Homemade smoked bacon is a great skill to master, especially with this easy to follow recipe!
Featuring Spicy BBQ Sweet Heat Seasoning by Sauce Goddess, Smoked Chipotle Salt by African Dream Foods, Maple Espresso BBQ Sauce by Southern City Flavors & Croix Valley's Sweet n' Smokey! Competition Barbecue Sauce from our "Bark & Bite" BBQ box.
Homemade smoked bacon is a great skill to master, especially with this easy to follow recipe!
feat. Spicy BBQ Sweet Heat Seasoning by Sauce Goddess, Smoked Chipotle Salt by African Dream Foods, Maple Espresso BBQ Sauce by Southern City Flavors & Croix Valley's Sweet n' Smokey! Competition Barbecue Sauce from our 'Bark & Bite" BBQ box.
Prepare the pork belly: Cut pork belly into 3 even sections. Apply Croix Valley's Sweet n' Smokey! Competition Barbecue Sauce as a binder for seasoning. Season with Spicy BBQ Sweet Heat Seasoning by Sauce Goddess on all sides, gently rub into meat. Take the grinder cap off Smoked Chipotle Salt by African Dream Foods and apply a light coat of the coarse chipotle salt on all sides. Add pork belly sections into 3 separate gallon sized plastic bags. Add about 3 Tbsp of Maple Espresso BBQ Sauce by Southern City Flavors to each bag. Place in the refrigerator for at least 3 days, flipping once every 12 hours to cure.
After the curing process, remove pork belly sections from bags and lightly rinse each section and pat dry with a paper towel.
Apply a light binder of Maple Espresso BBQ Sauce by Southern City Flavors followed by Spicy BBQ Sweet Heat Seasoning by Sauce Goddess, black pepper, and brown sugar.
Preheat your smoker to 180 °F, preferably using a wood with a sweet undertone such as cherry, hickory or apple.
Place on your smoker, and smoke for 5 hours or until internal temperature reaches 150 °F.
Remove from your smoker and let cool. Slice the smoked pork belly into bacon slices, for regular bacon slice into 1/16th inch slices or 1/8th inch for thick cut bacon.
Pan fry, bake, grill, or air fry as you would traditional store bought bacon. Enjoy!
Recipe Note
Pro Tips: To make crispy bacon on your grill or smoker, place bacon on a baking rack over a sheet pan, cook at 325 °F for about 20 minutes. Preserve the bacon fat to add extra flavor to dishes or to season your cast iron cookware!
