Beef Belly Bacon from Scratch | Homemade Beef Bacon Cure & Smoke (Oak + Cherry)

This cook is proper homemade beef belly bacon, made from a full beef belly and taken all the way from cure to smoke.

No shortcuts, no rub — just a balanced cure, a proper pellicle, and a low-and-slow hot smoke over oak and cherry. Beef bacon hits different when you do it right.

🥓 BEEF BELLY BACON – CURE RECIPE

Beef belly weight: 1.827 kg

Cure type: Dry cure

🧂 Cure Ingredients
45 g kosher salt
30 g brown sugar
4.6 g Prague Powder #1 (6.25% sodium nitrite)
2 tsp cracked black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1½ tsp onion powder
1 tsp smoked paprika

(Optional: mustard powder or chilli flakes — not used in this cook)

🥩 CURE METHOD
Mix all cure ingredients thoroughly so the curing salt is evenly distributed.
Pat the beef belly dry and apply the cure evenly over all surfaces.
Place in a zip-lock bag or loose vacuum bag (do not vacuum tight).
Refrigerate for 5 days, flipping the belly once per day.

🚿 POST-CURE PREP
Rinse thoroughly under cold water.
Soak for 20 minutes to balance salt.
Pat dry completely.
Place uncovered on a rack in the fridge overnight to form a pellicle.
👉 The pellicle is a slightly tacky surface that helps smoke adhere and improves colour and flavour.
No rub is applied before smoking.

🔥 BEEF BACON COOK METHOD
Equipment
Smoker: Masterbuilt Gravity Series
Shelf position: Top shelf
Water pan: ½ full with hot water

Pit Settings
Temperature: 240°F / ~115–120°C
Cook style: Hot-smoked

Wood Choice
Oak (primary) – clean, beef-forward smoke
Cherry (secondary) – colour and mild sweetness

⏱️ COOK TIMELINE
Bacon on: 9:00 am
Internal ~54°C at ~90 minutes
Pulled at 65–70°C internal

❄️ POST-COOK HANDLING
Rest on the bench for 10–15 minutes.
Refrigerate uncovered until fully chilled.
Slice cold (hand-sliced in this cook — the Aldi slicer tapped out 😅).

🍳 HOW TO USE IT
Fry to crisp
Dice for lardons
Use in sandwiches or burgers
Anywhere you’d use bacon — just beefier and richer

🔔 MORE COOKS COMING
This was Sinclair Saturday – Episode 49.
If you enjoyed it, subscribe — there’s plenty more BBQ and curing cooks coming.