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Oven-Smoked Bacon Recipe

Oven-Smoked Bacon
Difficulty: Medium | Total Time: | Makes: About 4 1/2 pounds

Making smoked bacon at home seems impossible if you don’t have a smoker and an outdoor space, but after many trials, the CHOW test kitchen has come up with this method that works in your kitchen oven. All you need is a roasting pan, a roasting rack, aluminum foil, and wood chips. We like the deep, smoky flavor that traditional hickory chips add to the bacon, but apple wood is also good if you want a lighter, sweeter option. Try this flavorful, smoky bacon in our Bacon-Maple Sticky Buns, a Triple-Pork Club Sandwich, or a fancy pasta dish.

Special equipment: You will need a roasting pan fitted with a roasting rack that sits at least 1 1/2 inches above the bottom of the pan. You can try flipping the roasting rack over (like we did) if it sits too close to the bottom in its traditional orientation. Or use a wire cooling or steaming rack.

Giant resealable storage bags, like these jumbo 2-gallon bags, were the perfect size to use for the curing process. If you can’t find these bags, you can cure the bacon in a roasting pan covered with foil.

To smoke the bacon, you will need at least... read more

INGREDIENTS

For the cure:

  • 5 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon curing salt
  • 1 (5- to 5-1/2-pound) slab fresh, skin-on pork belly (1/2 of a whole belly slab)

For the smoking:

  • 2 (18-inch-by-4-1/2-feet) sheets heavy-duty aluminum foil
  • 5 cups apple wood or hickory smoking chips
INSTRUCTIONS
For the cure:

  1. Combine the kosher salt, sugar, and curing salt in a small bowl.
  2. Trim off any uneven edges on the pork belly. Place the belly skin-side down on a work surface. Sprinkle it evenly with half of the curing mixture and rub the mixture into the meat until it’s absorbed. Flip the belly over and sprinkle it evenly with the remaining curing mixture. Let it sit until the curing mixture is absorbed and moisture has beaded on top, about 5 minutes.
  3. Place the belly in an extra-large (2- to 2-1/2-gallon) resealable plastic bag. (Alternatively, you can place it in a roasting pan and cover it tightly with aluminum foil.) Refrigerate for 7 days, flipping the belly every other day.
  4. When the belly is ready, fit a wire rack over a baking sheet. Remove the belly from the bag, rinse it under cool water, and pat it very dry with paper towels. Place it on the rack skin-side up and refrigerate uncovered overnight.

For the smoking:

  1. Let the pork belly sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Meanwhile, remove all of the racks from the oven except one arranged in the lowest position. Heat the oven to 200°F.
  2. Line the inside of a roasting pan crosswise with the foil, overlapping it in the center of the pan by about 1 inch. Make sure that the bottom and sides of the pan are completely covered and that the excess foil extends over the long sides and slightly up and over the short sides of the pan.
  3. Scatter the wood chips in an even layer over the foil in the bottom of the pan. Fit a roasting rack over the chips. (The roasting rack should sit at least 1 1/2 inches above the bottom of the pan. You can try flipping it over if needed. If your roasting rack still sits too low, use a wire steaming or cooling rack that sits at least 1 1/2 inches above the bottom of the pan.) Place the belly on the rack skin-side up. Bring the long edges of the foil up to meet in the middle. Fold the foil down twice and crimp it to close tightly, making sure it is not touching the belly so that the smoke can circulate around it. Bring up the foil on the sides to meet the top seam and crimp, making sure the entire rack and belly are completely surrounded with foil.
  4. Place the roasting pan across two burners over medium-high heat until a steady stream of smoke pours out of the top seam of the foil bundle, about 5 minutes. (This step doesn’t produce a ton of smoke, but you still may want to open a window or turn on the fan above your range.)
  5. Place the pan in the oven and smoke until the pork belly reaches 150°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 4 to 6 hours.
  6. Remove the pan to a wire rack. Carefully open the top seam of the foil and let the bacon cool to room temperature. Cut off and discard the skin. Wrap the bacon tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight before slicing and cooking. It can be kept tightly wrapped for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer, but before freezing, be sure to wrap the bacon in plastic wrap and then foil to prevent freezer burn.
    Write a review | 22 Reviews
  • Oven-Smoked Bacon Recipe
    5

    do you need to soak the wood chips before putting them in the pan?

  • Oven-Smoked Bacon Recipe
    5

    tjkhaw: I've never done oven smoking but every recipe or guide I've seen says to bring oven temp up to 250. The oven temp is something critical that's missing from this guide.

  • Oven-Smoked Bacon Recipe
    5

    I m the first timer to smoke my bacon by using rice, sugar and jasmine tealeaf instead of applewood in my convectional oven. And turn to 200'F, but no smoke came out... Can anybody help me! Thx.

  • Oven-Smoked Bacon Recipe
    5

    Curing Salt - 1lb. $3.50 at Butcher and Packer online http://www.butcher-packer.com I have been following a similar procedure for over a year and can tell everyone that the results will be better than ANY bacon you can buy in a supermarket. Processed bacon includes a ton of salt water which why it shrinks drastically when cooked as well as artificial colors, preservatives, etc. Your kitchen/apartment will smell a bit smoky for 24 hours (possibly less if you immediately clean your equipment, discard the ashes outside, etc.) but that’s the reward for pounds of fresh bacon that you made yourself. Pork belly is usually $3.99 to $4.99 a pound (used to be much cheaper before we foodies came along and food trucks started roaming the streets), kosher salt can be purchased for $2.99 for 3 lbs. (even at whole foods) and the rest of the ingredients you either own or can order online (see above) and have sent to your home within days for little cost – and the average person will probably have enough to make more bacon than they can eat. I have 23lbs of pork belly curing right now with five custom recipes – you can’t buy that in a store!

