BROWN SUGAR CURED BACON RECIPES

Steps:

• Place the pork belly in a large Ziploc bag. Add the salt (and pink salt if using) and the cure additions. Rub the cure into the pork belly, turning the bag over and over and pressing the cure into the flesh. Close the bag, squeezing out all the air and refrigerate for seven days. Each day, flip the bag over. Some liquid will begin to gather in the bag.
• After seven days, wash the cure off the meat, rinsing thoroughly. Pat the bacon dry with paper towels and set it on a rack over a baking sheet. Allow the bacon to air-dry in the refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 225 degrees. Roast the pork belly in the oven to an internal temperature of 150 degrees for about 90 minutes. Chill the bacon well, then slice thick or thin, to preference. Any bacon that doesn't easily slice may be cut into chunks, for starting a pot of beans or soup. Wrapped in parchment paper, then wrapped in plastic wrap or foil and placed in a Ziploc bag, the bacon will keep for three weeks in the refrigerator and three months in the freezer.

Steps:

• Put all ingredients except the pork loin in a large sauce pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove and let cool.
• While the brine cools, trim the pork loin of excess fat and silver skin, keeping a thin layer of fat around the loin. Cut the loin in two equal 4-5 pound pieces and set aside.
• Once the brine is cool, place the pork loin pieces in a two-gallon Ziploc bag and pour the contents of the sauce pot over the pork. Close the bag and refrigerate for four days, checking each day and turning the bag to make sure the loin brines evenly.
• The morning of the fifth day, remove the pork, rinse and pat dry. Place on a rack set inside a sheet pan and return the loin to the refrigerator to dry for several hours.
• In the afternoon, prepare your smoker. If you don’t have a smoker, you can use a kettle grill. (See How to Turn Your Kettle Grill Into a Smoker) You can also roast this in the oven, you will just lose the smoky flavor. If oven-roasting, cook at 300 degrees Fahrenheit until the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees.
• In the smoker, cook the loin pieces for about 4 hours or until internal temperature reaches 155. Do not cook longer or the meat will be too dry. Remove and allow to cool before slicing.