cured and smoked bacon

Cured & Smoked Bacon

Pork belly is coated with a dry cure of salt, sugar, and spices, then refrigerated for several days to draw out moisture and infuse flavor. After curing, the meat develops a firm texture and a seasoned interior. The slow process preserves the pork while allowing the flavors to penetrate evenly, creating a richly seasoned foundation for smoking.

Once cured, the pork belly is rinsed, dried, and smoked over low heat until fully cooked, allowing hardwood smoke to permeate the fat and lean layers. The result is bacon with a deep, smoky aroma, balanced saltiness, and firm texture that can be sliced and cooked or served as is.

Print Recipe
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 6 hours
Cure Time: 10 days
Total Time: 10 days 6 hours 20 minutes
Bacon
Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs. pork belly with the skin removed
  • 3 Tbsp. Kosher salt
  • ⅓ cup white sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. black pepper
  • 2 tsp. paprika
  • 1 tsp. Prague Powder #1( curing salt with nitrates)

Instructions 

Cure

  • Combine the salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, and curing salt in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
  • Place the pork belly on a foil-lined baking sheet.
  • Rub half of the curing blend onto the top and sides of the pork belly.
  • Gather up any of the curing blend that landed on the baking sheet and rub it in to the top of the pork belly.
  • Flip the pork belly and rub in the remaining curing blend. Use it all.
  • Seal the coated pork belly in a large locking bag or vacuum seal bag and remove all the air from the bag.
  • Place the bag containing the pork belly into the refrigerator for ten days. Once a day, flip the bagged pork belly and massage the outside.

Dry

  • After ten days, remove the cured pork belly from the bag and rinse off any excess curing blend from the outside.
  • Pat the outside of the cured pork belly dry with paper towels.
  • Place the pork belly on a rack above a baking sheet and place it in the refrigerator, uncovered, to dry for 24 hours.

Smoke

  • Preheat the smoker to 165-175°F.
  • Place the pork belly, leaner side down on the smoker rack. After two hours, flip the pork belly so the fattier side is down.
  • Smoke the pork belly for about 4 hours until the internal temperature reaches 150-155°F.

Slice

  • Transfer the smoked bacon onto a baking rack over a baking sheet and place in the refrigerator to cool.
  • When the bacon is cool and firm (just leaving it overnight works just fine), remove it from the refrigerator and slice.

Notes

  • Switch from white sugar to brown sugar to reduce pure sweetness.
  • Use some more spices (not salt or sugar).
  • Don’t slice pork belly in half to check before smoking. Ten days is enough for a 1-2 inch thick pork belly.
  • Pay attention and manually keep the temperature low enough when smoking.