Bacon

Preparation

1. Pat the pork belly dry with paper towel.
2. Follow curing directions that come with your bacon cure – wet cure and dry cure will have different process and both will deliver fantastic results.
3. Once cured, rinse the pork bellies with cold water and pat dry with paper towel.
4. Place the pork bellies on rack lined trays and into the fridge overnight to dry out.
5. Remove pork bellies from the fridge and rest at room temperature while the smoker preheats. If using a topical rub, apply at this stage.
6. Line smoker drip tray with new aluminum foil.

Smoking Procedure

1. Preheat smoker to 180F on smoke mode with dampers wide open.
2. Place the pork bellies on rack, fat side up, and then place them in the smoker.
3. Insert a meat probe to monitor temperature.
4. Run until internal temperature reaches 90F (about 1 hour).
5. Fill pan ¾ full with sawdust and dampen thoroughly with water.  Form mixture into a funnel shape and place on the heating element.
6. Set dampers to 2/3 closed, smoke for 2 hours.
7. Carefully remove the sawdust pan from the smoker.
8. Change to cook mode and increase the temperature to 225F, close dampers.
9. Run until internal temperature reaches 150F (2-4 hours).
10. Remove bacon from smoker and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before placing in the fridge to cool completely.