Home made bacon is the best, no question no debate. I started making my own and then the local butcher shops raised the price of pork belly. What do we do when the price goes up…? We go wholesale, in this case Restaurant Depot sells pork bellies in cases of 2, that’s 2 whole bellies. Well that’s too much for one household so one of my friends wanted some, we split the case and all was right with the world.
So this batch more friends wanted to stock their freezers so what you see here is three complete bellies, about 40 lbs of bacon in my smoker. Apple wood smoked. Yum. Darren the original co-bacon maker does his own. Part of this will go to a 40th birthday party next weekend wrapping up filets and scallops, another yum and happy birthday to Heather!
For a cure I use brown sugar, salt, rosemary, fennel, juniper berries, pepper and garlic powder. 5 1/2 days in the cure, into the smoker for 6 hours at low temps. The house smells fantastic, the kids are giddy with the anticipation of a Sunday morning breakfast with fresh bacon and all my friends are anxiously waiting for their sliced bacon.