Have been reading many blogs about curing and charcuterie and decided to try my own bacon. I bought pork bellies from the Asian grocery store and followed the instructions in Michael Ruhlman's book for a 7-day cure. I don't have a smoker only a Weber gas grill and wanted to do more of a cold smoke so I put the cured belly on the rack at the back, put a aluminum tray full of water underneath and had a smoker packet of applewood on the front burner and smoked it this way for a couple hours. Would keep adding a bit of ice to the water to keep the internal temp of the bbq cool with the burner on high enough to create smoke.
The bacon on it's own was a bit salty probably based on the thickness of the belly (I managed to eat a lot of it though). Used in soups or carbonara this is fine instead of adding additional salt but to eat on its own the best thing to do is blanch it quickly and then thinly slice and cook. This will definitely become a staple as well. I don't even think you can compare the mass produced stuff and home cured and smoked bacon. They don't even taste like the same food item!
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