Homemade Bacon Salt Recipes

Steps:

• Rinse the pork belly and pat dry. Transfer to a resealable 2-gallon plastic bag. To make the spice rub, mix the kosher salt, pink salt, brown sugar, honey, red pepper flakes, paprika and cumin in a bowl. Coat the pork belly all over with the mixture.
• Close the bag and refrigerate 7 to 10 days, flipping once a day, until the pork belly feels firm. It should take 7 days for a thin belly that is about 11/2 inches thick, longer for a belly that's 2 to 3 inches thick.
• Remove the pork belly from the bag, rinse thoroughly and pat dry. Refrigerate the belly on a rack, uncovered, 48 hours.
• Set up your smoker according to the manufacturer's instructions using applewood chips, and set to 200 degrees F. Smoke the pork belly 3 hours, or until the bacon reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees F.
• Remove the rind (optional), then slice and cook as desired. To store, wrap the bacon in plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 1 week or freeze up to 2 months.
• Pink curing salt is a mix of salt and sodium nitrite. It keeps the meat pink and protects it from bacteria. You can find it at specialty food stores or online.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lay 4 bacon slices on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown and crisp, about 10 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels; let cool completely.
• Make the bacon salt (see below). Store extra in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks, or freeze up to 2 months.
• Put the potatoes and the remaining 2 bacon slices in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes. Drain, discarding the bacon slices.
• Combine the butter with the milk in the same pot and let melt over medium-low heat. Return the potatoes to the pot and mash them with a potato masher or fork. Add 1 tablespoon of the prepared bacon salt and stir to combine; transfer the potatoes to a bowl and top with more bacon salt.
• How to make Bacon Salt:
• Pulse the cooked bacon in a food processor until finely ground. Spread on paper towels and blot the excess grease.
• Combine the bacon and salt in a small bowl and rub between your fingers until incorporated.
• Photo by Con Poulos

Steps:

• NOTE: If you want the salt to be a little more coarse, mix all of the ingredients EXCEPT the salt in the blender or VitaMix first. When they are powdery, add the salt and whiz until it's the texture you want.
• Mix everything in the DRY VitaMix (or use a good blender) and blended on high, stopping now and then to stir everything up (because it tends to clump together), and then blend again. When you can't feel any tomato bits anymore, stop. IScrape the mixture into a dry bowl and mix it with a spoon to fluff it up. Scoop it into a dry 1-pint canning jar with a tight lid. You can put some in a shaker-jar for table use.

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 350°F
• Place bacon in a single layer on a cooling rack placed on a baking pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the bacon is very crisp and starting to look overcooked.
• Remove from oven and place cooked strips on a paper towel; press all the grease out.
• Break into chunks and place into food processor; whirl until nearly a paste.
• Add remaining ingredients and continue to process until fully incorporated.
• Store in covered jar in refrigerator.

Steps:

• Place the pork belly in a large Ziploc bag. Add the salt (and pink salt if using) and the cure additions. Rub the cure into the pork belly, turning the bag over and over and pressing the cure into the flesh. Close the bag, squeezing out all the air and refrigerate for seven days. Each day, flip the bag over. Some liquid will begin to gather in the bag.
• After seven days, wash the cure off the meat, rinsing thoroughly. Pat the bacon dry with paper towels and set it on a rack over a baking sheet. Allow the bacon to air-dry in the refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 225 degrees. Roast the pork belly in the oven to an internal temperature of 150 degrees for about 90 minutes. Chill the bacon well, then slice thick or thin, to preference. Any bacon that doesn't easily slice may be cut into chunks, for starting a pot of beans or soup. Wrapped in parchment paper, then wrapped in plastic wrap or foil and placed in a Ziploc bag, the bacon will keep for three weeks in the refrigerator and three months in the freezer.