Homemade Bacon

I've been doing it for several years. Use the EQ calculator to be sure you get your ratios right. I always change the salt to 1.75% to make it a little less salty. Usually cure in the fridge for around 2 weeks. I smoke on my pellet smoker at 180 until it hits 145-150, which is usually 4 or so hours. I've also cold smoked, which is awesome, but hard to do this time of year in LA.

Link to the calculator

LINK

I too have been smoking my own for several years and haven't bought commercial made bacon in all that time. I will brine mine for at least 2 weeks using a dry rub and put the meat in either a zip lock gallon bag or just vacuum seal it. I put it in my downstairs fridge and make sure to turn it every day so it brines evenly.

When the brine time is up I wash off the brine off the belly and pat it dry and will cut off a couple slices off one end to fry to check for salinity. If too salty, I will soak it in cold water until the salt cuts down to acceptable levels.

Then I thoroughly dry the belly, put it on a baking cooling rack back in the fridge uncovered overnight so the belly gets tacky dry before smoking it.

Like already mentioned, similar heat and time and I prefer to used either hickory or pecan to smoke the bacon. Once done I'll let it cool, put it in the fridge to get cold overnight and then slice it the next day, vacuum seal what I'll not immediately use and freeze it for later use.



Edited to add this: Depending on how much sweetener-----brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup, etc. you may use, just be sure to cook the bacon low and slow in the frying pan. The sweetener used can often cause the bacon to burn a bit before it is cooked if on a high heat.

Kind of like applying BBQ sauce right out the bottle to chicken and having it burn on the chicken before the meat is done.

I'm trying to make it. My bag that I'm holding the pork belly in has a good bit of juice in it on day 4.

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Be sure to turn it daily so it brines evenly.

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I've been doing that, thanks for reminding me, went and moved it.

I'm excited, I have been doing a lot of my own cooking to get rid of preservatives, excess salt, and such, and this is another step towards that goal!

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That is normal as the salt draws moisture out of the meat. When you finally remove the meat from the bag prior to smoking you will notice the belly has firmed up quite a bit since you initially put it in the bag

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You are confusing a dry brine (salt) with a liquid brine (salt water).

If the meat is sitting in a liquid brine with salt (salt water), then salt does not draw out moisture from the meat. Salt allows meat to hold water. One part of the chemical compound of salt (NaCl) binds to the protein in the meat. The other part of the chemical compound binds to a water molecule (H2O), thus forming like a bridge or glue between the meat and the water.

You see meat labeled "injected with up to a solution of X%". This is when the processor injects brine (salt water) into the meat and the meat then holds water. There are 3 reasons to do this: a jucier meat product, adding the flavor of your brine to the meat, and to increase the weight of the meat.

A processor wants to increase the weight of the meat because if you sell a chicken breast for $1 per pound and it weighs 1.05 pounds, but then you add 0.5 pounds of water, you now have a chicken breast that weighs 1.10 pounds and you make more money.

When you get it right, there’s nothing better on earth. The tough part is getting the salt level (amount+time) just right. The rest is pretty easy.

ETA: I think it would be smarter to do one belly, see how you did, and adjust for the second.

OK nice idea.

Can you guys explain what drives the amount of time to leave on brine? I'm sure the heavier the cut the longer the brine, but I've seen everything from one to two weeks.

Will be a Costco standard pork belly; likely cut in half.

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Whole Costco belly will be around 10 pounds. You may consider cutting in 1/3rds.

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This is exactly what I do. I will first cut the belly in 3 even pieces then dry brine them with my seasonings. After that I slip them into the three large Ziplock bags, get as much air out as I can and seal them or I will sometimes just use my vacuum sealer when I feel like breaking it out.

Then they go in my fridge downstairs in a big pan just in case a bag leaks. They go in the beer fridge in the man cave and are turned daily for 2 weeks before I finish them off by smoking them.