Homemade Bacon = Yummy!!

When we brought the pigs to the butcher and got the pork belly's back Jamie decided to try to make his own bacon.

This is what fresh pork belly looks like straight from the butcher.

Fresh Pork Belly

We decided to try a salt cured bacon and then a brown sugar bacon.  In the above picture you see one long pork belly but there is actually 2, the other one is underneath it.

We cut one of the large bellies in half and one half was done with salt and brown sugar and all the rest was done with salt.

Make sure you use Kosher salt.  Table salt is too fine and will just melt away and sea salt is too large and won't break down properly.  Make sure to use a plastic container to hold your pork belly as the salt can damage other types of containers including metal.

Day 1, Take a generous amount of salt, Jamie used about a cup total for all the pieces and rub it all over the pork bellies, make sure you get both sides.

This is where you would add any extra flavoring if you want.  We decided to take a piece and rub brown sugar all over it.  You could also use black pepper, maple -using 100% REAL maple syrup or any other ingredients that you could think of that may enhance the flavor of your bacon.

Now you just put it into the fridge and leave it alone.  As the pork belly sits in the fridge overnight the salt will break down and help draw out any moisture in the pork belly.

Day 2, take out your pork belly and drain any liquid from the bottom of your container and then re salt again using half the amount of salt that you used on day 1 and then also add more flavor to your other pork bellies.  Back into the fridge it goes.

Salted Pork Belly on Day 2

Day 3, repeat day 2.

Day 4, now is the time to get your smoker going.  We used Hickory for our smoke flavor.  Next take out pork bellies from fridge and rinse off all the salt and other ingredients you may have put on, pat dry with paper towels.

Place pork bellies on the smoker.

Pork Bellies just put on the smoker

Jamie smoked the pork bellies for 3 hours at 170 degrees.  You know your pork bellies will be ready when the internal temperature reads 150 degrees. 

Our bacon has a really nice smoke flavor, its not overpowering at all.  If you don't like too much of a smoke flavor you can also smoke your pork bellies umwrapped for 1/2 of the time and the other 1/2 of the time just have it wrapped in tinfoil.

Pork Belly smoking

Side view - can really see now it looks like bacon

Once the bellies are done smoking you can slice off some and fry it up and eat it.  Which of course we did because we all wanted to see how it tasted.  It was yummy!!!  We also reserve some of the bacon drippings from frying the bacon and use it in place of oil when we are cooking venison, eggs and other foods. It adds a little bacon flavor to what your cooking and who doesn't like bacon flavor.

Fresh smoked bacon sliced

Fresh bacon frying

For the rest of the meat you want to let it cool on the counter and then wrap it in plastic wrap and place back into the fridge to cool over night, this makes it easier to slice.

Jamie bought a meat slicer to slice the bacon.  I'm sure we will use it for lots of other things though, especially during hunting season.

Once all the bacon was sliced we laid it out onto parchment paper with about 18 slices per package. That works out to be a little more than a pound of bacon per package.

Fresh bacon ready for packaging

We used our vacuum sealer and packaged up all of the bacon.  We ended up with 3 packages of the Brown Sugar Bacon and 11 packages of Regular Bacon and then 1 package of irregular size pieces of bacon that I will use for something I'm sure.  Can't let ANY bacon go to waste.

We are really pleased so far with all of the meat we have gotten from the pigs and I'm sure we will be raising some again.