Home Cured Maple Bacon

Here is something i can hardly believe myself. I shunned bacon for 5 years. It was complicated, and in hindsight, foolish. I mean really religious convictions aside I can’t think of a reason NOT to eat it. It is just.that.good. Recently, curing my own bacon has elevated to obsession status. A few bats of my baby blues and Mike agreed to buy a smoker. It was time. He is itching to make venison jerky and of course, I have my bacon thing. Here is my first attempt. Honest report–it is good. Now, I made the mistake of washing off the brine, but not soaking, the bacon before smoking. This meant it came out very salty. I soaked it after the smoke, which not only soaked out the salt, but also the smokiness. So I cold smoked it again and it just isn’t perfect,
but it is close.

Maple-Brown Sugar-Rosemary Bacon

3lbs pork belly
1/4 cup +/- kosher salt
1/4 cup +/- brown sugar
3 Tbs good quality maple syrup
1 Tbs fresh rosemary
place pork belly in a large tupperware type container
3 Tbs maple syrup & rosemary sprig (post curing)
apple or cherry wood chips for smoking
rub all sides with salt
Mix together the brown sugar, maple syrup and rosemary. Rub all sides of the pork belly with the mixture. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 24 hours. After 24 hours, repeat the process and place back in the refrigerator. Check daily, if liquid begins to gather on the bottom, pour it off and place back in the refrigerator. At 5-7 days, you should be done. The pork belly will be a bit more dense, and firm. Rinse the pork belly well and dry with paper towel. Slice off a small piece and fry. If too salty, place the belly in a bowl of cold water and place in the fridge for 1 hour. Dry, slice off a piece and fry a piece. If it is still too salty, repeat the soaking process, 1 hour at a time. Once the bacon is to your liking, dry off. Rub the fatty side with maple syrup and place rosemary sprig on top. Meanwhile prepare your smoker
I smoked my bacon at 120 degrees and smoked it to an internal temperature of 130. There are so many different philosophies on this. you can cold smoke it, hot smoke it, not smoke it at all. This will not keep in the fridge like store bought bacon…it does not have nitrites. It is best to cut what you will eat within a week, then freeze the rest. It is very important to keep your pork belly at proper temperatures and to keep all surfaces it touches very clean. This is not a time to be lenient in your sanitary rituals. Bacon should not be eaten raw, once cured and smoked, it should be cooked fully before enjoying.