I was hesitant to answer Debbie’s phone call when she asked whether I’d want some of the fresh rhubarb she had just gathered. I had never even eaten or cooked with rhubarb before. She brought me a bucketful, and I immediately began Googling for recipes. This is the end product of various ideas I blended into what everyone seems to think is a winning formula.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 8 hrs 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 5 days 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 5 days 9 hrs 50 mins |
| Servings: | 1 |
| Yield: | 1 pork belly |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ gallons water
- 2 tablespoons sodium nitrate (saltpeter)
- 1 cup sugar-based curing mixture (such as Morton® Tender Quick®)
- 2 cups coarse salt
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 (14 pound) whole pork belly
- maple, apple, or cherry wood chips for smoking
Instructions
- Pour water, sodium nitrate, curing salt, coarse salt, brown sugar, and maple syrup into a large kettle. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until everything is well dissolved. Pour brine into a 5 gallon plastic bucket and cool to room temperature, 6 to 8 hours.
- Leaving the skin on the pork belly, cut against the grain into 4 to 6 slabs so they fit inside the bucket, and inside your smoker. Place into the bucket of brine, and weigh down with a glass or ceramic dish to keep the pork submerged. Cover and refrigerate for 5 to 7 days, rearranging the pork in the brine daily.
- On smoking day, remove pork from the brine and rinse well under cold running water, rubbing to remove all external brine. Pat pieces dry and place onto smoker racks. Allow pork pieces to stand, preferably underneath a fan, until the surface of the meat becomes somewhat dried and notably glossy, 1 to 3 hours depending on air circulation.
- Smoke pork belly slabs using wood of your choice at a temperature of 90 to 110 degrees F (32 to 43 degrees C) for 8 to 12 hours. Remove rind before slicing.
Reviews
I added 2tbl spoon garlic powder and 1tbl spoon pepper and 1 c of maple syrup in stead of 1/2 c
Reduced the salt as the first batch was to salty . The second batch turned out perfect
note: sodium nitrate and saltpeter are 2 different things, sodium nitrate being the better choice.
If you have a smoker, this is a great sweet bacon recipe. I have this recipe at home and just love it, I found that maple wood worked best for smoking as it produced the most constant temp.