Brown Sugar–Black Pepper Homemade Bacon
By Morgan BollingPublished on May 2, 2023
Time
2¾ hours, plus 7 days 3 hours curing and cooling
Yield
Serves 14 to 16 (Makes about 3½ pounds)
Ingredients
Before You Begin
We developed this recipe using a 22-inch Weber Kettle charcoal grill. If you're using Morton brand kosher salt, reduce the salt to ¼ cup. Be sure to buy pink curing salt, often sold as “Prague powder” (this is not the same as Himalayan pink salt). If you don't have a cast-iron skillet, you can crisp the bacon in a traditional skillet.
Instructions
- Combine sugar, kosher salt, 1 tablespoon pepper, pink curing salt, and bay leaf in small bowl. Place pork in 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish and rub all sides and edges of pork with dry cure mixture. Cover dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until pork feels firm yet still pliable, 7 to 10 days, flipping meat every other day.
- Thoroughly rinse pork with cold water and pat dry with paper towels (you needn't remove all pepper and bay leaf). Sprinkle pork all over with remaining 2 tablespoons pepper.
- Open bottom vent of charcoal grill completely. Arrange 30 charcoal briquettes, 2 briquettes wide, around nearly half of perimeter of grill, overlapping slightly so briquettes are touching, to form C shape. Place second layer of 30 briquettes, also 2 briquettes wide, on top of first. (Completed arrangement should be 2 briquettes wide by 2 briquettes high.)
- Starting 1 inch from 1 end of charcoal C, place wood chunks on top of charcoal 2 inches apart. Place disposable pan in center of grill, running lengthwise into arc of charcoal C. Pour 6 cups water into disposable pan.
- Light chimney starter filled with 15 briquettes (pile briquettes on 1 side of chimney so that they catch). When coals are partially covered with ash, use tongs to place them at end of C where you started wood chunks.
- Set cooking grate in place, then clean and oil grate. Place pork belly fat side up over water pan. Cover (positioning lid vent over pork) and smoke until pork registers 150 degrees in lowest point (temperatures may vary throughout meat), 1½ to 2 hours.
- Remove bacon from grill and let cool for 1 hour. Wrap tightly with plastic and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours. (Wrapped bacon can be refrigerated for up to 1 month or frozen for up to 2 months.)
- Using long, sharp knife, cut bacon in half crosswise. Slice desired amount of bacon ⅛ inch thick. Rewrap and refrigerate unsliced bacon for later use.
- FOR THE OVEN: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Arrange 1 pound sliced bacon on prepared sheet (slices can overlap slightly). Bake until brown and crispy, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking.FOR THE STOVETOP: Arrange up to 8 slices bacon in 12-inch cast-iron skillet. Cook over medium heat until crispy, 10 to 14 minutes, flipping once halfway through cooking.
- Transfer bacon to paper towel–lined plate to drain. Serve.
Time
2¾ hours, plus 7 days 3 hours curing and coolingYield
Serves 14 to 16 (Makes about 3½ pounds)Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
For crispy, deeply seasoned bacon, we started by curing a 4-pound skinless pork belly with a mixture of seasonings, sugar, kosher salt, and pink curing salt. The curing salt preserved the belly longer, boosted the meaty flavor, and kept the red color characteristic of cured meats. Rinsing the bacon after curing kept it from being too salty. A second seasoning with black pepper gave it a peppery crust. And smoking it low and slow over a charcoal snake—a C-shaped arrangement of charcoal briquettes that allows a kettle-style charcoal grill to mimic the low, slow burn of a smoker—infused the meat with smoky flavor. All that was left to do was slice and crisp the bacon and decide whether to eat it straight or make an ovation-worthy BLT sandwich.
Before You Begin
We developed this recipe using a 22-inch Weber Kettle charcoal grill. If you're using Morton brand kosher salt, reduce the salt to ¼ cup. Be sure to buy pink curing salt, often sold as “Prague powder” (this is not the same as Himalayan pink salt). If you don't have a cast-iron skillet, you can crisp the bacon in a traditional skillet.
Instructions
- Combine sugar, kosher salt, 1 tablespoon pepper, pink curing salt, and bay leaf in small bowl. Place pork in 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish and rub all sides and edges of pork with dry cure mixture. Cover dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until pork feels firm yet still pliable, 7 to 10 days, flipping meat every other day.
- Thoroughly rinse pork with cold water and pat dry with paper towels (you needn't remove all pepper and bay leaf). Sprinkle pork all over with remaining 2 tablespoons pepper.
- Open bottom vent of charcoal grill completely. Arrange 30 charcoal briquettes, 2 briquettes wide, around nearly half of perimeter of grill, overlapping slightly so briquettes are touching, to form C shape. Place second layer of 30 briquettes, also 2 briquettes wide, on top of first. (Completed arrangement should be 2 briquettes wide by 2 briquettes high.)
- Starting 1 inch from 1 end of charcoal C, place wood chunks on top of charcoal 2 inches apart. Place disposable pan in center of grill, running lengthwise into arc of charcoal C. Pour 6 cups water into disposable pan.
- Light chimney starter filled with 15 briquettes (pile briquettes on 1 side of chimney so that they catch). When coals are partially covered with ash, use tongs to place them at end of C where you started wood chunks.
- Set cooking grate in place, then clean and oil grate. Place pork belly fat side up over water pan. Cover (positioning lid vent over pork) and smoke until pork registers 150 degrees in lowest point (temperatures may vary throughout meat), 1½ to 2 hours.
- Remove bacon from grill and let cool for 1 hour. Wrap tightly with plastic and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours. (Wrapped bacon can be refrigerated for up to 1 month or frozen for up to 2 months.)
- Using long, sharp knife, cut bacon in half crosswise. Slice desired amount of bacon ⅛ inch thick. Rewrap and refrigerate unsliced bacon for later use.
- FOR THE OVEN: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Arrange 1 pound sliced bacon on prepared sheet (slices can overlap slightly). Bake until brown and crispy, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking.FOR THE STOVETOP: Arrange up to 8 slices bacon in 12-inch cast-iron skillet. Cook over medium heat until crispy, 10 to 14 minutes, flipping once halfway through cooking.
- Transfer bacon to paper towel–lined plate to drain. Serve.
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