Smokey Whiskey Maple Bacon

Making your own bacon is so satisfying, you can cure it with your own flavours, smoke it with your favourite wood and its always so much tastier than store bought! Check out how we make our whiskey maple bacon!

Ingredients:

1kg Slab of boneless Pork Belly

1/4 Cup brown sugar

1/4 Cup flaky salt

1 Tbsp Black Pepper

2 Tbsp Whiskey 

2 Tbsp REAL Maple Syrup

Zip lock bag big enough to fit the belly in

You can also add any other chilli, herbs and spices you like at this point.

Start by trimming up your pork belly, you want to take off the skin, but leave most of the fat on top, then just square up the ends and remove any loose pieces hanging off the belly.

Mix all your dry ingredients in a bowl, then apply half of that mix to the belly as you would a rub. With the other half, mix in the whiskey and maple syrup in to make a paste (add more whiskey/maple syrup as required). 

Place the pork belly in the zip lock bag, then add the paste, and rub into/all around the belly in the bag. Squeeze all the air out of the bag and seal. Place the bag in the fridge for 7 days, turning the belly daily to ensure even curing both sides.

After you've patiently waited 7 days, pull the belly out of the fridge and pat it dry with a paper towel. You'll notice the pork will be alot firmer and darker in colour, its now ready for the smoker!

Fire up some coals and get the barbecue up to 200°f (we usually just do this on the kettle). Add a couple of your favourite smoke wood chunks - we usually use a fruit wood like apple or cherry. Smoke the pork using indirect heat until it reaches 150°f internal temperature. Allow the pork to cool, then its ready to slice and fry! (While it has been smoked it does need to be cooked again!)

You can vac pack or bag it up and freeze it for later, but I don't think we've ever had one thats lasted more than a day! Enjoy!!