The Original Bacon Kit

I know this is rookie stuff for the pros on this website, but I recently tried my hand at making my own bacon using "the Original Bacon Kit". I was at a garage sale the other day and they had "The Original Bacon Kit" for sale for a few bucks and it looked completely unopened. *Making homemade bacon was something that I had been wanting to try after reading about it for years, but had put off trying. When I found this kit, I decided to spend the dough and give it a try. *It was a super simple process and my daughter and I had fun doing it together. *The kit comes with salt, sugar, a bag for curing, a pop up thermometer, and instructions, you provide 5 lbs of pork belly. *You mix all the ingredients in a bag and then flip every other day for seven days. *After seven days you smoke it for a few hours.**The end results were pretty great and I want to try it again. *If anyone has recommendations on which salt and sugar I should get from Amazon, I am open to suggestions.

There is a more thorough account and pictures on my site, the link is in my signature block.

Bottom Line: I had a great time doing this, it was easier and less time consuming than I had imagined. You can probably do it cheaper buying the ingredients on their own, like I plan to do going forward, but the kit is a great way to start.

landarc said:

Because I cannot use a normal cure, I make bacon with Kosher salt and Turbinado sugar. Sometimes I will use maple sugar or brown sugar. It works great. Of course, since it is not cured, it must be smoked over 200°F, and it cannot be held without refrigeration.

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The idea of all the nitrates makes me a little nervous. I like this idea. I could split it in half and freeze half of it in a vacuum sealed bag.