Dry Cure Bacon

[nlife]

I have been away from the forums for quite some time now. A fair amount has changed in my life since the start of 2026 - all for the better I might add. I transitioned to a new job that has a better work-life balance, but the biggest change was that we finally purchased our first home. We moved to the next town over in February and I've been busy fixing the neglected items - and there are lots in an old rental!. We're also making it ours. Enough with the updates. On to the topic of this post!

I had seen @SmokinEdge's dry cured bacon some time ago, but I only had one fridge and no where I could keep the belly for 2-weeks while it cured. I have since picked up a free fridge from an estate sale that now resides in my basement. I informed the family that it's my beer fridge/curing meats fridge - though I have allowed my son to put pop in the door. I currently have 3 country hams (Dave Omak's recipe) and a belly curing as I type this. I'm excited to see how the belly turns out!

 

[SmokinAussie]

Keen to see how this goes.

Cheers!

Bill

 

[Fueling Around]

Congrats on the new to you home and getting it set up to fit you.

Great start

 

[DRKsmoking]

Good to see you back , and that life has taken a turn for bigger and better things.

New home is always fun and always something to keep you busy.

Following for the belly and the hams

David

 

[Compulsive Smoker]

I have been away from the forums for quite some time now. A fair amount has changed in my life since the start of 2026 - all for the better I might add. I transitioned to a new job that has a better work-life balance, but the biggest change was that we finally purchased our first home. We moved to the next town over in February and I've been busy fixing the neglected items - and there are lots in an old rental!. We're also making it ours. Enough with the updates. On to the topic of this post!

I had seen @SmokinEdge's dry cured bacon some time ago, but I only had one fridge and no where I could keep the belly for 2-weeks while it cured. I have since picked up a free fridge from an estate sale that now resides in my basement. I informed the family that it's my beer fridge/curing meats fridge - though I have allowed my son to put pop in the door. I currently have 3 country hams (Dave Omak's recipe) and a belly curing as I type this. I'm excited to see how the belly turns out!


View attachment 741392

I’m following along! I have a whole pork belly in Pop’s brine at the moment…

 

[nlife]

Thanks all! Life is a bit different now. No more worrying about the landlord selling the house and having to find a new place to live. Or being limited on what I can do to the place. I'm sure learning a LOT of new things. Drywall, stucco repair, painting, finish trim, sealing windows, installing new doors, fixing improperly installed doors... well everything.

Sure is nice to be back though. I need to finish up the hams and belly, then do up a batch of cheddar smokies, before the winter comes. The nice thing is though, that I have a covered car port so I can at least still cold smoke when the weather is somewhat warm throughout the winter.

 

[DRKsmoking]

Sure is nice to be back though. I need to finish up the hams and belly, then do up a batch of cheddar smokies, before the winter comes. The nice thing is though, that I have a covered car port so I can at least still cold smoke when the weather is somewhat warm throughout the winter.

It is ok to be busy, but always nice to find the time to smoke / cook and do the things that really make us happy.

( nice to have a little cover in the not so nice weather also. )

David

 

[Brokenhandle]

Congratulations on your new home! And looking forward to the finish on your bacon and hams!

Ryan

 

[ifitsdeadsmokeit]

Love the dry cure bacon method. House maintenance never seems to end. I have had old houses and brand new ones. Always a project around to fix something, change something, upgrade, etc. Owning beats renting any day of the week. Good luck on the future home and smoking projects. I need to give a ham a try someday.

 

[nlife]

Sorry for the delay all! Life got in the way.

Since I had other meats curing and near ready to go in to the smoker I pulled the belly at 7 days and threw it in the smoker with cherrywood pellets in a tray.

I smoked it for 6 hours and slowly brought up to an internal temp of 137f before pulling and putting back on a rack in the refrigerator to cool. I love the color that cherrywood gives smoked meat. Especially for bacon. After sitting overnight on a rack in the fridge to cool, I wrapped it in saran wrap to let it mellow out a for a few days.

Once cooled, I couldn't help myself and sliced a few strips off for a taste test. This belly had a really nice meat to fat ratio.

Frying some up in my old trusty grocery store brand cast iron. This 10" pan has served me well over the last 15 years or so.

When all was said and done I sliced it up and vacuum packed it. I usually do them in packs of 9 strips.

My wife and son didn't notice too much of a difference in the bacon other than it being a bit more dry. I like it, but I think I'll stick to bagging it for the cure period since you can stack it that way and cure more in one go. I usually cure up enough to fill the smoker since I have to clean everything anyways, I may as well do up a big batch.

It was fun to try a new (to me) old way of curing bacon and I appreciate the knowledge that's shared here and it's so nice to be back!

 

[Compulsive Smoker]

Looks good! I should try the dry cure sometime, but I know I like it cured in Pop’s brine, so not sure if I’ll ever get around to it…