I do have to admit, I was a bit worried that there would be something wrong with this first round of bacon. It was the first time curing anything ourselves and it just seemed too good to be true, and way too easy. 

We took the cured bellies out of the fridge after 7 days, cut the skins off (which was so much easier to do when they were cured), and smoked them. We don’t have a proper smoker yet so we smoked them on the lowest temperature we could on the grill (which was about 200 degrees)  for 4 hours. The above picture is how they turned out. We vacuum sealed and froze all but 1 slab, which is this weeks bacon. It was delicious!!  The best bacon I have ever had. 

We also prepared another 27 or so lbs of bellies which are currently curing in the fridge. In the end we will have done over 40lbs of bacon this year. Next year we will do more. 

One day we hope to be selling our bacon, among other food products.  It’s in our 5 year plan!  

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