Maple-Cured Smoked Bacon

There are few things in this world as wonderful as pork belly. Many of you have heard me say this before. It's nothing new to you if you know me. Well, I have been wanting to make my own bacon for a long, long time. I finally got a book which is definitive on the subject of making sausages, bacon, terrines, pates and well just about anything cured. It's called Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman. If you give the slightest damn about bacon and/or the wonder pork products can bring you, you really have no business NOT owning this book.

This took a week to make, and MAN, was it worth the wait. This is so wonderfully sweet, savory and smoky at the same time, I just can't even tell you how happy it makes me to eat it.

Find a supplier that can get pork belly, a wonderfully versatile cut. It should only run you about $3-4 a pound and you'll likely have to buy a 5-pound slab at least. You'll find out where the money went when you taste it. It's actually pretty cheap versus what you get out of it.

THE CURE
50 g kosher salt
12 g pink salt
50 g maple sugar or packed dark brown sugar
60 milliliters maple syrup
BACON
5 pound slab pork belly, skin on
Combine the salt, pink salt, and sugar in a bowl and mix so that the ingredients are evenly distributed. Add the syrup and stir to combine.

Rub the cure mixture over the entire surface of the belly. Place skin side down in a 2-gallon Ziploc bag or a nonreactive container just slightly bigger than the meat. (The pork will release water into the salt mixture, creating a brine; it's important that the meat keep in contact with this liquid throughout the curing process.)

Refrigerate, turning the belly and redistributing the cure every other day, for 7 days, until the meat is firm to the touch.

Remove the belly from the cure, rinse it thoroughly, and pat it dry. Place it on a rack set over a baking sheet tray and dry in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 12 to 24 hours.

Hot-smoke the pork belly to an internal temperature of 150F/65C, about 3 hours. Let cool slightly, and when the belly is cool enough to handle but still warm, cut the skin off by sliding a sharp knife between the fat and the skin, leaving as much fat on the bacon as possible. (Discard the skin or cut it into pieces and save to add to soups, stews or beans, as you would a smoked ham hock.)

Let the bacon cool, then wrap in plastic and refrigerate or freeze it until ready to use.