How to Make Homemade Bacon

Homemade bacon is a truly magical piece of meat!

Making your own bacon will take at least a week, but this will be the greatest bacon you’ve ever had! You'll also get the added bonus and the satisfaction of knowing you made it yourself.

In a bowl add:

1 Cup Raw Sugar

1 Cup Table Salt

1 tsp Pink Salt

2 Tbsp Dried Thyme

1 Tbsp Garlic Powder

Black Pepper

Here’s a handy calculator to work out how much pink salt you’ll need: http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/calculator/dry_cure_bacon/

Thoroughly mix the cure together.

Now the cure is ready to go.

I’ve got a 2.5kg or 5.5-pound piece of skinless pork belly.

Place it in a glass tray or a ziplock bag before coating with the cure.

Make sure to fully coat all sides.

Cover the dish or seal the ziplock bag before placing it in the fridge.

It will take a least 7 days to sure the bacon, it’s ok if you leave it longer but make sure it’s had at least 7 days.

Every day or every second day flip the pork belly over, this will help it to evenly cure.

After about a week the pork belly should be fully cured. The meat should be firm but still pliable.

Rinse the pork belly under cold water to remove the salt from the surface, otherwise it will be way too salty.

Now the pork belly is ready to smoke and become bacon.

I’m using a kettle BBQ and minion method. The minion method will give you a consistent heat over a few hours.

Place a BBQ tray on the opposite side and fill with two cups of water.

This will add some moisture to the air and stop the bacon from drying out.

You want the BBQ to be sitting at around a temperature of 225f or 110c.

Add a few hickory wood chips, you could also apple wood, the choice is yours.

Place the bacon fat side up of the drip tray. By having it fat side up the bacon will base itself.

Cover with the lid, have the vents half open.

The bacon will take anywhere from 3 to 4 hours to smoke and cook through.

Once the bacon reaches a temp of 150f or 67c it will have a nice amber colour and it’s done.

Let the bacon sit and cool the room temp.

Because it’s been smoked to a temp of 150f it’s safe to eat as is but we all know that bacon needs to be fried.