Me and my wife originally tried smoking our own bacon out of sheer novelty after finding out we could buy whole pork bellies at costco. It then turned out so good we’ve kept up with making a new batch anytime we run out.
Not pictured: trimming the pork belly small enough to fit in a vacuum bag, coating it with a curing mix (borrowed from this Kenji video on pancetta), vacuum sealing, and keeping under weights in the fridge for a week.
On the smoker:
Sliced:
Packed up:
The off cuts on a “whatever’s in the fridge” sandwich:
My dad buys about 3 times per year whole pig/ half pig/ game (hog or deer) and then with friends completely prepares it.
We then have sausages, bacon, lot of meat, few liters of blood soup…
That sounds fantastic. I have some relatives that hunt, and I have not taken enough advantage of that.
Gotta set up a deal where they give me meat and I return half of it in the form of bacon or sausage.
It is lot of work - sometimes there are 5 or more people helping. Also it is lot harder than it looks I made few cuts of meat and had to take break. Good sharp knifes are necessary.
ohai, a fellow bacon maker!
i make 3 sides at a time and freeze the lot in vacuum sealed bags, about a pound or pound and a half in each. i leave them unsliced and cut what i need as i need it, resealing the vacuum bag each time.
my recipe is:
per pork belly:
- 186g brown sugar
- 9g black pepper
- 78g kosher salt
- 16g apple spice rub
- 32g curing salt
getting even slices is a pain so i actually cut the belly in half length wise prior to curing for a week. i find it much easier to get uniform, super thick cut slices that way. 3 sides is enough to get my and my extended family’s households through most of a year!
this is the last batch i made, before settling on cutting it in half down the middle. applewood smoked
