Making Homemade Bacon (Smoker)

Make sure you have the correct amount of rub!

Step 1: Mix the cure, salt, & sugar together, spread evenly on all sides of the pork belly, then smear a few cups of honey all over it, (yes, it is a friggin mess!) roll the belly up to conserve space, wrap tightly in plastic, hide it in the lower depths of your fridge for 7 days. kick back, relax and generally live your life for the next 7 days.

Step 2: After 7 days, rinse the messy slab of belly in cold running water, hang it to dry at room temperature until the outer surface feels tacky. Or you could just pat dry using paper towels.

SMOKING- THE FINAL STEP

Step 3: Smoking is the final step, and the trickiest one. It imparts that necessary smoky bacon flavor, and helps give the meat that perfect bacon texture.

Step 4: The key here is that you are only smoking your bacon, not cooking it. You don’t want your pork belly exposed to direct heat. You don’t want the temperature inside the smoker to get above about 200 degrees. Place the pork belly inside, rind side up. Smoke at temp 100 degrees for 16-24 hours or 200 degrees for a slightly less time (until the desired color is met) Smoke until the temperature reaches 150 (use a meat thermometer) remove, hang to let cool, refrigerate for at least 5 hours, slice, enjoy, eat so much that you feel sick, and get your next batch started cuz this is not going to last too long before it is all gone.