Homemade Bacon

Your first step will be obtain a whole, raw pork belly. While most supermarkets aren't going to carry whole pork bellies you can find them pretty easily with a little leg work. Independent grocers that still keep a butcher on staff can get them for you, many ethnic markets often have them and there are several internet vendors that you can order organic, free range bellies from. However my favorite source is straight from a local small time farmer. Many farmers markets these days have farmers selling meat and many are happy to help with special orders.

There really isn't much going on with bacon, it's basically just pork and spices. So the quality of the pork belly will greatly affect the taste of the bacon when you're done. It's worth the extra effort to get farm raised pork, instead of feedlot pork. The bellies are thicker, with a better meat to fat ratio in farm raised animals and the bacon has a richer, well, porkier flavor.

Your pork belly may come with or without the skin. If you get one with the skin you'll want to leave on through the whole process. You'll remove it after smoking.

Trim the edges of the belly so they are square(ish) with a clean straight cut. Ragged or tapering ends will soak up too much cure and smoke and won't be any good to eat.

Save the trimmings though as they are good to eat. Cooked slow on a cast iron skillet the fat renders out and leaves the meat tender and juicy like a good tenderloin.

If you don't already have any dry cure mix laying around you will need to make some now. Basic dry cure is a mix of kosher salt, sugar and pink salt. Pink in this case refers to curing salt, which is regular table salt with 6.25% sodium nitrite added, and died pink for safety. This is an ingredient you cannot leave out, the hot smoking process holds the meat near the so called 'danger zone' for several hours and the nitrites prevent botulism from growing, which thrives in warm anaerobic environments like a smoker.

Mix together the kosher salt, sugar and pink salt in bowl. Store in an air tight jar and it will last pretty much forever and can be used in many other cured meat recipes.

This is not an optional step, without the nitrite in the pink salt you run the risk of botulism while smoking the meat. The nitrite is the magic ingredient that makes all this work. It also give the pork that bright pink bacon color we all know and love.

You need about 1/4 cup of the dry cure mix for this recipe, give or take. Go ahead and set that amount aside now and put the remainder in a clearly labeled jar.

Spread about 1/8 cup of the dry cure mix out on a pan and dredge one side of the belly in it until you have a nice even coating. Pour on the other 1/8 cup of the mix and do the same to the other side and the edges. Rub it in good with your (gloved) hands. You only want as much cure as will stick on it's own.

After the belly is coated in dry cure throw out whatever was left in the in pan.

Drizzle on your molasses in an even coat and sprinkle on the coffee grounds. As with all things coffee, grinding yourself from beans is best.

If making a savory bacon sprinkle your spice mix and herbs on and pack them into the surface.

Carefully slide the belly into your big ziplock bag. I find the three gallon size to be the best fit for a six pound pork belly.

Stash the bag in the fridge, preferably resting in leak proof container.

The curing mix is going to pull a lot of water out of the belly, enough to create a super concentrated brine. Every 48 hrs or so take the bag out of the fridge and flip it over. This helps evenly distribute the brine for a better, safer cure.

Different bellies will give up more water than others, expect anywhere from 1/2 a cup to almost 2 cups. In my experience bellies with the skin attached will be wetter than skinless.

The bellies will take between 7-10 days to cure, depending on size, thickness etc... They are done curing when the meat is no longer squishy and springy like raw meat. It will have a consistency closer to silly putty or play dough though a little softer than either.

When the belly is done curing remove it from the bag, rinse it thoroughly in the sink and pat it dry with paper towels. You want to remove as much of the remaining cure/spices/herbs from the meat as possible. A few embedded peppercorns or the odd bit of coffee ground won't hurt anything though.

You can store the belly in the fridge, wrapped in plastic or otherwise sealed up for up to three days before putting it in the smoker.

Optional: The night before smoking leave the belly sitting in the fridge uncovered for 12-24 hours. This will let the meat form a tacky pellicle that will help it absorb the smokey goodness even better.

Take the bellies out of the fridge and let them start warming up at room temp while you prep your smoker.

Do whatever you need to do to get your smoker ready for a 'hot smoke' and light 'er up. We're looking for a cooking chamber temp between 150-200F. Any hotter than 200F and you'll be roasting the bellies not smoking them.

I usually smoke with a mix of cherry wood and oak because of an abundance of cherry scrap from my woodshop and oak from all the branches my yard oaks drop. Also it's a delicious combination on bacon. You can use whatever you like, just remember softwoods like pine are no good for smoking because of the resin content.

Smoke the bellies until they reach an internal temperature of 150F. In my smoker this takes about 2 1/2 hours. Start checking the temp with a probe thermometer after about 90 minutes to get a feel for how fast it's cooking.

Follow all safety protocols for your smoker as well as all local regulations regarding residential outdoor cooking! Never leave a charcoal smoker unattended!