  • Oven-Smoked Bacon Recipe
    5

    Clever! I've been making my own pancetta and bacon for a few years now, or really "variously cured and/or smoked pork belly products", but i didn't realize you could smoke stuff indoors safely. My only question, why discard the skin? Seems like some smokey chicharrones might be a nice bi-product.

  • Oven-Smoked Bacon Recipe
    5

    Regardless if these recipes are better for you or NOT...I'm happy to learn how to do these without commercial interference. I have been diagnosed with colon cancer because of the foods we eat that are store bought...by doing it this way, hubby and I control what goes into the food and what doesn't. We plan to return to the land very shortly and need these recipes that our ancesters had in order to become more self sustaining and HEALTHIER with less risk of cancer. I take pride in my abilities. I make my own pasta and sauces, do much canning and freezing, our own butchering, and almost everything needed to be self sustaining. Wouldn't you like to know these recipes if ever a time came when we had to go without electricity and/or stores for a long period of time? August 14/2003 did just that. Most of Ontario and the states surrounding the border had no power for more than 3 days...hubby and I were sitting pretty. We had everything and knew how to cook with the BBQ without panic. Stay strong, stay healthy!!

  • Oven-Smoked Bacon Recipe
    3

    Yes, how smoky was the test kitchen? My wife would kill me.

  • Oven-Smoked Bacon Recipe
    1

    Let's see... Buy the pork belly, buy the curing salt, three yards of heavy duty foil, wood chips and a lot of your time. Why not just buy the bacon? Five cups of wood chips is way too much. Using this amount will render your bacon inedible due to the burnt wood resin that will be deposited on your bacon from smoking it with no air circulation. And if you think the smoke will somehow be magically trapped inside the foil and not smell up your house for days, guess again. Not to mention your smoke alarm going off. You are burning wood indoors, on top of your range. Not a good idea and I doubt it gives good results.

  • Oven-Smoked Bacon Recipe
    5

    This technique works great with lamb belly! I used 2 1/2 lbs of lamb belly, the exact amount of curing ingredients specified in the above recipe, reduced the curing time to 5 days, soaked it in water for 1 hour after curing, skipped the post-cure refrigeration, and smoked it for a little over 2 hours in my oven using Chow's technique. Tastes great!

  • Oven-Smoked Bacon Recipe
    3

    I have to try this some time!

  • Oven-Smoked Bacon Recipe
    5

    Awesome recipe! Since it's against the "rules" to use a smoker outside of my town-home. Thank you so much! I had a question though, about how much smoke came out of the oven? Or rather how smokey would the kitchen become (with a fair amount or ventilation)? I'm semi-constrained by my roommates' wishes, and I'd hate to make the house smell smokey (although personally I'd love it!) thanks!

  • Oven-Smoked Bacon Recipe
    4

    I bought a pound of curing salt at a restaurant supply store on 1st ave in Seattle just south of Safeco field for $5.00 Considering you only use a Tbsp or less in a recipe, it was the most economical I could find. The advantage of making bacon yourself is that you can buy organic pork belly if that is important, and control the smokiness. My husband will only eat oganic bacon and it costs a fortune -from $8 to $14 a pound. He likes it really smoky and thick cut. I like less smoky and very thin cut. While I need to experiment (and that is the fun), I think I can make different bacons we both like for less than mail order or Whole Foods prices. Worth the try anyway. Same with the pancetta recipe.

  • Oven-Smoked Bacon Recipe
    5

    I'm one of those who likes doing things from scratch even if they aren't terribly cost effective. But the curing salt is around $11 a pound. At the rate of 3/4 tsp. per use, I'd have to make some SERIOUS amounts of bacon, sausage, pepperoni, pastrami, etc. for it to pay off. Does anybody know of any reasonable substitutes?

  • How long do you think this lasts after its made?

  • 5 cups is way too much wood chips. 1 or 2 handfuls makes a pulled pork. 5 cups will ruin a piece of meat.

  • This recipe DOES have nitrites in it. They are in the curing salt as stated above.

  • I'm assuming that the bacon is cooked during this process as internal temp. of 150 is stated in instructions. All that would be required is browning to render the fat and crisp it up? Going to try this using my Cameron smoker in the oven.

  • In response to marmotprincess:
    http://ruhlman.com/2011/05/the-no-nit...

  • Is it worth it? Is it fun for you? Do you enjoy doing it? Then yes, it is worth it.

  • I don't know about anyone else, but I plan to make my own bacon to avoid the added nitrates and nitrites in regular bacon. Nitrate/nitrite-free bacon from the store costs way more than this stuff will for me to make.

    Nitrates and nitrites can cause cancer in relatively small amounts (just 2 hot dogs a month can significantly raise your risk). So, I'm glad I've found a bacon recipe that's easy to make without a smoker.

  • Blitherypoop- you ask a good questions. For some it's bragging rights (I'm hipper than you) but for others it's that they take pride in learning a new skill and creating something good to enjoy or share. It may not be better, and it may even be worse, but it can feel good to make something yourself to share with people you love. My mother-in-law knits and has made some nice sweaters and blankets for her grandshild. When compared with a $10 sweater from Walmart or a $50 one from Lands End, you could say it's not as good(imperfections in color, maybe a stitch error, or not perfectly semetrical) and took much longer in terms of effort. Yet, it's better sense we know who made it and that they did it to make us happy.

  • This seems like the kind of thing you make so you can say 'I cured and smoked the bacon myself' to try to impress people. Is it really any better than store bought? I don't mean Oscar Mayer. I mean a good slab of bacon. Is this really better...or worth the effort/cost?

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