Lisa I’m going to become a vegetarian
Homer Does that mean you’re not going to eat any pork?
Lisa Yes
Homer Bacon?
Lisa Yes Dad
Homer Ham?
Lisa Dad all those meats come from the same animal
Homer Right Lisa, some wonderful, magical animal!
One of my latest cooking fads is making my own bacon. It’s very easy (especially with a good smoker) and the results are outstanding. Pork belly is pretty easy to come by, ask your local butcher and he should have some. However for some truly awesome bacon get fresh belly from Niman Ranch. Their farm raised pork is just outstanding.
First step is to apply some cure. I use a dry cure (I’ve tried wet cures and haven’t liked the resulted nearly as much). In this picture I’m using a purchased cure Buckboard bacon cure which is actually a cure for making bacon from pork butts and shoulders but works fine for belly. Since I did this batch I’ve started using the cure recipe from Michael Rulman’s Charcuterie.
8 ounces sugar
1 pound kosher salt
2 ounces pink salt (aka Curing Salt or sodium nitrite)
If I’m making breakfast bacon I’ll add maple syrup or dark brown sugar. For non breakfast bacon you can get creative with any number of savory spices.
After applying the cure the belly is put in 2 gallon zip lock bags and put in the refrigerator for 5-7 days turning the belly over every other day to keep the juices that form in contact with the meat. First time I made bacon the juices worried me (I was doing a dry cure after all!) so I drained it. Wrong move, that juice is good, keep it in contact with the meat.
Once it’s cured I take the belly out of the bags, rinse than dry on racks in the refrigerator for a day. Here they are all set and ready to go into the smoker.
Into the Bradley. 210 degrees F. Apple wood pucks.
Two hours in.
6 hours later I pulled them when the internal temp hit 160 degrees. Let them cool for a bit then remove the rind.
The finished product. Slice, cook, eat!
As Mr T would say.
Head over to Bacon Nation for more bacon fun.
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Yumm… I highly recommend cutting the finished product about 3/8ths of an inch thick and grilling it on the coldest part of your grill. Then you can eat it with a knife and fork and savor every bite. Unbelievable…