Smoked Maple Bacon

This homemade smoked bacon starts with a pork belly! Yes, this maple smoked bacon is from-scratch candied, smoked pork belly bacon, and it's delicious.

Prep Time10

Cook Time3

Cure Time, Additional Time, divided7 12

Total Time7 15 10

Servings:

Calories: 446kcal

Author: Karin and Ken

Ingredients

2 pounds Pork Belly I will cut mine in half or thirds to make it easier to handle (24-32 slices)
½ cup Maple Syrup
¼ cup Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Prague Powder

For Smoking

Water
Wood Chunks or chips pre-soaked, or pellets (whichever your smoker uses)

Instructions

Get out and measure all of your ingredients.
If the pork belly still has the skin, make sure to remove it (we usually ask the butcher to do this when we order the meat).
In a medium sized bowl, combine the water, maple syrup, brown sugar, salt, ground black pepper, and Prague powder.
Place the pork belly slab into a gallon size resealable bag and pour the maple syrup mix over it. Seal the bag, making sure to keep as much air out as possible.
Store the bag in the fridge for 7 days, making sure to flip the bag each day and gently massage the liquid in the bag to continue to mix it the syrup mixture and cure the bacon.
Rinse bacon thoroughly, pat dry, and return to the fridge to rest for at least 12 hours (I typically do this part overnight). I like to place the slabs of bacon on a wire rack placed on a baking sheet.
This step is necessary in order to develop a pellicle (a shiny, sticky skin that helps the smoke to really stick to the bacon and pack it full of flavor).
Preheat the smoker to 180 degrees Fahrenheit
Place the slabs of bacon directly on the grates.
Smoke for about 3 hours.
Or until the bacon has reached an internal temperature of 155 degrees.
We typically check the temperature of the bacon every hour or so that way we can keep track of how it is cooking and also check the steam pot and wood for the smoker.
Once bacon reaches 155 degrees remove from smoker.
Allow to rest on a pan.
Either prepare bacon for storing or go ahead and slice the slab and fry the bacon in a large skillet. I don't recommend freezing your bacon unsliced.
If you are not using the bacon immediately, prepare the bacon to be stored by cutting the slabs into slices of bacon.
We like to portion our bacon so we can just grab a pack and it’s the perfect amount for our family.
Decide what is the perfect amount of bacon to store in portions for your family.
We usually set aside 2 slices per person (so 8 slices for our 4-member household) and place those slices in a small resealable bag before sealing them and placing them in the freezer until we’re ready to use them.
When ready to cook, remove the bacon from the freezer and allow to thaw (we’ll usually pull a pack the night before and put in the fridge to thaw so it’s ready for breakfast the next morning).
Cook the bacon to your desired doneness.
Serve and enjoy every bite.

Video

Notes

How do I store the Smoked Bacon?

Once the bacon has been smoked, slice the slabs of bacon and portion slices out in small resealable baggies. The bacon can be kept for 3-6 months when stored in the freezer.

How long should I smoke the bacon?

It all depends on how well your smoker holds temperature, how thick the bacon is and the animal itself, but it should take roughly 3 hours.

What kind of wood should I use to smoke bacon?

We use apple to smoke maple bacon. It adds an extra layer of sweetness that pairs well with the salt of the bacon.

Nutrition