A little over 10 days ago, we initiated the process of crafting Maple Cured Bacon. Now, it’s time to retrieve it from the refrigerator, tidy it up, and prepare it for cooking. There are three distinct methods for cooking this bacon:

Smoking the bacon until it reaches an internal temperature of 150°F at very low heat.
Oven-cooking the bacon until it reaches an internal temperature of 150°F at a very low heat.
Slicing and cooking it in a pan without further processing. I won’t delve into this method here as it seems fairly self-explanatory.

The pork belly you placed in the fridge 10 days ago should exhibit a nice, bright pinkish-red color and will likely be quite firm to the touch. This is normal; I’ve encountered a few bellies that remained soft, and they turned out just fine.

Read on and enjoy!

Looking for Maple Cured Bacon – Part 1?

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Maple Cured Bacon – Part 2

This isn't a recipe as much as it is a description of how to take your cured belly, clean it and get it ready for cooking.

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Prep Time 5

Cook Time 5

Cooking Time 3

Total Time 3 10

Course Appetizer, Breakfast, condiment, Dessert, Entrees, Lunch, Main Course, Salad, Side Dish, Snack, Soup

Cuisine American, Canadian, Worldwide

Servings 1 serving if you try hard enough

Equipment

Pair of scissors or sharp knife
Cutting Board
Sheet pan

Ingredients

Cured Pork Belly from Fridge after 10 days curing

Instructions

Preheat your smoker or oven. For a smoker, set it between 200-225°F, and for an oven, set it at 200°F for convection or 225°F for a non-convection oven. If you’re using a smoker, assume you know how to manage smoke, wood, and charcoal to maintain temperature. Longer heating to an internal temperature of 150°F results in more tender bacon, but prolonged heating risks drying it out. Typically, it takes about 3 hours at these temperatures to reach an internal temperature of 150°F.
Remove the cured pork belly from the fridge and discard the curing bag along with any contents in the container. No need to save them.
Wash the cured pork belly under running potable water to remove excess salt and cure. Leaving them may result in overly salty bacon.
Dry off the cured belly.
Once your smoker/oven reaches the desired temperature, begin cooking. For smokers, lay the belly across the cooking surface or hang it on bacon hooks. In the oven, place the bacon on a sheet pan with a cooling rack on top to allow fat to render and promote air circulation.
If you have a thermometer for monitoring meat temperature throughout cooking, insert it into the belly as close to the center as possible from the side.
Once the belly reaches an internal temperature of 150°F, remove it from the oven/smoker. Let it cool on the counter for 30 minutes, then cover and refrigerate until internal temperatures reach 32-35°F. For immediate enjoyment, slice off a couple of warm slices right after cooking.
Your bacon is ready! Enjoy it in any meal, slicing it thin or thick, and cooking it to your preference. It's fully cooked, so you can also enjoy it straight from the fridge without further cooking.
We cut our bacon pieces in half as they are wide, then vacuum pack them into individual bags and freeze them until needed. We end up with 6-8 slabs of bacon and it will do us for several days each.