I Smoke My Own Bacon At Home And It’s Delicious
Hey, Rat Rock Nation. Carl Craft here. Every now and then I drop a line or two on air that might have tipped you off to the fact that I…
This is the finished product. From pork belly to bacon in about 11 days. Complicated process but not hard to do. Plus its so much better than store bought.
Carl CraftHey, Rat Rock Nation. Carl Craft here. Every now and then I drop a line or two on air that might have tipped you off to the fact that I love smoking stuff on my smoker on the back porch. Lately, I learned how to make bacon at home. Turns out, it's delicious. While the process is time consuming, it's really not that hard. And the finished product is light years better than store bought bacon. Anyone can make bacon at home if they have the tools and time. Here's how I did it.
How You Can Make Bacon At Home
A few simple things are required to make bacon at home. The process does require one very important thing as well. The important thing is some kind of grill or smoker on which you can maintain a low temperature. A while ago I bought a pellet smoker and I use that for all my low-and-slow smoking. You could make bacon on a BBQ grill using briquets or a offset smoker. Just make sure that, whatever you use, you can keep the temp low for the cooking and smoking of the bacon.
Other than that piece of equipment, you'll need some, "Prague Powder No. 1" and something to seal the stuff as it sits in your fridge. Some people use zip lock bags for that process, but I use a vacuum sealer from a company called Food Saver. As a single dad, I use my Food Saver multiple times a week when I buy in bulk and freeze things for later use. It works great for making bacon at home so I was pretty stoked to use it for this awesome project.
All the other stuff that went into making the bacon came out of my pantry: sugar, paprika, pepper, salt... that's pretty much it. Oh, except for that "Prague Powder No. 1". That's curing salt. I couldn't find it in any of my local grocery stores so I had to order it from that A to Z place.
Once you've got all your ingredients, including the Prague Powder No. 1 you're off to the races. Up first, cure the meat in the spice mix for a week or so, then rinse and pat dry. Leave it in the fridge one night and then drop it on the smoker until it it's 150 degrees or so. Let the smoked meat cool, then pop it in the freezer for ten minutes or so. That will make it easier to slice.
Have a look at the pictures below and let me know if you've tried this at home as well!
Pork Belly
Carl CraftI used two packages of pork belly that I got at BJ's. Be sure to ask the butcher if the pork belly still has it's skin on. For bacon, you'll want it skinless. In the bowls next to the pork belly are the two cures that I used. Basically the same except one used maple syrup and the other was just the spice mix.
Wrapped Pork Belly
Carl CraftThe pork belly has been rubbed all over with the cure. I sealed them using my Food Saver and marked each package with the cure, "maple" or "regular". Now, they go into the fridge for at least 7 days. They get flipped once a day while in the fridge.
After 10 Days 2
Carl CraftThe pork belly is rinsed, dried and put on drying racks. This was the maple syrup cured pork belly.
After 10 Days 1
Carl CraftThis is the pork belly that was cured in a normal bacon cure. Rinsed, dried, and on the drying rack.
On the smoker
Carl CraftThe pork belly is really getting closer to becoming bacon. Its on my smoker with probes in each piece of meet so I can monitor the temperature. That tube you see is there to provide extra smoke flavor. One knock on the pellet smoker is that it doesn't impart as much smoke as a offset smoker. This tube is filled with pure fruit wood pellets, apple to be exact. The tube is a great way to boost the smoke flavor in a pellet grill.
Off the smoker
Carl CraftThe pork belly has hit about 150 degrees. I smoked it for 4 to 5 hours at 225°. Now I let it cool down, then it goes into the fridge or a freezer. It's easier to cut uniformly if it's cold.
Final Sliced
Carl CraftI can't bring myself to call it, "bacon" until it's sliced. I did this by hand using a very sharp knife. Cooling the meat in the freezer really helped get this bacon cut so nicely. Now, it just needs a skillet or a hot oven and my kids around the breakfast table on a Saturday morning!
