Jennifer's Smoked Maple Bacon

Makin' bacon really isn't hard at all; the hardest part is waiting for it to cure and smoke!  I usually start this recipe off by purchasing 2 full pork bellies from my local butcher; which, I then cut into halves or thirds depending on the overall length of the bellies.

Next, I take 1 1/2 Tbsp of curing salt and rub it into each side of the bellies.  Once the salt is all rubbed in, I pour Maple Syrup over each of the bellies and seal my marinating containers. 

The bellies are now ready to be put in the fridge to marinade/cure, flipping daily for a minimum of 1 1/2 days per pound of belly. I usually do mine for 5 days. 

Once the bellies have finished marinating/curing...it's time to spark up the smoker!  Before I hang my bellies in the smoker, I take paper towels and pat them dry.  This helps reduce the amount of dripping mess in the bottom of the smoker.   I then smoke my bellies in my 6 rack Bradley Smart Smoker @180 degrees F for 2 hours then increase the temperature to 250 degrees F and smoke until they reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees F which can take anywhere from 8 hours up to 12 hours depending on the temperature outside at the time of smoking.  

I always plan on using a box of 24 Bradley Smoker Bisquettes as my smoker is set to advance 1 bisquette every 20 minutes.  Suggestions for bisquettes that go well with pork are: Alder, Apple, Cherry, Hickory, Jim Beam, Maple, Mesquite, Oak, Pecan & Whiskey Oak.

When the bacon is finally ready, slice, fry it up and enjoy!  I like to slice the rest of the bacon up and vacuum seal it, wrapping 12 slices per package.