We got our pig back in September with the knowledge that I was going to make our own bacon. This is all brand new to me, so I was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing. It turned out to be so easy!
I started with a 7 pound belly that I cut into 3 hunks. Then made a mixture of 1/3 c kosher salt 1/3 c light brown sugar and 1/3 c maple syrup. This is based on the book
Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. They use quite a bit of 'pink' salt which has nitrates. I wanted to avoid those, so went with the above mixture.
This then got smeared all over the belly and placed in a 2 gallon zip top bag. I placed it into dish and put it into the fridge. There it sat for 7 days, being turned daily, but otherwise ignored.
This morning I lit my new smoker for the first time and placed the bellies in. I used hickory chips and think I'll use apple wood next time, but the smoke was quite nice. The smoker never heated up as much as I wanted, so after about 1 1/2 hours, I pulled the bellies out and put them in a 200 degree oven for about 70 minutes until they got to 150 degrees.
They looked pretty good so I decided to try some, just to see how it turned out.
It was amazing! This piece had virtually no fat, but had that classic bacon taste without any of the chemical taste to go with it. This pig had a good life and I'm happy to make it all that it can be.
Lastly, I cut the slabs into halves and put them in freezer bags and stored away. There is still another belly in the freezer for me to play with. I think I'll try a slightly different brine and wood. This is fun! Next I want to try a ham as well.
Edited to add: When I made this there was a note that I had made with the basic ingredients next to the instructions in the book. I couldn't remember where I had seen them, but after searching blog posts discovered
this post of the same name by
Annette over at Sustainable Eats. Apparently it stuck with me, but not enough to remember specifics. Thanks Annette!
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