How to Smoke Bacon
Bacon undergoes a two-step production process that takes it from the fresh pork belly you find at the meat counter to the smoky slices you fry at home. Both steps in bacon production -- curing and cold smoking -- require no special equipment other than a basic backyard grill. You don't need the nitrates and nitrites you find packed in store-bought bacon, either; a basic salt-and-sugar brine is all you need to flavor the pork all the way through.
Things You'll Need
- Pork belly
- Kosher salt
- White or brown sugar
- Aluminum loaf pan
- Hardwood dust, such as mesquite or apple
- Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
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Rinse the pork belly and let it air dry on paper towels. Simmer 1-cup kosher salt and 1/2-cup sugar in 1 gallon of water until it dissolves.
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Let the brine cool to room temperature. Transfer the brine to a food-storage container and submerge the pork belly in it. Cover the container and place it in the refrigerator.
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Brine the pork belly for 48 hours. Take the pork from the brine and rinse it. Pat the pork dry with paper towels.
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Place the pork belly on a plate lined with paper towels and let it air dry uncovered in the refrigerator until a grayish coating, or pellicle, forms on its surface, or for about 24 hours.
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Fill an aluminum loaf pan with about 5 to 6 cups of hardwood dust and place it to one side of the charcoal tray in a barbecue grill. Light 5 charcoal briquettes in a chimney starter and let them burn until they ash over.
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Transfer the coals to the tray of hardwood dust using tongs. Open the top and bottom vents.on the grill.
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Place the pork belly fat-side-up on the cooking grid; place the pork near the hardwood tray, but not directly over it. If you're smoking more than one piece of pork, space the pieces at least 1 inch apart.
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Close the grill lid. Smoke should billow from the top grill vent vigorously after a few minutes; if not, add another briquette.
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Place a metal-probe instant-read thermometer in the vent hole on the grill lid; the temperature inside the grill should measure between 80 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit. If the grill measures hotter then 120 F, open the lid for a few minutes until it dips to the desired range.
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Stir the hardwood dust using tongs every hour; add about 1 cup of hardwood dust every 1 1/2 hours. Turn the pork belly 180 degrees on the cooking surface after 3 hours of smoking.
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Smoke the pork until it turns light brown, about 6 hours. Let the bacon cool to room temperature and store it up to a week in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
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Slice the bacon as needed and cook it to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
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