Homemade Bacon in 48 Hours
My first attempt was too salty. My second attempt was under seasoned. I decided to combine the curing process for bacon with the brining process used to make Canadian bacon to speed things up. Here is what I did to try and make bacon in a hurry.
I purchased a 5-pound pork belly with the skin removed. First, I created a brine heating four quarts of water and mixing in 1/3 cup Kosher salt, one tablespoon of peppercorns, 2/3 cup brown sugar, and .5 teaspoon of Prague powder (curing salt) until everything dissolves. I let the brine cool while I created a rub for the pork belly. The rub consisted of 1/4 cup Kosher salt, two tablespoons of black pepper, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and .5 teaspoon Prague powder.
I did not want the bacon to be too salty or use too much Prague powder. The safe amount of curing salt is based on the weight of the food. So, I split the volume of salt and curing salt between the rub and the brine to work from the inside and outside at the same time.
Once the pork belly was covered in rub, I let it sit in the refrigerator for an hour to allow the rub to adhere. I discovered during my first attempt at bacon in a hurry that the rub washed right off when I injected the pork immediately after applying the rub. After an hour in the refrigerator, I injected the pork belly all over with brine. I placed the pork belly in an oversized Ziploc bag and placed it in the refrigerator.
I repeated the injection process every three hours for a total of four rounds. Next, I rinsed the rub off the pork belly, patted it dry with a paper towel, and then placed it on a wire rack over a sheet pan. I placed the pork belly in the refrigerator for four hours to dry and become tacky. The sticky texture of the pork belly helps the smoke stick to the pork belly. If you shortened the drying time, you could shave some time off the whole process.
I decided to use my pellet smoker since it would produce consistent smoke, steady temperature, and require less monitoring. I have smoked bacon on other smokers/grills, and it can be difficult to maintain an even temperature. The pork belly smoked at two hundred degrees for 3.5 hours until it reached 150 degrees on an instant read thermometer. I placed the pork belly on a wire rack over a sheet pan to cool. Once the pork belly cooled, I wrapped the pork belly in plastic wrap and placed it in the refrigerator until the next morning.
Finally, it was time to see how the bacon in a hurry turned out. I sliced the bacon to create medium thickness slices. Next, I heated a plancha on my gas grill and cooked the bacon until was crispy. The bacon was smoky, salty, crispy, and delicious as you would expect. I feel the bacon in a hurry was a success but try it out for yourself.
From start to finish (eating bacon) was less than two days. I started early on a Saturday morning. Day one I made the brine, made the rub, applied the rub, completed four rounds of injecting the pork belly, rinsed the pork belly, dried the pork belly, smoked the pork belly, and finally wrapped the bacon and put it the refrigerator overnight. Day two I sliced the bacon and started cooking. If you did not want to have a long first day, you could spread the process out to three days. It is still better than 7+ days to make and eat bacon.
Now that making bacon is easy, the only difficult decision your have is what to make with your home made bacon in a hurry.
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