Homemade Back Bacon
Smoky, juicy, tender, and delicious, homemade Back Bacon is so good, you'll never want store-bought again! For breakfast, brunch, or dinner, this meaty favorite is cured and smoked for added flavor!
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 379kcal
Equipment
- Large container big enough to hold meat and brine but still fit into your fridge.
- Meat slicer optional but handy
Ingredients
- 5 pounds pork loin with pork belly attached
- 1 gallon distilled water or boiled and cooled tap water
- 3/4 cup kosher salt use half as much table salt
- 3/4 cup sugar granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoons Prague Powder #1
- 4 bay leaves
- 3 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
Instructions
- Add the water to a large container (that'll fit into your fridge) and dissolve the sugar and salt in the water. It'll take some mixing, but it needs to be dissolved.
- Add the Prague Powder #1, bay leaves, cloves of garlic, and peppercorns to the water and mix well.
- Rinse the pork loin, then add it to the water and pop the whole thing into the fridge for 5 full days.
- Turn the pork over and give the water a stir once a day.
- On the morning of the 6th day, drain the water and rinse the pork. Fill the container with enough cold tap water to cover the pork, then pop it into the fridge for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, drain the pork and cover it with water one more time, letting it sit for 30 minutes. You do this to remove excess salt.
- Preheat your Traeger smoker (or any other smoker) to 180-F and smoke the cured pork for about 30 minutes to give it a good dose of smoke.
- Turn the heat to 250-F and continue smoking the pork loin until it reaches 145-F.
- Rest the back bacon for about 20 minutes, then slice and serve!
Notes
Chef Jenn's Tips
- Curing is not a quick process. Make sure you have enough time to properly cure the meat and that you have time on the 6th day to desalinate and smoke the back bacon.
- Fat is your friend! Don't trim too much of the fat from the pork loin, and leave the pork belly intact!
- You're smoking the back bacon a bit higher than normal to avoid a stall.
- Pull the pork off to rest when it hits 145-F so that it stays juicy and tender.
Nutrition
Serving: 6ounces | Calories: 379kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 64g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 179mg | Sodium: 163mg | Potassium: 1082mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 0.02g | Vitamin A: 10IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 2mg