Homemade Bacon

Posted byNoriePosted inPork, Recipe

I was surprised and got excited when I saw a package of fresh pork belly at the supermarket I always go to.  I brought one home not sure what I was going to do with it.  Then I decided to make a homemade bacon and was so glad I did.  It was so good that store-bought commercial bacon cannot compare to it. 

I am sharing the recipe with whomever would like to make it.  You won’t be sorry.

  • 1 slab of fresh pork belly (3 to 5 lbs.) rind removed
  • ¼ cup of Morton Tender Quick meat cure (it is not a meat tenderizer)
  • 1/2 cup Maple syrup or honey or brown sugar (Optional. We do not like sweet bacon)
  • Or ¼ cup pickling salt + 2 TBSP. Sugar + 1 tsp. Curing salt (Nitrite) in lieu of the above

I used Morton Tender Quick meat cure because it already has curing salt.  So, it is all I needed to make the bacon.

Rub it on both sides, place the belly in a zip lock bag and refrigerate for a week, turning over the plastic bag each day.

I could not wait a week so I started slicing bacon strips from it on the 5th day and it was so good when cooked on a skillet like you would bacon.  I sliced off enough for breakfast every day from then on until they were gone. It was so good that I bought and started another slab of belly.