This recipe from a fellow forum member Tenpoint5 is a really good one, I use it all the time. I have the butcher remove the skin leaving most of the fat on the belly. Bacon racks are nice but laying the bacon on the racks works well.
Maple Cured Bacon
From Tenpoint5
Ingredients:
2 oz. Kosher salt (about 1/4 cup)
2 tsp. Cure #1 (aka pink salt, InstaCure #1, Prague Powder #1)
1/4 C. Maple sugar or packed brown sugar
1/4 C. Maple syrup
5 lb. fresh pork belly
(Makes enough for a 5 lb. belly)
Directions:
Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add syrup and stir
until well combined.
If the mixture is too thick, you can add more syrup to thin it.
Rub cure mixture on belly making sure to cover the entire surface. Place
skin side down in a 2 gallon sealable bag, and expel all air, and fold the
empty end of the bag under so that the belly is in close contact with the
bag. During the curing time the belly will release liquid, and it is
important that this liquid stay in contact with the meat.
Note - The skin was already removed at the Locker Plant on this one.
Refrigerate at 34 – 40°F (the closer to 40°F the better) for 5 to 7 days,
until belly is firm to the touch with no soft spots. During the curing
time, turn the bag over once a day or once every other day to redistribute
the cure.
When belly is fully cured, rinse it thoroughly, and pat it dry. Place it
on an inverted Bradley rack set over a baking sheet, and air dry uncovered
in the refrigerator overnight (12 – 24 hours).
If you don’t have the refrigerator space to air dry the bacon you can do
this step in the Bradley. Preheat the Bradley to 100 – 120°F with vent
wide open, and place your room temperature bacon in the smoker. To get
these low temperatures you will need to use the “cold smoke setup”. Do
not apply smoke at this time. You just want to dry the bellies until
they are tacky when touched. Depending on the size of your load, this
generally takes about 2 hours, but to be on the safe side check the
bellies after one hour.
Smoking/Cooking
Once bacon has been “air dried” place into a 120 - 140° preheated smoker
with vent half open.
If air dried in the refrigerator, set the bellies out in room
temperature for 1 - 2 hours before placing them in the smoker.
If you air dried it in the Bradley, increase the temperature to 120 -
140°, close to vent to half open, and begin to apply your smoke.
The amount of smoke is up to you. I generally will only apply 2 hours,
using maple.
After you have applied your smoke, increase the heat to 160°F, and
smoke/cook the bacon until an internal temperature of 150°F is reached.
Or increase the temperature to 150°F, and smoke/cook until an IT of
140°F is reached.
