Rob's Rants

If you read my first Makin Bakin post you’ll understand my basic philosophy and method for making bacon at home:

• Bacon is made from pork belly.
• Bacon is cured with nitrites.
• Bacon is smoked.

Pretty simple. But as with anything, the difficulty is in the execution. So after thinking about the delicious results of my first attempt at homemade bacon, I decided to adjust my recipe a bit. For my first try, I basically used this method:

1. Rinse and dry pork bellies.
2. Sprinkle with curing salt according to the instructions (I used pre-made cure from the Butcher and Packer company).
3. Place in a Zip-Lok bag in the refrigerator for 5 days, rotating bag every 24 hours.
4. Remove from bag, rinse in cold water, and allow to dry for several hours.
5. Smoke in my Bradley Digital Smoker with hickory wood for 4 to 4 1/2 hours, starting at 120° F and increasing to 140° F for the third hour and and 160° F for the remaining time, until the bellies reach an internal temperature of 135° F.
6. Trim the skin side off of the completed bacon.

The result of this process was good. But not great. I didn’t think the bacon was seasoned (salty or sweet) enough and I thought that it was extra smoked. So for my second batch I adjusted my recipe. And let me tell you, the results were outstanding! Here’s what I did, with major changes in red:

Rob’s Dry Cured Smoked Bacon

1. Rinse and dry pork bellies. (This time I started with fresh, organic, Vermont-raised belly from Savenor’s in Boston.)
2. Coat bellies on both sides with a layer of fresh New Hampshire maple syrup (grade B for extra flavor). <– New step
3. Sprinkle with curing salt according to directions.
   

   Drying Outside (temp was 31 degrees)

4. Place in a Zip-Lock bag in refrigerator for 14 days. Turn bag every 24 hours. <– 9 days longer than first time
5. Remove from bag, rinse in cold water, then let dry for several hours.
6. Place in Bradley Digital Smoker for approximately 4 to 4 1/2 hours. Start at 120° F with no smoke for one hour. After one hour, raise temperature to 140° F and start hickory smoke for two hours. Then stop smoke and raise temperature to 160° F until bellies reach internal temperature of 135° F. <– New smoke & temperature profile
7. Trim skin off of completed bacon.

The final result, shown here fresh from the smoke, was some of the best bacon I’ve ever had. It had enough of a cured taste to remind me of the bacon I’m used to, but, because it was dry cured over time and smoked with real wood, it was much firmer and the flavor was richer. Since most supermarket bacon is “cured” by pumping it with a curing solution and then “smoked” by sitting in an over for a couple of hours while being sprayed with liquid smoke flavoring, the taste of real dry-cured bacon is simply “denser” and richer. And when you cook it you don’t get all that milky liquid that cooks out of store-bought bacon, which is the reason for its watered-down flavor.

The Final Product

The final step, since I can’t shouldn’t eat all five pounds in one sitting, is to let the finished bacon spend a night in the freezer to firm up and then send it for a trip though my electric slicer and then into several vacuum bags for future use.

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Related posts:

1. Makin’ Bakin
2. Belly Buster
3. Smoked Easter Ham