Buckboard Bacon First Attempt

My pink salt arrived last week as I was cutting up a boneless butt for the dogs.  Lucky me.  I sliced off a hunk and decided to try my first BBB.

I went with a simple cure brine:

• 1 quart of water
• 1/3 cup of kosher salt
• 1/2 cup turbinado sugar
• 2 teaspoons of pink salt

I had a short cure window of 7 days due to the holidays approaching.  Last night was the last smoke until Xmas Eve.  So a 7 day cure in the fridge, 9 hours of drying with honey powder, GBP and maple, and into the MGS yesterday with some apple wood.  The lowest I can get the MGS is around 185. I waited about 2 hours and probed with a sterilized therm.

After cure:



Sprinkled with honey powder, GBP, and maple syrup:







After a short 9 hour nap unwrapped in the fridge:



After reaching 150 IT in the apple wood:











I was more than pleasantly surprised at the flavor of this.  The wife really loved it.  It was just a bit too sweet for my taste.

Is it okay to cut back on the sugar a bit in the wet cure?  Or is it necessary for the "hammy baconny" flavor?

Over all, for a shorter brine/cure, and a shorter smoke due to the MGS, I think it came out pretty good. 

Any suggestions or tips?