First time making bacon

[gunpowder]

Picked up a young 150# prolapsed pig Friday for $30. It was younger so not as much fat on him as a mature hog. Got 92# out of it. l already processed and froze the loins into chops and roast, ribs, tenderloins.

Will chunk the front shoulders (13.5# ea) for future grinding into pork sausage. But I have the back whole hams (15# ea) and belly flat (2x 9#) to cure.

My plan for the bacon:
Divide the 18# into (4) 4-5# pieces,
Mixture:

• 1.5 teaspoons pink salt (sure cure#1)
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sorghum molasses
• 1 Tablespoon ground black pepper
• 2 gallon Ziplock bag

Place in fridge for 7-10 days rotating daily. Day 7 or 8 I will try it to see how salty and flavor it is. Rinse, Let dry on rack for 6-7 hrs. Then smoke in MBS with applewood 175 deg 3-4 hrs then up to 200 to finish till internal temp is 150 deg. Let cool then freeze 1-2 hrs for slicing on a slicer. Vac seal and freeze.

I don't want it overly salty due to HBP. Process sound correct?

 

[SmokinAl]

First of all you only need 1 tsp of cure #1 for 5 lbs. of meat.
Also I really don't see the reasoning behind hot smoking bacon, although a lot of the guys do it.
Unless your going to eat it cold right out of the refrigerator, why cook it twice.
I cure my bellies for 2 weeks, flipping and massaging daily. Then rinse them off & fry up a little piece to see if it is too salty. If it is, then I soak it in ice water for a couple of hours. This is usually not a problem if you use this calculator to figure out your cure#1, salt, & sugar amounts. http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html. Next step is to dry in fridge for 3-4 days on a drying rack, then I cold smoke them for 10-12 hours. Next step dry in fridge for another 3-4 days. Then freeze for a couple of hours & slice. This is the way I do it, but there are many ways to cure & smoke bacon, I just found that I like the texture & flavor I get doing it this way.
Al