Homemade Bacon! Not the bacon you fry at home, but bacon cured from scratch.
What is that? Think sirloin vs. filet — yes, really.
I still remember tasting homemade bacon for the first time — bacon with a capital “B.” It was smoked over real hickory chips and sweetened with pure maple sugar, the kind that carries a clear maple flavor. If you’ve never had homemade hickory-smoked bacon, you don’t know what you’re missing.
My family and I experienced this on Thanksgiving at my favorite uncle’s house. Each morning he’d slice from a large center-cut slab and fry up thick slices for breakfast. These were much thicker than typical store-bought bacon, and when the marbling rendered in the pan it turned golden, bubbly, and slightly caramelized. It was irresistible — we never had leftovers.
When I left for home in Missouri, I carried a cooler with a Ziploc of pork belly (the cut used to make bacon) and a homemade bacon recipe I still love.
You might wonder how much work this requires. It’s surprisingly simple. The cure uses only four ingredients: kosher salt, coarse ground pepper, Prague powder (pink curing salt), and pure maple sugar.
How to Make Homemade Hickory Smoked Bacon
The basic supplies are easy to find. Kosher salt and coarse pepper are in most grocery stores; Prague powder and pure maple sugar may be ordered if needed. Maple sugar is a great pantry ingredient whenever you want a true maple flavor, and I prefer freshly ground pepper for the best taste.
This recipe is scaled for about 5 pounds of pork belly. Any finished bacon you don’t plan to use within two weeks can be vacuum-sealed or wrapped and frozen for later.
The method is straightforward but takes a week from start to finish.
Mix the dry ingredients and divide them into two one-gallon freezer bags. Add two slabs of pork belly to each bag, coat evenly with the dry rub, lay the bags on a cookie sheet, and refrigerate. Flip the bags once a day for five days.
On day six, remove the bellies from the bags, rinse and pat dry, then place them on a metal rack uncovered in the refrigerator for 24 hours. This drying period forms a tacky pellicle that helps the smoke adhere — it’s important not to skip this step.
On day seven, smoke the pork belly at 225°F (about 107°C) on a Weber kettle, smoker, pellet grill, or Big Green Egg until the internal temperature reaches 150°F (about 65°C).
For a Weber kettle, place a loaf pan of hot water next to the coals on the bottom rack and scatter pre-soaked hickory chips on the hot coals just before closing the lid. Bank the coals to one side and position the meat away from direct heat for indirect smoking.
If your grill lacks a lid thermometer, use a portable oven thermometer to monitor grill temperature. Also use a meat thermometer in the pork belly so you stop smoking at 150°F and avoid overcooking (which will make it more like ham — still tasty, but not bacon as intended). On a Weber kettle this step usually takes about 30 minutes, depending on conditions.
Once the belly reaches 150°F, cool it, refrigerate, then slice and cook as you would store-bought bacon: fry, bake, or broil to your preferred crispness. Enjoy the deeper smoke flavor and rich texture of real homemade bacon.
If you love bacon, try the brown sugar bourbon bacon bites recipe for another decadent snack option.
Have you tried curing your own bacon? Leave a question, review, or comment below!
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Makin’ Bacon – Homemade Hickory Smoked Bacon
Ingredients
- 5 pounds pork belly
- 2/3 cup pure maple sugar
- 1/2 cup coarse kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Prague powder
- 1 tablespoon fresh ground pepper
Instructions
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Slice the pork belly into 4 slabs about 4–5 inches wide.
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Mix the dry ingredients together.
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Divide the cure evenly into two 1-gallon freezer bags.
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Place the pork belly slabs in the bags and seal.
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Shake and massage the bags so the cure coats the exterior of the pork evenly.
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Place the bags flat on a cookie sheet and refrigerate.
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Turn the pork once per day for a total of five days.
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On day five, remove the pork from the bags.
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Rinse and pat the pork dry.
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Place on a wire rack, uncovered, in the refrigerator to dry for 24 hours.
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After drying, remove from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature about one hour.
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Soak the desired amount of hickory chips in water.
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Preheat your grill, smoker, or pellet grill to 225°F (107°C).
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Place the pork on indirect heat and smoke until the internal temperature reaches 150°F (≈65°C), about 30 minutes depending on your setup.
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Remove and cool.
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Wrap and seal the bacon for storage in the refrigerator or freezer.
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Cook the bacon by frying, baking, or broiling as you normally would.
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Enjoy!