How to Home Cure and Smoke Bacon
Smoking bacon at home is super easy and is great when you want to get creative with your own homemade cures.
Servings 40 servings
Calories 372kcal
Equipment
- Smoker We used our Big Green Egg.
- Gallon-Sized Ziplock Bags
- Tupperware Containers
- Digital Meat Thermometer
- Sharp Knife Or Deli Meat Slicer
Ingredients
Coffee Bourbon Cure
- 3 lbs Pork Belly
- 1-2 tbsp Salt Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
- ½ cup Bourbon
- 1 cup Brewed Coffee
- 1 tsp Pink Curing Salt #2
Savory Herb Cure
- 3 lbs Pork Belly
- 1-2 tbsp Salt Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
- 2 tbsp Oregano
- 1 tbsp Thyme
- 2 tbsp Garlic
- 1 tbsp Rosemary
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 tsp Pink Curing Salt #2
Barbeque Cure
- ⅓ cup Brown Sugar
- ¼ cup Paprika
- 3 tbsp Black Pepper
- 1-2 tbsp Salt Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
- 2 tsp Onion Powder
- 2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 tsp Celery Seed
- 1 tsp Pink Curing Salt #2
Instructions
For All Of The Cures
- Add all of the cure ingredients to a one gallon ziplock bag
- Add the pork belly to the ziplock bag.
- Close the ziplock bag and set it in a container in the refrigerator.
- Flip the bag over once per day for one week.
Rinsing Off The Cure
- After one week, the pork belly will be much firmer and you will see additional liquids in the ziplock bag.
- Remove the pork belly from the bag and thoroughly rinse it off. (And rinse it again! You want as much of the curing mixture off of the pork belly as possible).
Form The Pellicle
- Set the rinsed and pat dried pork belly on a wire rack placed over a baking sheet and transfer it back in the fridge for at least 4 hours. This will allow the surface of the pork belly to dry and form a pellicle which will allow the smoke to adhere better.
Prepare the Big Green Egg for Smoking
- Soak the smoking wood chunks for one hour. This helps slow down their burning rate, which ensures a more controlled smoke release over a longer period.
- Set up the grill or smoker for indirect heat. I added the plate setter to my Big Green Egg. Light the grill.
- Once the white smoke dissipates, reduce the temperature of the grill to 250°F. You want to smoke the bacon, not cook it.
- Add a few chunks of wood for smoke flavoring. I used apple wood, but cherry or hickory are good alternatives. Mine were too big to easily slip under the plate setter, so I lifted it slightly with the ash tool to make room.
Smoke Bacon on the Big Green Egg
- Add the pork belly to the grill grate of your smoker and close the lid. I was able to get 3 pork belly slabs on the grate.
- Monitor the temperature to keep it close to 225°F.
- Add additional wood for smoking as needed.
Remove the Bacon from the Grill
- Once the internal temperature of the bacon reaches 150°F, remove it from the grill. This took me about 3 1/2 hours, but monitor it closely for your set up.
- Temperatures above 150°F will result in the fat being rendered out of the bacon.
Cool, Slice and Eat
- Let the bacon slabs cool to room temperature and place them in the refrigerator to harden.
- A cold bacon slab is much easier to slice as the remaining fat will harden.
- Slice the bacon and fry it up!
Notes
This recipe is customizable. Change up the cures and the types of wood used for smoking and see what combination works best for you!
Nutrition
Serving: 40servings | Calories: 372kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 314mg | Potassium: 162mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 355IU | Vitamin C: 0.7mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 0.8mg