The Original Bacon Kit.
On Kamadoguru.com there is a subforum called “Charcuterie” which is devoted to making prepared
meats like sausages, pastrami, bacon, etc. I have been lurking there for some time and following the example of others. This is something that I have been wanting to try, but it has been consigned to sitting on the bucket list….that is until now.
The other day I found an unopened “make your own homemade bacon kit” at a garage sale and it had never been opened. I was worried that the ingredients would be expired, but as I researched the contents of the kit, I decided I was probably pretty good to go.
The kit consists of:
Contents of the Bacon Kit.
[easyazon_link identifier=”B00XUXTOU6″ locale=”US” tag=”baconkit-20″]Curing Salt[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”B00TD0N6EU” locale=”US” tag=”baconkit-20″]Maple Sugar[/easyazon_link]
A pop up thermometer
A 2 Gallon plastic bag
You have to buy 5lbs of pork belly on your own, I bought mine from Costco.
Just all ingredients into the bag and shake until the pork belly is coated.
The process of making bacon is relatively simple, here are the steps:
1) Put the pork belly in the plastic bag, cover it with the curing salt and maple sugar and shake until the pork belly is covered.
2) Put the plastic bag in the fridge, flip every other day.
3) After 7 days remove from the fridge.
4) Insert pop up thermometer in the thickest part of the pork belly.
You flip the meat every other day for 7 days. This is what your meat looks like on Day 7.
5) Smoke the pork belly at 200 degrees until ~140 internal temp.
6) Allow it to cool and cut off pork belly skin is still on.
7) Slice to desired thickness, cook, and enjoy!
I smoked mine on my Kamado using my [easyazon_link identifier=”B0155F89AC” locale=”US” tag=”baconkit-20″]lava stone,[/easyazon_link] [easyazon_link identifier=”B01FOYB27G” locale=”US” tag=”baconkit-20″]Tip Top Temp[/easyazon_link] and some Cherry Wood. It didn’t take long at
I smoked my bacon on my Kamado at 200 for a couple of hours with Cherry wood.
all for the pork belly to reach the desired temp. As you can tell from the photos it came out looking really good and it smelled heavenly!
We like to bake our bacon on cookie sheets at our house. It ensures that the bacon is perfectly
cooked on all sides, not just where it comes into contact with the skillet. Since you have to slice your own bacon this way, each slice was a little thicker. The bacon had a great meat flavor, while I would have preferred the maple sugar flavor be a little stronger, but that’s just me.
Here is how the Pork Belly looked after I pulled it off the smoker. This is how we store it, slicing off pieces as needed.
I am already planning to do this again without the kit. It was very easy to do it at home and was something my daughter and I could work on together. I haven’t done the math to figure out if it is cheaper or more expensive than store bought bacon. Either way, it always feel good making something from scratch and knowing what is involved, even if it is a little more expensive. Plus it makes for great bragging material!
[easyazon_infoblock align=”none” identifier=”B00FLYI0ES” locale=”US” tag=”baconkit-20″]
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