Pork Pork Belly Smoked Bacon

Greg Jones

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I made my own bacon from pork belly yesterday, and I can’t believe I waited this long to do this. The results were phenomenal! For the recipe, I started with a 4.5# Costco belly and followed Steven Raichlen’s recipe to the letter. He posts the steps to do this Linked Here

For the actual smoking part, I put the belly fat side up on a wire rack and placed the rack on the large shelf of my Bull. I then lit a smoke tube with cherry wood pellets and put that on the main grate. I set the temp to Xtreme smoke and let it go until it hit an internal temp of 150*. Raichlen stated that this should take 4 hours, but in my case it was closer to 5-½ hours. I then let it cool, and covered it in the fridge overnight. This morning I sliced it and tried a piece and I don’t know how it could be better. One of the nice benefits of smoking It on the wire rack is that it made nice grid lines that made slicing the bacon a breeze.

If y’all haven’t tried this before and you like bacon, give it a go. The only thing I might do differently next time is to use hickory pellets in the smoke tube.
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Excellent job. I have a buddy that did this also,and got his meat at the same place. Thanks, now I have to try this for sure !..haha
 
Good job! Once you find a cure you like, and you get it dialed in there is nothing better than homemade bacon. I’ve tried a number of cures and found that the sugar cure from Curley’s Sausage Kitchen works the best. It's straight forward and easy to use. I probably make about 100 lbs per year. My friends line up when I tell them I’m smoking bacon.
 
I followed this recipe this past weekend and it turned out great. Very easy. Started with a 10# belly and had to cut it in half. I think it would have fit on the grill but couldn't find a bag to cure it that was big enough.

A couple of questions for anyone that has done this. The 1st, when slicing, I think I need a better knife. Even after sharpening, it was hard to cut the bacon. It was a little easier as it started to warm up. Any suggestions on a carving type knife?

The 2nd, it was a little salty. I rinsed like the curing recipe said to do, but am wondering if soaking it might be better. If so, how long would you do it?

Pics attached.
 

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I made my own bacon from pork belly yesterday, and I can’t believe I waited this long to do this. The results were phenomenal! For the recipe, I started with a 4.5# Costco belly and followed Steven Raichlen’s recipe to the letter. He posts the steps to do this Linked Here

For the actual smoking part, I put the belly fat side up on a wire rack and placed the rack on the large shelf of my Bull. I then lit a smoke tube with cherry wood pellets and put that on the main grate. I set the temp to Xtreme smoke and let it go until it hit an internal temp of 150*. Raichlen stated that this should take 4 hours, but in my case it was closer to 5-½ hours. I then let it cool, and covered it in the fridge overnight. This morning I sliced it and tried a piece and I don’t know how it could be better. One of the nice benefits of smoking It on the wire rack is that it made nice grid lines that made slicing the bacon a breeze.

If y’all haven’t tried this before and you like bacon, give it a go. The only thing I might do differently next time is to use hickory pellets in the smoke tube. View attachment 1200View attachment 1201View attachment 1202
I want to do this so bad!
 
This is one of the things I am most excited to try. Good bacon aint cheap, either... I bet this is actually pretty cost effective in the long run.
 
I have failed at every attempt with pork belly :(
 
Sorry to here this please explain, it's one of the thing on the to smoke list.
When I tried pork belly I used the entire piece from Costco. The end result was a piece of fat with a little meat. It could be the quality of meat that I'm purchasing?
 
I made my own bacon from pork belly yesterday, and I can’t believe I waited this long to do this. The results were phenomenal! For the recipe, I started with a 4.5# Costco belly and followed Steven Raichlen’s recipe to the letter. He posts the steps to do this Linked Here

For the actual smoking part, I put the belly fat side up on a wire rack and placed the rack on the large shelf of my Bull. I then lit a smoke tube with cherry wood pellets and put that on the main grate. I set the temp to Xtreme smoke and let it go until it hit an internal temp of 150*. Raichlen stated that this should take 4 hours, but in my case it was closer to 5-½ hours. I then let it cool, and covered it in the fridge overnight. This morning I sliced it and tried a piece and I don’t know how it could be better. One of the nice benefits of smoking It on the wire rack is that it made nice grid lines that made slicing the bacon a breeze.

If y’all haven’t tried this before and you like bacon, give it a go. The only thing I might do differently next time is to use hickory pellets in the smoke tube. View attachment 1200View attachment 1201View attachment 1202
Wow, that looks great! I just cured and smoked my first batch of bacon too. Came out really good! I followed this method I found on youtube:
Bear Mountain gourmet blend pellets.
 

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I have so many questions, went by Costco tonight for some paper products, wandered by the meat department, actually it called me so I could not help myself. Saw(good point to not that saw, like I saw this and the butcher sawed this are the same, am I losing it?) Pork belly sliced up and whole.
SO being a newbie, what is a good recipe, use whole or just small pieces, how to cook and serve, Is it too rich?

Thanks in advance!
 

Is it OK to post a YouTube link???
Made this 4 times. All Great.
Costco Pork Belly.
Last time this past weekend. Yes, it wears out my arm and hand to slice with a sharp knife.
 
It's been several years since I last made my own bacon, but some of the best I made was some I wet cured in a slurry of anaheim, serrano and jalapeno peppers for 14 days prior to slow smoking for 8ish hours at 170F with a mix of hickory, oak and pecan.
 
The last time I made bacon I cured it according to the calculator on Amazingribs but in one slab I added a healthy glug of Sriracha and the other maple syrup. Cured for a week and then smoked to 160. I thought the Sriracha one would be spicy but I was surprised that it really wasn't. In hindsight, should have known better that the Sriracha wouldn't really penetrate the meat much at all. Then I tried the maple one and.... was really underwhelmed. The Sriracha bacon just popped with flavor more. From now on, I'm going to add that even if not trying to make a spicy bacon.
 
I made my own bacon from pork belly yesterday, and I can’t believe I waited this long to do this. The results were phenomenal! For the recipe, I started with a 4.5# Costco belly and followed Steven Raichlen’s recipe to the letter. He posts the steps to do this Linked Here

For the actual smoking part, I put the belly fat side up on a wire rack and placed the rack on the large shelf of my Bull. I then lit a smoke tube with cherry wood pellets and put that on the main grate. I set the temp to Xtreme smoke and let it go until it hit an internal temp of 150*. Raichlen stated that this should take 4 hours, but in my case it was closer to 5-½ hours. I then let it cool, and covered it in the fridge overnight. This morning I sliced it and tried a piece and I don’t know how it could be better. One of the nice benefits of smoking It on the wire rack is that it made nice grid lines that made slicing the bacon a breeze.

If y’all haven’t tried this before and you like bacon, give it a go. The only thing I might do differently next time is to use hickory pellets in the smoke tube. View attachment 1200View attachment 1201View attachment 1202
Try pecan sometime.
 

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