On the topic of bacon

Lots of posts about bacon. This is actually my second run at bacon.

First bacon was delicious but I did not post here about it.. I have a few crappy cell pics that are not worth posting. It was the Maple Cured bacon from Charcuterie.

Second belly in the cure as I post.

5lb Pork Belly... I removed the rind first this time

1/4 Cup Mortons Kosher
2 tsp Pink Salt
1/4 C Light Brown Sugar
1tsp garlic powder
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 Bay leaf chopped
1/4 tsp red pepper
1/4 c maple syrup
about 8 allspice berries


The additional seasoning is probably very light but I am trying to work up a good recipe like working up a good rifle load... Rind was removed to allow a little more smoke into the belly but hopefully keeping the same amount of wood used the same...

Rubbed Belly ready for bed


The cure



(What size are pics are best for this forum... I seem to have problems with Photobucket presets here but not on other forums...)

SCSmoke said:

Looks good. I would be careful of your sugar content. Too much sugar and the meat will burn when you go to cook it up.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I left the sugar the same as the first time... my wife and I did not have problems with cooking and it gave a nice sweetness. I considered reducing it but did not want to change too many things. In retrospect because I removed the rind first it might be too much sugar... Time will tell..

Second Belly going to smoke...

DMS I agree it prob wont add much (if anything)and should have use twice as much. my hope is that as it self marinaded all week some of it was absorbed in the liquid... We will see!

I removed about half the rind this time prior to smoking this time...

Thanks everyone, We had pancakes and bacon for lunch today. Peppercorns probably did not add but the other spices did. It offset the sweetness more than the first batch- Sorry... It was all gone before I grabbed the camera!