Recipes/TechniqueNotes/bacon.md

Home Made Bacon Notes

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup course sea salt (sea or kosher)
• 3T cracked pepper corns
• 2 teaspoons pink curing salt (Prague Powder #1 or Insta Cure #1)
• 1/3 cpu packed dark brown sugar
• 1 piece (3-3.5lb) pork belly (skinned - see Notes)

Process

1. Plase salt, pepper & curing salt in a mixing bowl and mix well with fingers. Add sugar - breaking up any lumps

2. Place belly on a rimmed baking sheet. Rub half of cure into the top, flip - use rest of cure.

3. Put belly and any remaning cure in a large plastic bag. Remove air - seal bag, put in foil pan or roast pan to contain leaks

4. Cure for 6 days - flip each day - liquid will accumulate in bag - don't freak

5. Drain and rinse well with cold water - blot dry w/ paper towels

6. put on wire rim rack over baking sheet to dry in fridge overnight you might be tempted to salt this again - don't it will come out super salty however adding cracked black pepper and any other spices here might be a good idea

7. put on heated smoker (~170F) smoke until internal temp hits 155F (3.5-4 hours)

8. put on wire rim rack over baking sheet to cool to room temp

9. Wrap in butcher's paper or plastic wrap 4 hours to overnight

10. Keeps for 5 days in fridge or frozen for months

Notes: Pork belly can be bought at Whole Foods - but usually comes in 10-12lbs - ask them to remove the skin