Homemade Bacon Recipe (with Video)

Preparation of the meat
1. Rinse your meat and pat it dry with a paper towel.
2. Mix all of the curing ingredients together and completely cover the entire slab of pork belly with the seasonings.
3. Once seasoned, put the pork belly in a zip lock bag and put it in the refrigerator for five to seven days.
4. Flip over the zip lock bag once a day to ensure it cures evenly. You will notice more liquid in the bag each day, that is a good thing, it means the cure is working!
Rinsing and Drying
1. On day 7, take the meat out of the zip lock bags and rinse off all of the seasoning.
2. Pat the meat dry with a paper towel.
3. Put the meat back in the fridge UNCOVERED for 24 hours.
Cooking the meat
1. Set your smoker to 180 degrees.
2. Use a thermometer to cook the meat until it reaches 160 degrees. This should take about 3.5-4 hours. You can do the same method in the oven, it just won't have the smokey flavor.
3. Once the temp reaches 160, take the meat out of the oven, let it rest for 20 minutes.
4. Wrap it in parchment paper, let sit in the fridge for 4 hours.
Slicing and Serving
1. Slice with a sharp knife to your desired thickness or with a meat slicer.
2. When you are ready to eat it, fry it on the stove top or stick it in the oven until crispy.