HOME-CURED BACON

Home-Cured Bacon image

Yield makes a heck of a lot of great bacon

Number Of Ingredients 6

1 fresh pork belly, skin removed, 7 to 9 pounds
2 to 3 tablespoons ground Aleppo pepper, to taste
3 pounds kosher salt
1 teaspoon curing salt
1 pound granulated sugar
1 pound brown sugar

Steps:

Rub the pork belly top and bottom with the Aleppo pepper. Combine the kosher salt, curing salt, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a large, nonreactive container and bury the belly completely in the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 2 days.
Remove the belly from the refrigerator and discard the cure. Rinse the remaining cure off the meat and pat it dry. Set the belly on a baking sheet and loosely cover. Allow to sit in the refrigerator another 2 days. On the second day, set the hickory chips in water to soak overnight.
Using a conventional smoker, smoke the belly until the internal temperature reaches 145°F. Once the belly is smoked and cooled, cut into 4 sections. Wrap the sections well in plastic wrap and foil and store in the freezer until needed, up to 3 months.