This was my first shot at bacon. I started with a 10 lb pork belly and used a recipe that is a dry brine of 50% sea salt and 50% dark brown sugar. I let it brine for 7 days in the fridge, flipping it daily. Then rinsed it, dried it, and put it on a rack to dry in the fridge for 24 hours. I smoked it with hickory at 180 for an internal temp of 150. It took about 5 hours.
I ended up with 9 lbs of thick sliced bacon about as salty as country ham. Next time I’ll use an equilibrium brine to back off the salt a bit, or test it before smoking it and soak in water to draw some of the salt out. I might also use maple syrup to get a little maple flavor.
