Homemade Fresh Bacon Bits Recipes

Steps:

• To make the real deal, fry 8 slices bacon until extra crisp. Drain on paper towels, then finely chop and spread on a baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degrees F oven for 5 minutes. Let cool on clean paper towels until most of the fat is absorbed.

Steps:

• Partially freeze your package of bacon so that it holds together easier while slicing.
• Use a sharp knife and cut the frozen bacon into long strips about 1/4 inch wide.
• Turn the bacon and cut the strips into pieces also about 1/4 in wide.
• Sprinkle with pepper.
• Fry over a medium high heat until crisp.
• Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
• You can freeze this for later use by placing the bacon bits in a single layer on a cooking sheet. Once they are frozen, place them in a zip lock bag for use in recipes, salads or baked potatoes. Freezing this way allows you to be able to take out just what you need without thawing the entire bag of frozen solid bacon bits.

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:

• Fry bacon (or cook in microwave) until bacon is crisp.
• Cool.
• Blot with paper towel to absorb excess grease.
• Crumble and store in ziploc bag in freezer for whenever you need bacon bits!
• I don't add the bacon grease; however, I need two ingredients for the recipe!
• This is not so much a correction as it is an addition we have recently discovered.We will now leave the bacon whole in the plastic ziploc. If we want bacon and eggs we just take what we want and heat in microwave. If we want some for salads we just crumble and use.