Me and my wife originally tried smoking our own bacon out of sheer novelty after finding out we could buy whole pork bellies at costco. It then turned out so good we’ve kept up with making a new batch anytime we run out.
Not pictured: trimming the pork belly small enough to fit in a vacuum bag, coating it with a curing mix (borrowed from this Kenji video on pancetta), vacuum sealing, and keeping under weights in the fridge for a week.
On the smoker:
Sliced:
Packed up:
The off cuts on a “whatever’s in the fridge” sandwich:
ohai, a fellow bacon maker!
i make 3 sides at a time and freeze the lot in vacuum sealed bags, about a pound or pound and a half in each. i leave them unsliced and cut what i need as i need it, resealing the vacuum bag each time.
my recipe is:
per pork belly:
getting even slices is a pain so i actually cut the belly in half length wise prior to curing for a week. i find it much easier to get uniform, super thick cut slices that way. 3 sides is enough to get my and my extended family’s households through most of a year!
this is the last batch i made, before settling on cutting it in half down the middle. applewood smoked