absolutely necessary. The bacon will still come out nicely but if you can have a bit of patience you will be rewarded with a better product. Hope that helps. Let me know how your bacon turns out either way!

Reply
Becky says:
March 7, 2022 at 3:07 pm

OK, here we go! I just finished prepping and rubbing down the slabs with the dry cure method. Smoking it up next weekend, using a propane smoker, so keeping the temps down is always the hardest part. Thanks for all the tips! Fingers crossed she comes out delicious as everyone is saying!

Thanks for your very detailed instructions Andrew.

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
July 14, 2022 at 12:04 pm

Awesome Becky! How’d it turn out?

Reply
Tim Fleming says:
August 3, 2022 at 5:05 pm

5 stars
Thank you very much for all the detail in these 2 posts. They’re very helpful and I’m relaly looking forward to my first attempt at making bacon with an 11# porkbelly ready to go in the fridge.

I have a question about the smoking step: I’ve seen other recipes that simply cook the slab in an oven after curing, when a smoker is unavailable, at 200 F until the internal temp is 150 F. And another recipe skips this oven cooking or smoking step all together. He simply dried the cured slab in the fridge after rinsing as you describe and then sliced it up to fry or froze the chunks. If either way works, what’s the purpose of the cooking step, whether it’s an oven or smoker? Is this really needed, or is it just for flavor and could be skipped if someone was content to eat it straight or freeze it for later after curing?

Reply
Tim Fleming says:
August 5, 2022 at 2:13 pm

This are terrific posts, I really appreciate all the detail. I’ve noticed other recipes substitute cooking the slab after curing in an oven at 200F until the internal temp. is at 150F when a smoker isn’t available. Then another recipe skipped either of these steps and simply cooked it up straight or froze the bacon after it was done curing. Is the cooking/smoking step necessary or can it be skipped?

Reply
Andrew Armstrong says:
October 9, 2022 at 7:25 pm

There are bacons that you don’t have to cook but that’s using a different curing salt. Cure #2 would be used and it would need a much longer curing time. Think Italian cured meats like pancetta and guanciale.

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