-Ingredients-
1 lb of pork belly
(you can, of course, purchase an entire pork belly so that you have enough bacon to last you a month or so, this is just a good amount for this recipe, plus a little extra - because we all know you'll need a little extra)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon pink curing salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons black peppercorns, smashed
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tablespoon juniper berries, smashed
1 bay leaf, crumbled
-Tools-
Weston Vacuum Sealer + Vacuum Sealer Bags
Weston Vertical Propane Smoker
Cherry Wood Chips
Weston Meat Slicer
Thoroughly mix all of the ingredients, except the pork belly, then rub this cure mix evenly over the pork belly.
Vacuum seal the pork belly in a Weston gallon or extra large
Vacuum Sealer Bag, then use a
Weston Vacuum Sealer to vacuum seal it . Refrigerate the belly for at least 24 hours, but up to 7 days. Once it has cured, remove it from the
Vacuum Sealer Bag, then rinse it thoroughly under cold water for about 3 minutes. At this point, it is ready for smoking.
Preheat your
Weston Propane Smoker to 130 degrees F, open the dampers, and don't fill the water bowl or wood chip box. Once it is preheated, place the bacon on a rack and allow it to dry out for about an hour. In the meantime, soak your wood chips. After the outside of the bacon has dried, add the wood chips to the smoking box, and close the dampers, leaving them about a quarter of the way open.
Continue to smoke the meat until it has reached an internal temperature of 130 degrees. Allow it to cool back down for about an hour, then refrigerate it overnight. At this point, you have bacon.
Use a
Weston Meat Slicer to slice the bacon to the precise thickness that you like.
