You have to find a pork belly that is going to be a good one to cook. Not all local grocery stores carry pork belly so you will want to visit a store such as Costco, Sam’s, Whole Foods, or a butcher shop. If possible it’s a great idea to look for a pork belly that has already had the skin removed because it can be a challenge to take off.
And a pork belly looks for one that has a fair amount of meat, instead of completely fat. This will allow your bacon to be richer than it otherwise would. You may want to look at organic, or shop at your local butchers and you’ll most likely find a better cut of meat available there.
Pork belly comes with the skin on, remove the skin or rind from your pork belly before smoking it as it will block how much smoke your bacon absorbs. Doing this can be a bit tricky, so be careful as you work. Start at the corner angling a sharp knife with a blade towards the skin. Slowly work the skin off of your pork belly to remove it. Once removed throw your pork skin away.
If you’re buying your pork belly from a butcher, you will definitely want to ask them to remove the skin for you before leaving. This will save you a lot of hassle.
To prepare the cure, in a small mixing bowl next together with your salt, pepper, and brown sugar. Start together until no lumps remain.
Now I think your pork belly with the skin removed, and rub your salt, pepper and brown sugar mixture on all sides of your pork belly. Place into a plastic storage bag, along with any excess rub. Seal the bag, and place it inside of a bowl, or metal pan with sides. Place your pork belly into the fridge and allow it to cure for five days.
As time goes by you will want to continually turn your pork belly, once or twice a day is a good idea, as you are pork belly will shed liquid, and you want the cure to continue to absorb into your pork belly.
To tell when your pork belly is done curing, you can cut a small slice into it to see if the inside is pink or if it is still Brown. If you see pink, then your pork belly is done curing. However, if it is still brown inside, placed it back into your plastic bag and continue caring for another one to two days.
After your five days have passed, remove your pork belly from the plastic bag and placed it into a colander or strainer. Take water and rinse your pork belly on all sides, being sure to rinse off all of the cure.
When your pork belly has been rinsed, padded dry using a paper towel. Then place your pork belly onto a wire cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet. Refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours. This time is to allow your pork belly to completely dry out and develop a tackiness to the pork bellies outside.
Now it’s time to smoke your bacon! Preheat your smoker to the lowest temperature you can. Ideally, you want to aim for 165°F to 175°F if your smoker will go that low.
Place your pork belly directly on the grill grates and smoke it until the internal temperature reaches 150-155°F, and the outside of your pork belly is lately bronze in color from the smoke.
If you are smoking at 165°F this may take around six hours of smoking time, or at 175°F this may take around three hours of smoking time.
Please note that the smoking time may vary depending on the weather at your location as well as the size of your pork belly. Because the time may vary, it’s always a good idea to check the internal temperature and the appearance of your pork belly to make sure you were going to have the best smoked bacon.
When your pork belly is done smoking, remove it from the smoker and place it on a wire cooling rack over a cookie sheet. Let it cool to room temperature. Went to high school to room temperature, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or at least four hours. I know it’s a lot of waiting, but you are almost there!
Now that you’re smoked pork belly has had time to chill, you can go ahead and slice it as desired, and either fry it, grill, oven bake or smoke it one more time to cook it.
To smoke your bacon one final time, preheat your smoker to 200°F. Place your bacon directly on your grill grates keeping an eye on it. Smoke for approximately 30 minutes then turn your pieces over and smoke for another proximately 15 minutes. Then remove your finished bacon from the smoker and enjoy your hard work!