How to Cure and Smoke Homemade Bacon From Scratch

Store-bought bacon is fine. Homemade bacon is life-changing. Once you've pulled a slab of perfectly cured, cold-smoked pork belly out of your smoker and sliced it yourself, you will never look at a supermarket package the same way again. This homemade bacon recipe walks you through every step — from choosing your pork belly to the final smoke — so you can produce bacon that is richer, deeper, and far more satisfying than anything sold in a plastic tray.

What Cut of Pork You Need

Bacon starts with pork belly — specifically, a fresh, skin-on or skinless slab weighing between 3 and 5 pounds. Ask your butcher for a center-cut belly if possible, as it offers a more even fat-to-meat ratio. Avoid pre-sliced or pre-marinated cuts. You want a raw, intact slab with a flat surface so the cure can penetrate evenly. Skin-on belly is traditional and gives you cracklings as a bonus, but skinless works just as well and is easier to slice after smoking.

Understanding the Cure: Salt, Sugar, and Pink Salt

The cure is the foundation of this homemade bacon recipe. There are two curing methods — wet brine and dry cure — but dry curing produces more concentrated flavor and is preferred by most serious bacon makers. A basic dry cure consists of three core ingredients:

• Kosher salt — the primary preserving agent. Use about 2% of the meat's weight by mass.
• Brown sugar or maple sugar — balances salt and adds complexity. Use 1–2% by weight.
• Pink curing salt (Prague Powder #1) — contains 6.25% sodium nitrite. This is non-negotiable for safety. Use exactly 0.25% of meat weight, no more.

For a 4-pound (1,814g) belly, that works out to approximately 36g kosher salt, 27g brown sugar, and 4.5g pink curing salt. Weigh everything on a kitchen scale — guessing is not acceptable when nitrites are involved. You can add optional aromatics like black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, or fresh thyme to build your own signature profile.

Applying the Cure and Refrigerating

Combine all cure ingredients and rub them thoroughly over every surface of the belly — top, bottom, sides, and any crevices. Place the slab in a large zip-lock bag or a non-reactive container (glass or food-safe plastic), seal it, and refrigerate it at 38–40°F (3–4°C). Flip the belly once per day to redistribute any liquid that draws out.

Cure time depends on thickness. As a rule of thumb, allow 1 day of curing per inch of thickness, plus one extra day. A 2-inch-thick belly needs at least 7 days. Thicker slabs may need up to 10 days. When curing is complete, the meat will feel firm throughout with no soft, spongy spots in the center.

After curing, rinse the belly under cold water to remove excess surface salt, then pat it dry. Place it on a wire rack uncovered in the refrigerator for 24 hours. This drying step forms what pitmasters call the pellicle — a tacky protein film that smoke adheres to far better than wet meat.

Setting Up Your Smoker for Bacon

Bacon is cold-smoked or low-temperature hot-smoked. The goal is to infuse smoke flavor without fully cooking the meat, which you'll do later in the pan or oven. Target a smoker temperature between 175°F and 200°F (80–93°C). This is lower than most BBQ smoking tips suggest for larger cuts — bacon is more delicate and needs a gentle touch.

Wood choice matters enormously. Applewood is the classic pairing for pork — mild, sweet, and slightly fruity. Cherrywood adds a beautiful mahogany color and a touch of tartness. Hickory is bold and assertive; use it sparingly or blend it with apple at a 1:3 ratio. Avoid mesquite, which is far too aggressive for a long smoke session.

Arrange the belly fat-side up on the grate. Smoke it until the internal temperature reaches 150°F (65°C), which typically takes 2.5 to 4 hours depending on thickness and smoker consistency. Use a reliable instant-read thermometer — this is the single most important grilling technique in your arsenal.

Slicing and Storing Your Homemade Bacon

Once smoked, let the belly rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, then wrap it tightly in plastic and refrigerate overnight. Cold bacon slices far more cleanly than warm. Use a sharp slicing knife or a meat slicer set to your preferred thickness — 3mm for classic crispy strips, 6mm for thick-cut steakhouse-style pieces that bacon lovers obsess over.

Your homemade bacon will keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or frozen for 3 months. Vacuum-seal individual portions for best results. To cook, render it in a cold pan over medium heat, starting low and increasing gradually. This renders the fat properly without scorching the exterior before the interior crisps up.

Variations Worth Trying

Once you've mastered the base homemade bacon recipe, the variations are nearly endless. Canadian bacon (back bacon) uses pork loin instead of belly and has a leaner, ham-like texture. Buckboard bacon uses pork shoulder — a budget-friendly cut with bold flavor that pulls apart beautifully, making it a natural bridge between traditional bacon and pulled pork. Pancetta is Italian-style unsmoked cured belly rolled into a cylinder — same cure, no smoke, aged in a cool space for 3–4 weeks.

Each variation teaches you something new about how salt, time, and smoke interact with pork. That knowledge compounds. The more you cure and smoke, the more intuitive your pork recipes become — and the more your backyard becomes the most popular address on the block.